LANSING | Thornton Fractional Township High Schools officials are considering legal options to get out of their contract with a Lynwood-based school bus company that they say is providing poor transportation service.

Back in May, the District 215 Board of Education approved a two-year extension for Kickert School Bus Line Inc., giving the company the business through the 2009-10 academic year to transport students to T.F. North High School in Calumet City and T.F. South High School in Lansing, along with students at both schools who needed transport for their involvement in extracurricular activities.

On Tuesday, district Superintendent Creg Williams said the company's service has not been up to the standards he would expect for a school bus company.

He said there have been several instances of students being picked up late and even a couple of cases of students never being picked up at all. He also said there have been times when students involved with athletics and other clubs did not get the transportation service they needed.

Officials with Kickert declined on Wednesday to comment about the situation.

But Williams said he and attorneys for the school district sent a 10-day notification to the Lynwood company informing them that the school district considered the company in violation of its contract.

There have been some talks between officials of the two sides, and Williams admits Kickert's service has improved somewhat in recent weeks.

"It hasn't improved enough for me to allow them to continue to earn our business," said Williams, noting that notices have been sent to Kickert informing them that District 215 is looking into measures to break the contract and award a new one to a different school bus company.

He also noted that District 215 has deliberately refused to pay its bills to Kickert for the past two months, hoping that the $30,000 owed will get the school bus company's attention.

Board of Education officials were not asked to take any action on the issue this week, but Williams said he may ask the school board to vote on some measure when they meet Nov. 25 to determine whether the district should risk a court battle to try to get out of the contract.

As things stand now, Williams is shifting some school bus service to another company. South Holland-based First Student Co. is providing transportation for students who participate in the "credit recovery" program offered at the district's vocational center in Calumet City.

"We may have to shift more of our business to another company, that is an option for us," Williams said, adding that any new contract would be put up for bid to receive the best price possible.