Update from the Superintendent and Board Chair on Zum Driver Negotiations

October 13th, 2025

The following is a joint message from HCPSS Superintendent Bill Barnes and Howard County Board of Education Chair Jolene Mosley, issued Monday, Oct. 13, 2025:

Last week, we shared information related to a possible bus driver strike by employees of Zum Services who are represented by Teamsters Local Union #570. As we stated in our letter, we greatly value the work that all our contracted bus drivers do each day on behalf of our students and communities. Additionally, we fully support their right to negotiate with their employer, Zum Services, for enhanced pay and benefits.

This past Friday, drivers represented by the union distributed full color flyers to the students they serve that encouraged advocacy on their behalf by calling the Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) Student Transportation Office. To be clear, we support nearly everything included in the flyers. Bus drivers are essential and crucial to the operations of the school system. However, students are not an appropriate means for disseminating this information, and no other entity would be permitted to conduct such a campaign as it is in violation of HCPSS policy.

We do not wish to engage in public negotiations and influence campaigns with Teamsters Local Union #570 or Zum Services. The reality is that we all want our bus drivers to be appreciated and appropriately compensated. On average, Zum Services receives the highest rate per route of all our student transportation contractors. The pressure being redirected to HCPSS is unproductive and a distraction to a process that is between the employees (represented by Teamsters) and their employer (Zum). As part of the agreement with HCPSS that was signed by Zum Services, rate adjustment requests are only permitted at the time of renewal. That process will occur this winter and spring for the 2026-2027 school year. The amount currently being paid to Zum Services this school year is the amount agreed upon by Zum. With the current school year budget already established, any increase provided to Zum Services would require the reallocation of funding away from student instruction and schools.

We encourage students, staff, and parents to continue expressing support for all our drivers. They are wonderful people who do exceptional work. They are often the first person to greet students in the morning and the last to say goodbye in the afternoon, and their efforts are essential to the entire student experience. We value all our drivers and the contractors who employ them.

We apologize to the students and families who were used as messengers for influence in a process between Zum Services and Teamsters Local Union #570. It is our hope that their efforts moving forward will refrain from involving children and that there can be swift resolution between Zum Services and their employees.

Thank you.