I’m just asking the question a lot of other people are asking, If School Bus Inc. has to file bankruptcy or close down for any reason, will the Sioux Falls School District (taxpayers) have to bail them out?
I’m not sure what laws are in place to make that possible, but I’m not sure if the SFSD has a backup plan if the contractor shuts down suddenly. I also wonder why the district contracts with the company instead of just owning their own buses? I’m not sure what the rules are with that either. I think a lot school districts across the state contract the services, especially the larger districts, probably helps with a lot of headaches.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out, in the mean time I would make sure your kids have good sneakers and snow boots.
The reason they are hurting as I recall, is that they were embezzled by a convicted felon they hired to handle their money. This was just a few years ago, but they lost several hundred thousand and the insurance would not pay. Who wouldn’t like to help out with those bad business decisions?
The buses should be repo asap. No special consideration. I posted yesterday on FB on the media and got a ton of BS. Fact is…if this was a farmer with a combine for$800k they probably wouldn’t let him use it on his crop to bring in the money because he is so far behind. Repo those buses… Get the school district to set a new policy and if parents are incontinenced… Well, welcome to the real world! Not popular very realistic so the district neads to make a policy change but in the meantime…. Take on your responsibilities how to get your kids to school I’m back here yourselves…. It all comes down to who you put on the school board!
Perhaps, “on-demand busing” is the answer. Most kids now days have smartphones.
(“Okay Mary, next we are going to pick-up Jimmie, won’t that be fun?” ( and Woodstock ponders: “Whose idea was this, Harris’s or Biden’s?”))
More students mean more buses. The debt to asset ratio is not out of line considering growth. Missing payments is partially because they’ve had to hire more drivers at higher wages and benefits. They can catch up with a new business plan. School Bus Inc. is not known for good management. However, the school district is also at fault for not budgeting to get kids to 3 new schools.
It would be tough for the district to find its own staff, maintain the equipment, etc.
They cannot even find enough people as it is for EA positions, dishwashers at central kitchen, custodians, substitutes, and food truck drivers as it is now.
I am actually pretty bummed about the whole thing. School Bus Inc. does a great job transporting my son and it sucks that a local business like this is struggling to pay their bills. I hope they pull through and get this figured out.
I forgot about the embezzlement, that is unfortunate, but if you have better controls (more than one person checking the books) and audits, that stuff can usually be caught sooner.
I also wonder what the SFSD has known, and when. I know they are a private contractor, but you would think the SFSD has known about these loans for awhile. But even if they did, why would they tell us? They are the most secretive governmental body in the STATE!
Maybe we should give the contract to SAM, at least the buses would be full at least twice a day! LOL!
The local-to-SF school districts pay their bus drivers about double the hourly rate SBI pays. Just sayin’.
This happens a lot in the business world. They will restructure their debt and live on. Restructuring debt happens a lot especially in the ag community these days. SBI could sell their charter operation and be out of the debt very fast but I’m sure they don’t want to turn away the districts business.
Not much of a story KELO…Low hanging fruit considering you have a corrupt former mayor on your staff.
Janelle Cain: “. . . and if parents are incontinenced… Well, welcome to the real world!” I’d never have considered the serious intestinal consequences for parents that school bus ride interruptions could have. Talk about “the sh*t hitting the fan”. Just imagine the upheaval and role reversal – embarrassed kids having to write notes for mom and/or dad explaining their transient urogenital or gastroenteric issues keeping them home from work ! The shame. The expense. The smell !
All this talk about incontinenced (sic) parents has me feeling confident in my substantial investment in Kimberly Clark stock.
“incontinence” is a state, while “incontinenced” is a reality. The difference is that the former speaks of a reality, while the latter speaks of the state that you are in. (“Huh?”)
( – and Woodstock adds: “I think this is all just of a bunch of xhit no matter how you look at it…..”)
Or, we could start a feel good program to fund the shortfall. Parents shouldn’t have to shoulder the embarrassment of their kids trudging through the elements.
I have lived in many cities, large and small, in several states over tha past 21 yrs (military) and this is the ONLY place I have lived where the school district contracted out services and that bussing was not available for high school students. Has not made any sense to me since moving here.
“contracted out services…”
It’s what you do when you hate government, but you also want to profit from it…… #MiddlemanMoney$$$