Schools and Education Superintendent to Re-Evaluate Director of Transportation Appointment

BRADENTON – At the school board meeting on June 11, Superintendent Tim McGonegal delayed a vote on the promotion of the assistant director of transportation to the director’s position, after union leaders representing bus drivers questioned her experience as well, as former policies of the department.

According to officials representing bus drivers, it was the first time they had ever come forward in opposition to an appointment by the district.

McGonegal recommended Sheryl Riker, who has served as the assistant director of transportation since October of 2010. She was trained under department head Terry Palmer who resigned a year ago, following several high-profile problems with school busing. 

In January of 2011, a new routing system left hundreds of students at the wrong bus stops, and later that month, the board was forced to reverse one of Palmer’s newfound strategies that instructed drivers to drop kindergartners and first-graders at unattended bus stops. Parents were dismayed at the thought of their small children being left alone and drivers worried they would be liable if something happened to the kids. Palmer defended his decision, saying it was intended to keep drivers on time; they typically have a later middle school route to complete.

The director’s position has remained vacant since Palmer’s resignation, but union officials weren’t pleased at the superintendent’s decision to promote from within the department. 

At first, the job opening was a closed posting only open to current district employees, but then it was opened to the public after several concerns were raised when Riker became the prime candidate, according to William Braselton, vice-president of AFSCME, or American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents bus drivers.

”From my understanding there were a lot of fine applicants that applied for that position, yet the recommendation remained the same,“ said Braselton. ”We believe this is an experience issue.“

Bruce Mohr, local president of AFSCME said he doesn’t normally like to speak against any recommendation the district has for an employee, but felt the promotion was the wrong decision.

”We are sure Riker deserves an advancement, but we don’t think it’s in the transportation department,“ said Mohr. ”I hate to link her experience with the past administration but that was where she obtained her knowledge.“

Mohr said that in the past three years, issues with transportation have skyrocketed. He said the number of bus drivers that attend union meetings has increased as well. In the past, the average number of drivers in attendance would be two or three, but in the past three years it is common to see more than 20. 

There were also more bus accidents last year than ever before, which was likely due to a reorganization that took place in 2008-2009, when the transportation department gave up 18 full-time bus driver positions and was relying on substitute drivers to make up for the loss. Buses transport over 15,000 students to 52 district schools and four charter schools. In February, members of the school board approved 11 new permanent, full-time drivers in an effort to prevent driver shortage next year. 

”A lot of bad decisions have come from this administration and her experience is from the person who made those decisions,“ said Mohr.

McGonegal said he had no idea the union felt this way about his decision. He is expected to meet with local AFSCME members later this week to discuss their concerns.