Elizabeth Forward delays start of school as bus dispute continues

Elizabeth Forward School District has delayed the start of school until Monday amid a legal dispute with its transportation provider.

The school year was scheduled to start Thursday.

“I apologize for any inconvenience that this delayed start may cause; however, please know that the district is continuing to work diligently to ensure that our students have access to safe and reliable transportation,” Superintendent Todd E. Keruskin said Tuesday in a letter to parents.

District officials and representatives from bus company Pennsylvania Coach Lines attended a closed-door hearing Tuesday in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas before Judge Christine Ward.

Ward ordered the parties to negotiate for a new contract for a three-week period beginning Monday through Sept. 13. PA Coach will be the exclusive bus carrier the district negotiates with.

During those three weeks, PA Coach will provide transportation for the district at a daily rate of $346 per school bus that seats 30 or more passengers and $315 per school bus that seating less than 30 passengers.

David Sunstein, president and owner of PA Coach, said the judge’s ruling was a “a welcome, reasonable and important step forward illustrating the importance of reaching a timely agreement, something we’ve been working towards at Pennsylvania Coach Lines for some time.”

The district filed an injunction last week against the bus company, also known as PA Coach.

PA Coach informed officials on Aug. 2 that it would not transport Elizabeth Forward students in the upcoming school year, despite being contracted to do so, according to the district.

PA Coach owner David Sunstein said Monday that the district had failed to negotiate a new contract.

The district’s contract with PA Coach expired June 30. Voting records showed the school board approved a new four-year contract in October. Sunstein maintains that contract was never signed.

Sunstein said the district owed PA Coach more than $1 million for past services as of last December.

There are nearly 2,350 students in the district who will be without transportation if the issue is not resolved.