Louisiana's Recovery District settles unpaid school bus bill

From The New Orleans Times-Picayune: The Louisiana-run Recovery School District, which oversees most of the public schools in New Orleans, has paid off in full the $7.2 million bill it owed to its bus company, clearing the way for a new contract in time for the start of the academic year. Superintendent Patrick Dobard says the district has paid Durham School Services the remaining part of that debt. That means about 5,500 pupils in the Recovery District are getting rides to and from school on Durham buses.

JULY 2012...from Nola.com: With the opening of school a month away, the school bus company that transports most public school students in New Orleanshas laid off its drivers in a dispute with the state's Recovery School District over $7.2 million in unpaid bills. A spokesman for Durham School Services says the company has sent termination letters to 142 drivers and 55 bus monitors. The spokesman says the school district owes Durham $7.2 million.