A few updates from the F&O meeting on transportation

 I did a rundown of the report received this afternoon, but there were a few additions from new information received: 

• Seven of the drivers currently CDL training are going through 7D training to be able to pick up when we lose the National Guard. 
• As I noted in the earlier post, MassHires is continuing to train bus drivers; it's been great to see the response already to this. It takes 60 hours to get a CDL plus a couple of weeks to get a test date, so it's been taking about two months to train new drivers.
  Mr. Foley asked that WPS social media be used to spread the word; I'll share the info again here: 
  
  
  
  
  
• The school bus bid closes tomorrow, and WE ARE GOING TO GET BUSES AS THEY COME AVAILABLE! In other words, we don't have to wait til next year; as we have drivers, they're coming on, and likewise with buses!
• DESE APPROVED THE USE OF ESSER FUNDS FOR BUSES! Remember, this means savings FASTER because we've just bought the buses. Important long term note: we need to plan NOW for the replacement cycle (as you don't want to have to replace all 100 buses in 15 years).