For the past five years, the Ann Arbor Public Schools have contracted with the Washtenaw Intermediate School District to operate their school buses. But in January, the school board notified WISD that it wouldn’t be renewing the contract when it ends this summer–and in March, it voted to switch to a private company, Durham School Services.

In 2010, as the state slashed school funding during the Great Recession, WISD proposed consolidating busing for all ten of the county’s districts. Though only three signed on (the others were Ypsilanti and Willow Run, now merged as the Ypsilanti Community Schools), it did save Ann Arbor money–mainly by slashing workers’ wages. All the former AAPS drivers lost their jobs. Those hired by WISD saw their average pay fall 11 percent, to less than $15 an hour.

Many experienced drivers either didn’t apply or quit as soon as they could get a better job, often driving for the U-M or AAATA. WISD desperately held job fairs and put out help-wanted signs, but the new drivers–who often came from outside Ann Arbor–seldom stayed long. Retired U-M bus driver Barbara Brown, who drove briefly for WISD last year, said many were retirees unprepared for the challenges of transporting school children. And WISD administrators, she says, “didn’t take the time to figure out who would be best on each route.”

Already frustrated with longer waits at bus stops, district parents were infuriated in January, when two dozen drivers and bus monitors didn’t show up for work one morning. WISD canceled bus service, and the schools canceled classes. In March, it happened again–though this time, classes went ahead without morning busing.

In a press release, WISD blamed illness, car troubles, or other reasons for the January no-shows. But by the second shutdown, suspicions about “sick-outs” were running high. No one publicly took credit, but drivers were unhappy with WISD. According to AAPS trustee Susan Baskett, they had voted to unionize, but the district “never worked with them to [negotiate] a contract.”

WISD superintendent Scott Menzel says that’s not accurate. “The drivers initially voted to become affiliated with the MEA,” he emails. “WISD was in negotiations with them. Then the drivers voted to end their affiliation with MEA and to affiliate with AFSCME. We have been negotiating with AFSCME as well, but that process has been occurring at the same time AAPS put out the RFP [request for proposals for bus service] and chose to hire a different vendor.”

WISD spokeswoman Emma Jackson points out that high driver turnover “is a concern throughout the state, and locally all districts in Washtenaw County are experiencing a shortage of qualified bus drivers. Another factor that has impacted our ability to retain drivers is AAATA’s route expansion. Many of our drivers took positions with AAATA, and this certainly put a strain on our system.” WISD is offering pay raises and retention incentives to keep enough drivers on board until Durham takes over in the fall.

Durham’s website says it serves 475 districts in thirty-two states and transports more than a million school kids a day. Its bid on the three-year contract wasn’t much less than WISD’s, but AAPS spokesperson Liz Margolis says the Illinois-based company got “very high marks” from other districts that use its staffing and maintenance services.

Durham has pledged to raise pay roughly 10 percent. That will bring drivers back up to about what they made from AAPS–though five years later, and with a 401(k) retirement plan instead of a defined-benefit pension. The company also promises to work with its employees if they vote to join a union. “They have told us that 38 percent of their staff is unionized,” Baskett says.

Barbara Brown says parents and schools need to respect the fact that school bus driving is hard work–and not only because it demands good driving and constant alertness “for tiny little people standing on the road.”

She drove only four months before deciding the modest pay wasn’t worth listening to a kid swear at her daily. When she complained to her supervisor, she says, the kid continued to swear–just with a different offensive word.

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This article has been edited since it appeared in the April 2015 Ann Arbor Observer. An inaccurate description of WISD’s future plans has been deleted.