Bloomington-Area School Cancelling Contract With Auxilio Busing Service

The Monroe County Community School Corporation sent a letter to Auxilio Services this week saying it’s terminating its contract with the Michigan-based busing company on Oct. 13.

The decision comes after the school corporation notified Auxilio last month it was in breach of contract and had 30 days to fix problems with buses and routes.

MCCSC hired the corporate bus fleet to handle 42 of its 124 routes this year because of a shortage of bus drivers. Community members criticized the decision at a school board meeting in March. At the time, some expressed concerns with Auxilio’s operation standards.

Muncie Community Schools also hired Auxilio to handle its bus routes, but decided to cancel multiple days of classes the first week of school because of widespread problems. MCCSC assured parents the issues were isolated to Muncie and bus drivers would be prepared for the first day of school in Bloomington.

But when that day came in August, Auxilio only provided enough drivers to cover 18 of its 42 routes. That resulted in some routes being delayed as many as 90 minutes and some children never getting picked up for school. MCCSC Superintendent Judith DeMuth apologized to parents in a letter, saying the corporation was working on fixing the length of its routes, overcrowding on buses and issues with its busing app.

The issue reached a boiling point at an Aug. 22 school board meeting, where several parents urged the school board to terminate its contract with Auxilio. The school board approved bus driver salary increases during the meeting, in an effort to help with bus driver recruitment. The corporation also recently started an advertising blitz to try and attract more drivers.

In Muncie, local and state officials assured parents that fixes to the busing situation were coming.  This week, the Muncie Community Schools board cancelled a contract with True Consultants, the third-party contractor that mapped bus routes for Auxilio.  And state Department of Education officials said the district will need to make up the two instructional days missed when busing problems cancelled classes.

Representatives from Auxilio did not respond to requests for comment.

Stephanie Wiechmann contributed to this report.