By Howard Packowitz

NORMAL – The moment of truth approaches for Unit 5 and its busing contractor as the start of school is less than a week away, and memories of last year’s transportation fiasco are fresh on parents’ minds.

At Wednesday night’s school board meeting, board member Mike Trask said he has “full confidence” in contractor First Student.

The first several weeks of the last school year were plagued by late and overcrowded buses and complicated routes.

Board member Joseph Cleary, who wanted the bus company’s contract terminated last year, is cautiously optimistic and confident enough now for his two elementary school kids to ride the bus.

He said a lot is on the line for First Student.

“This is the last year of their contract, and so we’re going to know very soon into the school year if they’re going to be a viable candidate to be our vendor going forward, or if we get other bids and price this out, if it’s going to be somebody else who’s going to be in the forefront.”

“I think they’re aware of that, and I think they want our business,” said Cleary.

First Student location manager Mark Bohl said routing this fall is similar to the much-smoother running system from the spring.

He has 146 drivers ready to go, compared to about 120 last year, to transport about 10,000 students to and from school each day.

Board President Jim Hayek urged patience when dealing with parents’ questions. He said nerves are probably pretty raw from last year.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]