Meeting about contested bus contracts April 22
Anderson County commissioners will talk about school bus contract controversies during a meeting at 4:30 p.m. Monday, April 22, in Room 312 of thecCourthouse in Clinton.
Issues surrounding bus drivers have blown up with David Landreth, president of Andersonville Bus Lines, appealing the county’s decision to use a new contractor, SCU, for routes on which his company also bid.
Landreth has said Andersonville Bus Lines has more experience with these routes and should get the contracts even if his company’s bid was more expensive.
As stated in official documents, contractor SCU received 13 contracts for routes with competitive bids, including six on which Andersonville Bus Lines also bid.
Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank said the decision to award the bid to SCU for routes previously driven by other contractors will save the county $171,907.
Bus drivers connected to Andersonville Bus Lines have been speaking out at meetings, including the April 15 County Commission meeting.
One such driver, Mona Smith, said she planned to stay with Andersonville Bus Lines and did not want to switch to working for SCU. She said Andersonville takes better care of the children.
“They’re our children; they’re our next generation,” she said. In an interview after the meeting, she said her company focuses more on keeping the buses in good repair than other contractors do.
“Any little squeak, and they take care of it,” she said, adding that her company is devoted to both the buses and the children on them. “They are very loving people [who] will bend over backwards to help anybody they can.”
School bus contracts usually aren’t the subject of disputes, however, and the Anderson County Commission went ahead and approved them on Monday. These contracts were with Longmire, Andersonville, SCU and Parker Transport.