Robert Lyons has logged more than a million miles during his decade as a van driver for Akron Public Schools, operating six vehicles — four minivans and two SUVs — as he transported nearly 500 children.
His days typically start around 4 a.m. Depending on the number of students he will be picking up, Lyons devises a game plan, accounting for road closures, inclement weather and other factors. He also shares estimated arrival times with parents.
Van drivers such as Lyons are responsible for transporting unhoused students, children with special needs and sports teams. The district contracted with 143 of these independent contractors during the 2023-24 school year, said Brandy Vickers, who serves as a spokesperson for the group.
It’s rewarding work, said Lyons, who has watched some of his students move from elementary school through high school graduation. He has been developing that type of relationship with Dreyson Lewis, a 13-year-old who has Down syndrome. For the last two years, Lyons has transported him to Buchtel Community Learning Center 6-8.
Lewis’ mother, Tonti, said she feels safe knowing Lyons won’t drive off until her son has his seatbelt buckled and the door completely shut.
“It’s not just a job to them,” Tonti Lewis said at a recent APS board meeting. “They treat us like family.”
Now, Tonti Lewis is worried Lyons may no longer be driving her son. On Monday, the Akron Board of Education is scheduled to vote on transportation service contracts for the upcoming 2024-25 school year after the district asked for bids via a referral for proposal.
Nearly 150 van drivers are worried their opportunities, already lessened, could be further diminished if not eliminated.
That concerns Jocalyn Bush, who has transported students for 11 years.
“People are getting their car fixed and everything like that over the summer so that they can prepare to drive the students next year,” Bush said.
“But we don’t know if we’ll even have a job or not.”
Dramatically different costs between transport companies, ICOs
During the 2023-24 school year, APS used two firms in addition to the independent contractors — KBT Transit LLC and UTC Trans LLC — to help provide transportation during what the district deemed an emergency situation to fulfill all students’ needs.
Invoice records from June 2023 to April 2024 showed KBT transported 572 students and invoiced roughly $1.35 million to Akron Public Schools, which equated to $2,364 per student. UTC transported 665 students and invoiced roughly $1.56 million to Akron Public Schools, which equated to $2,351 per student.
Together, the two companies transported 1,237 students at a cost of just more than $2.9 million, or a per student cost of $2,357.
In that same timeframe, the ICOs transported 8,631 students and invoiced just under $3.3 million to Akron Public Schools, which equated to $381 per student.
UTC and KBT charged approximately six times more per student than the independent contractors. A breakdown of in-district and out-of-district trips was not available.
Angela Carter, chief of staff at APS, said on Sunday the district needed assistance from private companies to address fluctuations in the number of students in need of third-party transportation. This includes families who fall within the McKinney-Vento Act, a federal law that requires transportation services for students experiencing homelessness.
“We have to be able to operate and address the needs immediately when these things happen,” Carter said. “So the number [of students] just doesn’t stay consistent all year.”
During a Finance Committee meeting on June 17, Transportation Coordinator Justin Miller said, “None of the current independent contractor operators that currently work for us, none of them submitted a bid….” during the referral for proposal process and that a woman-owned company had been selected for recommendation to the board.
Meanwhile, Vickers said she submitted a proposal to Superintendent Michael Robinson on behalf of the independent contract operators in October 2023 and again in March to Miller and Debra Foulk, executive director of business affairs.
Robinson said van drivers were not eliminated from the official bid process.
Van drivers voice concerns at recent APS board meeting
When Vickers and other van drivers attempted to speak during the public comment period of the Akron Board of Education’s May 13 meeting, they were discouraged by the board members to speak about vendor contracts in a public setting, citing the board’s policy.
“There’s a time and a place to negotiate contracts,” Michael Defibaugh, APS director of labor relations, told Signal Akron. “The contracts that the van drivers are operating under was for the 2023-24 school year, so they were already under contract. A board policy precludes speaking about vendors or contracts.”
Four days later, independent drivers received a May 17 letter from Yamini Adkins, the executive director of human capital, echoing the board’s concern about addressing vendor contracts publicly. Vickers said she was frustrated that she and the drivers could not bring their concerns to light in a public setting.
“If I’m not allowed to say anything, then where am I allowed to speak,” Vickers asked “Because I thought that we voted board members in to listen to the community.
“I am part of the community,” she said.
Lyons: ‘We make a difference in the community’
Van drivers such as Kim Huskey want to keep their job for next school year. Huskey pursued van driving as a second source of income to supplement her work at Akron’s Recreation and Parks.
Eleven years after her retirement from the department, Huskey continues to drive out of her love for community involvement. She tries to switch up her routes, transporting a mix of preschool, elementary and high school students, to keep her driving experience fresh.
“I know in my heart that I made a difference in a lot of kids’ lives,” Huskey said. “Just the other day, I was in Acme and I was walking by and a girl goes, ‘Miss Kim?’ And it was a girl I had on my van 20-some years ago.
“She remembered me. She was so happy to tell me that she’s a nurse now, and has a baby and everything.”
Bush, another veteran van driver, said the gig offers her flexibility as she raises her family. Driving freelance lets her free up more time during the school year, and in summers she works as a licensed practical nurse.
Bush wants the district to know the independent drivers are integral to students’ welfare, especially for some children who face economic adversity.
“They’re coming up out of their homes and they might not even have eaten for that morning, where they can’t wait to get to school so they can get a hot meal,” she said. “We have kids that are coming in the car and they’re in the same clothes that they’ve had on for three or four days.”
“At least they’ll know they’re getting that same van driver every day.”
Meanwhile, Lyons’ van driving experience inspired him to return to school to complete his GED, which he aims to finish next school year through online courses. He wants to walk across the stage at Buchtel Community Learning Center 9-12 and show his appreciation for students and his grandchildren.
“I think APS needs to pay attention to stuff like that,” Lyons said, “because we make a difference in the community.”
But Carter explained from the district’s perspective that, “After utilizing these two companies, this is the opportunity to look to see and investigate [if there is] a way that we can operate more efficiently and be more fiscally responsible” during a time of restructuring and reorganization.
“It was the opportunity to put out the RFP to see what happens to explore, and to see how we can be more operationally efficient and more fiscally responsible,” she said.
