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School transportation costs top $45 million; councilors press for efficiency review and audit of First Student contract
Summary
Springfield School Department officials told the council school transportation costs will increase by about $2.4 million for FY26 to more than $45 million, citing contract escalators and charter-school routing. Councilors and internal audit staff said they will pursue further reviews of contract performance and system efficiency.
School officials told the Springfield City Council on May 12 that the school transportation budget is increasing and that contract escalators, charter-school growth and special transportation for homeless students are driving costs.
Chief Pat Roach said transportation costs rose by $2.4 million (a 5.31% increase) for FY26. He said First Student and Vanpool — the district’s two largest providers — increased rates roughly by their CPI escalators (First Student 2.9%, Vanpool 3.0%). Roach also said charter-school expansions required additional buses, at roughly $96,000 per bus, and that homeless transportation costs — where a student placed out of district must be transported back to Springfield — reached $2.66 million.
Councilors raised concerns about efficiency: several said they see large buses running with small numbers of students on some routes and asked whether the district and administration can audit routing, utilization and contract compliance. Councilor Govan and others asked the school department to continue work on bus-route efficiency and study consolidation opportunities.
Councilor Delgado asked about past procurement and contract performance by First Student; Roach said the department levied fines last year for on-time performance shortcomings and that First Student’s performance had improved toward the target range, saving the district money via those fines in the prior year.
Several councilors suggested a joint review involving the internal audit office and the school department to examine route efficiency, contract terms and potential savings. The internal auditor confirmed an audit of the First Student contract was presented in the fall and that a follow-up audit will occur in the coming months.
What happens next: Council and school staff agreed to pursue additional analysis of routing efficiencies and to coordinate with internal audit on a follow-up review of the transportation contract and service performance.
