School District 6 privatizes snow removal at high school

Columbia Falls School District 6 has privatized some of its snow removal services for the remainder of the school year.

The school board last week approved a contract with TS Spraying and Snow Removal for services that started Dec. 10 and run through May, or whenever the snow stops flying.

Under the contract TS will remove snow optimally between the hours of 4 a.m. and 7 a.m. on days when the National Weather Service forecast calls for snow to reach 2 inches by 4 a.m. on school days.

The 2 inch snow total trigger price is $750, which includes using two pieces of equipment. The “pre-treatment” of a lot is $750.

Based on previous winters, the estimated cost of the contract is about $15,000, which was the lowest bids of the companies that showed interest in doing the work.

The school has had a difficult time in filling positions districtwide this year, which includes transportation. A mechanic recently resigned, the dispatcher resigned, and one special education bus driver also recently resigned.

The board was going to have a special transportation committee meeting before Christmas to discuss the problems, as some of these jobs are very difficult to fill because they’re a split shift – with morning and the afternoon hours, district Clerk Dustin Zuffelato noted in a report to the school board.

The school is considering changing the dispatcher position job description, as it currently requires a commercial driver’s license, and people with CDL’s are hard to come by.

The district is looking at creative ways to fill the important slot, such as offering it to paraeducators looking for more work, or possibly splitting the job into two part-time jobs, rather than one job.