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AUBURN — After some confusion over routes and pickups with new students, service from the new school bus provider is going well, the School Committee was told Wednesday night.

Last year, the School Department gave a five-year contract to Ledgemere, a subsidiary of Student Transportation of America. STA is the same company that owns Hudson Bus Lines, which provides busing for Lewiston public students.

Ledgemere’s contract started July 1.

Four weeks into the new school year, “we still need some tweaks (in routes) as you would expect as students move in, causing us having to shift bus routes,” Business Manager Jude Cyr said. “They’ve got a better handle on athletics.”

Assistant Superintendent Michelle McClellan said Ledgemere is working with the administrators to figure out how “we work together on efficiencies and support students and families.”

Cyr said after a recent game in Bangor an Auburn bus broke down. “At their expense Ledgemere brought another bus and took the kids home.”

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City Councilor Jim Pross, the mayor’s representative on the school board, said even though there’s a new bus provider, the School Committee should recognize the importance of retaining as many of the same bus drivers as possible.

Seeing familiar faces driving the bus “helps quell anxieties and fears that parents have, especially those of kindergarten, first-graders and second-graders,” Pross said.

Whether it’s Ledgemere or another subcontractor, “we need to find a way to emphasize that we hire former drivers,” Pross said. “It really is important to parents and families.”

The School Department has encouraged providers to hire the same drivers when possible, officials said.

Of a list of 26 drivers from last year, when Northeast Charter provided the service, 17 have been hired by Ledgemere, Cyr said.

“Three or four retired,” he said. Ledgemere has openings, he said.

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Unlike Lewiston, Auburn owns the school buses used by Ledgemere.

Committee Chairman Tom Kendall said the reason Auburn subcontracted bus service three years ago was to save money, “which we’ve done.”

The annual savings have been about $300,000 a year, Cyr said.

In other business, Cyr went over a list of about $2 million worth of  school building improvements made during the past 14 months.

Much of that was funded from bonding, some from Efficiency Maine grants.

Improvements included installing swipe card access instead of keys allowing school staff to more easily enter locked buildings.

Masonry restoration was completed at Walton, Sherwood Heights and Franklin schools. Also, old carpet was replaced with a cleaner, tile-like flooring at Edward Little, Auburn Middle, Sherwood Heights, Walton and Washburn schools. New furniture “that the school can be proud of” was provided to Franklin School.

The Auburn Middle School has improved lockers and an elevator, and there’s an upgraded telephone system in the middle, Sherwood Heights, Fairview, Walton, East Auburn and Franklin schools.  

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