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Maine School Administrative District 75 has opened negotiations with the union that represents bus drivers and other support staff, a month after several drivers told the school board that low compensation relative to nearby districts is hampering efforts to hire and keep drivers.
The school board discussed the plan during a 30-minute closed session on Oct. 8. Back in public session, the board voted to direct Superintendent Heidi O’Leary to open negotiations with the Merrymeeting Employees Association by Oct. 16.
O’Leary and the school board’s Support Staff Negotiations Committee are allowed to begin negotiating the district’s next contract with the union, which will take effect in July 2027. The parties also could make a temporary agreement to modify the current contract.
The members of the negotiations committee are Harpswell residents Gregory Greenleaf and Ryan Larsen, and Topsham resident Amy Spelke.
At least 10 bus drivers have retired or resigned since the beginning of 2026. Several went to nearby districts with higher starting wages and retirement benefits that MSAD 75 doesn’t provide.
In response, MSAD 75 has consolidated bus routes and assigned staff in other roles to drive buses. After efforts to recruit drivers failed, it signed a $637,000 contract with Ohio-based First Student Inc. to provide four drivers at a cost of $996 per driver, per day.
Hutson Hayward, chair of the school board, said he is grateful for everyone who will be involved in the negotiations.
“The work they are undertaking will allow us to not only come together to address our immediate staffing challenges but also to collaborate on a new three-year contract agreement for all of our support staff,” he said.
Merrymeeting Employees Association President Erin Scott said she hopes the parties can reach an agreement that will take effect before the contract’s end. She said the union and the district have a good working relationship.
The union has been working on opening negotiations for some time, Scott said.
She said bus drivers’ comments at a September school board meeting were not the impetus behind the agreement to open negotiations, and she described drivers’ negative public statements as “counterproductive.”
O’Leary also said the decision to negotiate “was not simply a reaction to the drivers speaking out.” She added that she meets monthly with union leadership.
One of the drivers who called for action, Belinda Rossignol, said in a text after the Oct. 8 meeting that she is glad negotiations are starting. But Rossignol, who drives a route in Harpswell, said she is worried that the district will lose more drivers before June if it doesn’t offer a more appealing contract.
In response to Scott’s criticism of the drivers, Rossignol said she feels like the union has not been communicating enough with members about its plans.
