Stop West Shore School District from contracting out Support Staff Jobs

West Shore School District (WSSD) is looking to contract out support staff jobs to privately owned companies.  Currently WSSD as a non-profit organization (they don't pay taxes to any one) directly pays support staff employees a fair wage and benefits.  WSSD feels that hiring a for profit company to pay employees a less wage and NO benefits will save them money.  This can not be allowed to happen for numerous reasons and money is one of them.

The first thing is money.  WSSD feels that paying a contractor to hire under paid workers with NO benefits will save them money.  This idea may work in the short term but even after a year this is not true.  The district will be given a low fee from the contractor so the contractor is picked, but then the contractor will increase the fee to a much higher cost which can be higher then the current cost of doing the job "in house".  There are numerous videos, documents, etc... of school districts deciding whether to pay the higher contractor cost each year or doing the jobs "in house".  The current support staff of WSSD is trying to work with the district to save money. A privately owned contractor company is out to make money for themselves, not the district.  Contractors will cut their own costs but not the profit they "need" to make off the district. The WSSD does not have shareholders, private investors, or a owner to pay. The district just “earns” enough money to pay employees, maintain equipment and properties, and purchase equipment as needed. Any extra income for the district is saved and used to fund unexpected needs or future projects. A company contracted to provide services needs to pay for all the same items the district does, but they can have investors, shareholders, CEO's salaries, and losses from other clients to recover to stay in business. Companies that can not earn more money then they spend can not stay in business. As a client of such company, the WSSD will have to pay the company enough money to stay in business sometime in the future. Can the district really support another company when they are claiming they can not support themselves?

Employee service and loyalty will drop if employees are contracted out.  It is documented that the quality of service done by employees that are not paid directly by the company they work in or around is lower than the service done by employees directly hired by the company and buildings they work in.  The attitude "these people are not my boss" happens when employees work in buildings and areas that are not controlled by the employees "parent" company.  Also with lower wages and NO benefits, employees quit to get a better jobs more often.  So children may have a new bus driver, cafeteria worker, or custodian every year if not more frequently.  Numerous current support staff employees have service records of 10 or more years.  There are current support staff that have 20 years or more with the district.  The district will probably be contracting out the jobs to employees that only have 5 years or less with the contractor company.  Also if the district chooses to change contractors then all the employees will be new to the children and community because the employees are not just handed over to the new contractor. If the district contracts out, all the current support staff will have to be hired by the contractor to keep their current job probably at a lower pay rate and NO benefits. Numerous current support staff employees are paid under $12,000 gross per year. If they have to take a pay cut to do the same job, some of them may need to find a different job to earn about the same current amount just to support their family. Good wages is the reason why current employees don't leave. Why have employees come and go over pay and benefits when the current system is retaining employees for over ten years or more on average?

WSSD contracting out will cause the taxpayers' rates to rise.  Currently WSSD owns all its current equipment like school buses, kitchen equipment and supplies, cleaning carts, etc...  If the district contracts out the employees jobs, they will probably sell the equipment to the contractor as well.  So they will be renting the use of the same equipment, they brought and paid for once, over years and years while the contractor owns it.  The district will also start paying taxes for the contractor to buy new equipment, maintenance, parts and service, etc... on the equipment as it needs it in the future.  Currently all parts, services, etc... paid by the district is TAX FREE.  Unless the district can legally purchase TAX FREE items and "give" them to a for profit, tax paying company, how is contracting out cheaper? One example of this is the fuel cost for the diesel equipment used by the district. The WSSD can and has locked in a for a year a diesel fuel price of $1.25 per gallon that is delivered directly to the district's diesel pumps located on district property. A contractor can not avoid taxes unless they can get tax exempt, so they will have to pay close market price which changes all the time. The current price of diesel fuel is about $3.50 per gallon, because of the local, federal, road, etc... taxes that are applied. Why have the taxpayers pay for a companies tax obligations as well?

Please help keep the WSSD directly employing the current support staff and not contracting out any support staff services.