New Britain superintendent warns of contract action over First Student bus delays

Superintendent told the New Britain Board of Education on Sept. 2 that the district is preparing to take formal contractual steps after repeated morning and afternoon delays by its busing provider, First Student. "In no way is our busing provider's current performance acceptable to me," the superintendent said, and added that the district intends to use available financial remedies and, if necessary, reassign routes to other providers.

The superintendent said the district is in year 3 of a five-year contract for general education routes and year 1 of a three-year contract for special-education transportation. He and other staff described most problems as concentrated in special-education routes, where vehicles often carry only a handful of students but must be reliably on time. "The majority of our issues are related to special education," the superintendent said.

Nut graf: The district framed the problems as a contractor-performance issue rather than a district scheduling failure and told the board it will escalate enforcement. The superintendent described both short-term fixes being used by staff and the district's plan to apply contractual and, if advised by legal counsel, financial remedies.

Board members and staff described daily pressure on the transportation office. The superintendent said district staff have been in frequent direct contact with First Student and that Central Office personnel, including the special-education office and the superintendent's executive assistant, have been supporting the transportation office in responding to upset families. "We have flexed the meager staff that we have available," the superintendent said, praising the district staff who took calls from "very, upset, irate, very emotional parents."

District staff gave examples of communication failures by the contractor. The superintendent said the contract requires the vendor to maintain a hotline for district use; the vendor did not have a functioning hotline in the first days of school. As an interim measure, the superintendent instructed staff to obtain a dedicated basic phone for district-only contact with the vendor to reduce dropped or delayed communications.

The superintendent described modest day-to-day improvement — "Today, we got the all clear about an hour and a half earlier than we got it at this time last week" — but said it is not sufficient. He told the board the district will "exercise our right, as we see fit" and that, "when it's financially feasible," it will begin removing routes from First Student and assigning them to other qualified providers.

Board members asked about causes, including staffing and equipment, and the superintendent said the company "was not ready" from both staffing and infrastructure perspectives despite prior assurances. The superintendent said the district will pursue remedies available under the contract and consult lawyers about financial penalties if advised.

Ending: The board did not vote on any formal change to the contract at the meeting; the superintendent framed the next steps as escalating enforcement and, if necessary, reassigning routes when feasible. The superintendent said he had already made public statements to the media about the situation earlier the same day.