Very disappointing.

I tried clicking the link the learn more about the company that will have my children's lives in their hands and the website doesn't even work. Doesn't give a very good first impression...

As a parent, I'm just left to hope our drivers go to work for Durham so I won't be putting my child on a bus with someone unfamiliar with the community, roads, and children.

No winners? Seems to me that two private, for-profit companies won big. The only losers are the board, the students, the employees, the district, the community, the public. Again.

Exactly==> No winners? Seems to me that two private, for-profit companies won big. The only losers are the board, the students, the employees, the district, the community, the public. Again.

AND now this same board gets to pick a superintendant.

And the new superintendent will be paid 24% more than Andrees. Anyone who thinks that many of your bus drivers and custodians won't be scrambling to find new jobs (like many of your teachers are already doing) just doesn't undrstand that these people have families and lives. One only needs to look at neighboring districts to begin to see just how poorly run west bloomfield schools are. The further away from students you get, the more money people make, and that is the problem, not bus driver and custodians and teachers pay and benefits. In the long term this decision will cost more, not save.

I am so disappointed in this decision, but not surprised. I am certain that the decision was made long before the meeting last night. To me, it is not a situation of cost savings, but of student safety, Sure, most of the current drivers will initially hire in to the private provider, but most of them will probably leave for better jobs when they become available. The people taking those jobs won't be experienced drivers with 10-15 years experience and the same level of caring for the kids. They will be their own "low cost bidder". Plus, watch the costs go up once the die have been cast. Decisions like this are very hard to reverse should they not prove to be what they were on the surface.

Also, as an interesting side-note, according to the driver of our route, last night, there was a missing child from one of the routes. As soon as it was discovered, the call went out to drivers, and they were searching for that child until 10:00 at night. I'm pretty sure all came to a happy ending. That's what you get with what you had. Will you get that with what you just bought?

Art - you cannot tell me that if your own pay and benefits were cut so that you wouldn't be able to pay your bills or care for your family, that you wouldn't look for a more lucrative opportunity....Honestly? Why is it ok to take away from the bottom and not ask for the same concessions from the top down? Could it be an underlying belief that one group or class deserves to lose? I don't even want to get started on the safety aspect - it IS an issue, whether people want to believe our staff can live on less than $10/hr + no family benefits, or not. Out lower and middle classes are in trouble, and this is only a small example of what our politicians are willing to do away with for the almighty dollar.

Best performance by a school board that I have seen (sarcasm). The board negotiates with transportation and custodial over the years (see Andrees comment above), telling them that if they give up x, y, and z, the board will not privatize their services and then all of a sudden out of thin air, there are savings in privatizing that the board didn't know about (see Hersh's comment above). If Hersh is that clueless, he should resign. The concessions offered by both groups seemed quite substantial but the board dismissed them. The board should have shared how they concluded that the union's offer was not big enough. To add insult to injury, the board warned transportation not to behave unprofessionally by not reporting to work today. The district's transportation and custodial employees have shown nothing but class during this ordeal. The community had it's wake up call months ago:
Superintendent edits meeting tape
The school board takes money out of district employee checks before a public vote
The school board breaks the Open Meeting Act to rename Green School
The school board pads the pockets of their chosen ones at the expense of taxpayers and the classroom
The board keeps telling us to hold our heads up high and speak proudly about our district. How can we, when the board has lost the confidence of the public.

What troubles me the most about last evening's Board meeting was the clarity that, once again, the "public comments" were meaningless and the decision was made well in advance of this meeting. This was crystal clear from Andrees comments before the Motion was even made showing the decision was a foregone conclusion, as well as the Board members comments that were devoid of reference to the public outcry against this decision. I would have liked to have seen a definite comparison of the costs of the concessions versus privatization, but there was none presented by anyone, union and Board alike, before or during this meeting. We hear the Board throw around terms like "fiduciary duties", but the facts simply don't show that this Board has done its due diligence here.

P.S. How interesting that the Board tried dumping on the finance committee to rationalize this decision, and pushed Matt Chase to be their mouthpiece when the Board is also represented on the finance committee by the Board officers, past and present: Einstandig, Hersh and Sakwa.

People are moving out of Michigan by the droves. Since "ethics" isn't a huge concern how about revenue? How about "being" that State out of the entire Nation that does not and will not out-source, privatize or by any means "sell out" their fellow neighbor because "we care." What an add that would make. "Michigan cares." I can see the commercial for it now. "Michigan schools are deeply dedicated to their employees so much in fact we are the only state in our great America who will not oursource our jobs during this financial hardship. Not now and not ever. We put the education and well being of our kids first. That is why people love Michigan." Let me tell you folks ... call me crazy ... but people want to live where their kids are safe. It's not impossible to think it. A commerical like that, would bring in jobs, people for those jobs, people that need homes to live for those jobs, and tax dollars to keep those jobs ... and current ones. Just imagine ... !

I would like to know why Carol Finkelstein voted for the privitization, considering the Michigan Education Association (the union that represents the custodians and bus drivers) endorsed her in the school board election. She didn't make any comment at the board meeting. Nelson Hersh is getting bashed, but at least he made the amendment to allow the school board to review the final terms of the contracts in public.

Privitization is the worst possible outcome for all of the students. i thought the reason we were here was to protect our children...... that will not happen anymore, your children will not be loved and cared for as they have been in the past, now they are just a #.
Also, keep an eye on how much the district really saves, it will never add up to what they claim the savings are going to be!

Nelson Hersh is getting bashed because he deceived the district's employees into working on his re-election campaign. They thought that he had their backs. He did what had to be done... a public conversation about the final details of the contract. Why do people think that transparency is a favor to taxpayers? Finkelstein will have to speak up but at least she didn't read a prepared statement that sounded like someone wrote it for her like Sakwa did. And Einstandig always seems cold and heartless regardless of the issue. The public and the employees deserve to hear why the offer from the transportation and custodial groups did not cut the mustard. It sounded substantial. The board President (Tobin) appears to believe that keeping everyone ignorant of the facts is the best way to lead.

brad rouser
It is all about the pensions..... period !!!! they have to contribute, its the law. they left out extra $ 250,000 savings transportation had saved, and the union rep bought that out at the meeting. each school employee has to put in an extra 3% into the retirement fund ..... not a personal fund. i ask where will the pensions for the teachers be in 10-20 years, if fewer people are contributing to the fund. they took the jobs, benifits and pensions from those making the least. these employees offered to give up the most, to keep a job they not only needed but loved. e-mail the board members..... let them know enough is enough!!! and fyi mrs aundrees contract dosen't expire until 2014 !!! whats with that situation ? why would her re-placement be given a $40,000 bonus to start ? this person will not come from our district, or our state.... and he or she will not know west bloomfield. please contact the board, and say NOT IN OUR SCHOOLS, NOT IN OUR TOWN....

I have been a bus driver for 24 years and a resident for 64 years as were my parents.
If you all could see the heart break of the drivers it would make you all sick. I am so sorry that this situation has gotten out of hand. At this time I just want to thank the parents and staff who have supported us through out this terrible time. Please remember that some of us will be back and others will not. Thank You one and all for your comments.

Louise Cantor, I notice so many anti board and anti education comments ever since before the school election and it is continuing. I think the readership would find it interesting that there is no one in West Bloomfield Schools with any relation to you, there is no registered voter under your name, you have never signed in at any committee or school meeting, and if you check the school board election results you can see who voted. Not the way they voted but if they voted at all. NO LOUISE CANTOR!! why?? Because you are fictitious. So readers should take what you say as realistic as you are. Some coward that complains under a fake name.

The readership of the Patch can recognize truth fro fiction when they read it. My comments have truth and substance. The school board leadership lacks good leadership skills and has managed this district into a financial black hole. I am anti- board but not anti accountability and transparency. Furthermore, I am not anti good policy ( think choice). I am not anti open meetings act ( robbing employees of their hard earned monies before a public vote and Green School). And I am definitely not anti education (don't lead my district into financial ruin and expect me to be pro school board).

Louise, You do not address the substance of my comments. Why did you not vote in any election? Because you do not exist. You are as fake and fictitious as Cruella Deville, Jabba the Hutt etc. With a fake name you are anti-truth. Readers know you are fake/fiction and not accountable for your words. Go away. Go meet with the editor of the patch but bring your ID, a drivers license, which the state also does not have for a Louise Cantor in Oakland county.

Many people comment on the Patch under pseudonyms or without their full names (including you, NWeinberg). I personally prefer when others write under their full, real names, but I understand why many do not. If the comments are thoughtful, fact based and add to the discussions here, it makes no difference if they are from people who don't volunteer, or prefer to use a different name, especially in this community where people have been bullied for stating their opinions in public.

Hi, NWeinberg, I'm sorry, I had left a comment here directed towards you but it appears it's gone ... anyway, I wanted to let you know that I had deleted a previous comment due to a personal attack which is a violation of terms of service.

I'm closing comments to this story. On other stories surrounding this issue, let's try to keep discussion on topic.