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Board approves transportation contract amid ongoing dispute over GPS data access
Summary
The board approved several finance items, including a transportation services agreement; directors pressed the vendor and staff for access to bus GPS reporting while noting timing constraints that limited bargaining leverage.
The Mill Creek Township School District board approved a transportation services contract as part of a block of finance and operations items, but directors used the discussion to press for greater operational transparency — specifically the ability to run GPS-based reports on bus operations.
Mister O'Toole summarized the transportation item and said the district received two bids; First Student's proposal was lower than STA's, and First Student agreed to reduce the maximum bus age from 14 to 10 years with additional language permitting alternative transportation vehicles. "The adjustments clarify alternative transportation vehicles may be utilized to supplement services," O'Toole said. The block of finance items, including the transportation agreement, passed.
Board members, however, pressed the administration about data access. Director Mister Pat (last name unspecified) asked if the district would be granted access to the contractor's GPS software; O'Toole said the vendor had declined to provide backend access but agreed to provide reports. "I'm still pushing on that direction," O'Toole said.
Directors discussed seeking a compromise that would allow the district to generate specific reports rather than full backend access. "We're not asking for the back end access that we can manipulate data ... we're just asking for report-generating access," O'Toole said. Board members said they will continue to seek a way to obtain reproducible reports that the district can run on demand.
In response to a question about whether the board was approving the contract because of time constraints, O'Toole said the district's leverage was limited given timing and termination clauses. "At the end of the day, we're both in a position that it is too far in terms of timing where ... it was too short for us to really establish exactly what that's going to look like," O'Toole said. He added the district could rely on contractual clauses to enforce performance and timeliness and that administration would continue negotiations about reporting access.
The vote approved the transportation agreement as part of the bundled finance items but left unresolved the specific reporting access requested by some directors; administration said it would continue to pursue a workable reporting solution.
