While I am thrilled about the budget and the walking distance proposition passing and I applaud the efforts of so many people who helped get those items passed, my heart is breaking for all of our loyal and dedicated bus drivers.

Many of Manhasset's bus drivers have been taking care of our precious children for 10-20 years and more, often going above and beyond the call of duty when it came to the safety and well-being of our kids. Now they are being let go without any pension, severance or medical coverage. These good people are being blamed for all the mismanagement in the transportation department, although they are not the ones who created it. They are being put out on the street with nothing. We were led to believe that Huntington Coach would offer employment to them all and we would most likely have the same drivers. We were never told that Huntington Coach intends to hire them as entry level employees at a mere fraction of their current salaries. They are being offered the same wage as someone who has just finished training. This is blatantly unfair and unacceptable. They are experienced drivers with a vast knowledge of our town, our schools and our kids and should be paid accordingly. These people have homes and families just like the rest of us. How are they supposed to survive on $14.41 an hour? What kind of people are working for this wage? What kind of people will be driving our children?

These dedicated people deserve some compassion. While it is my sincere wish to find some way to keep our own buses and drivers, if that is not possible the board of education needs to consider offering our drivers some sort of severance package in order to ease the transition for them. It's the only decent thing to do and it's not more than any of us would expect after many years of dedicated service.

Rally Robinson