Mat-Su to withhold at least $100,000 from Durham over late, canceled routes

What you need to know:

• The Mat-Su school district will withhold at least $100,000 from Durham School Services this month after 108 bus routes were canceled and 219 were at least 10 minutes late during the first weeks of school.
• The charge is based on problems logged from about Labor Day through Monday. Final September penalties could be higher once all problems are tallied.
• Durham officials attributed the disruptions to driver shortages. Superintendent Randy Trani said competition from better-paying seasonal jobs could contribute to shortages at the beginning of the school year.
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PALMER — The Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District will withhold at least $100,000 from its school bus contractor this month after hundreds of routes were late or canceled during the first five weeks of school.

As of Monday, Durham School Services had canceled 108 Mat-Su bus runs – about 3.4% of all routes – since the first day of school, district officials said, leaving parents to find other ways to get their students to and from school, often with little notice. Another 219 routes were at least 10 minutes late, they said.

The district can withhold contract payments for a wide variety of reasons, including late buses, canceled routes and children left unattended. Penalties begin after the first three full weeks of school and range from $50 to more than $820 per instance, according to the documents.

The $100,000 charge, known as “liquidated damages,” was calculated by totaling contract penalties for problems logged from about Labor Day through Monday.

Money withheld from Durham goes back into the district’s transportation fund, officials said.

A final September total will not be available until the end of the month, after all late and canceled routes and other bus problems are tallied, they said.

The chargebacks mark a shift from how the district penalized Durham for similar problems last year.

Durham's 10-year contract with Mat-Su lasts through 2032 and is worth at least $188 million. Canceling it is not under consideration because doing so would be very expensive for the district, officials said.

Documents shared by a bus driver employee union in March showed that the district tallied more than $285,000 in allowed charges in September but levied only about $15,000. District officials at the time said the approach reflected “a balanced strategy that maintains accountability, supports reliable student services, and ensures responsible use of public funds.”

District officials said they plan to levy all possible charges this year. They did not respond to a request for comment about the change. 

Driver shortages are causing the cancellations and delays, according to officials with Summit School Services, which owns Durham.

“We apologize to our students, families, and the Mat-Su community for the recent canceled and delayed routes. Unexpected driver call-offs have made it challenging to consistently cover every scheduled route on time,” they said in a statement. “We are actively working to strengthen our team and are always looking for dedicated individuals who want to serve their community.”

District Superintendent Randy Trani said driver shortages could be linked to better-paying jobs available to drivers through the end of the tourist season, which overlaps with the start of the school year.

“If they were being paid as much as they can make when they drive for Princess Cruise Lines, they probably wouldn't go drive for Princess Cruise Lines at the beginning of the year,” he said during a school board meeting late last month. “But until that happens, the beginning of the year they have a bus driver shortage.”

A more than two-month Mat-Su school bus worker strike last spring ended after employees approved a new contract about three weeks before the end of the school year. Contract negotiations between Durham and Teamsters Local 959 focused on training, safety, wages and benefits.

-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com