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Board hears continued concerns about Safeway bus service; district discusses rebidding and in-house options
Summary
Board members and Superintendent Dr. Jeff McHugh said January bus service problems persist. The board discussed requiring Safeway to improve performance, potential rebidding for next year and the long-term possibility of in-house busing or phased electric-bus purchases supported by state subsidies.
Superintendent Dr. Jeff McHugh told the board on Jan. 13 that district leaders are continuing to press Safeway — the district’s contracted transportation provider — to fix service problems that disrupted routes in early January.
“We are aware that transportation, busing in particular, is still an issue and Safeway needs to get better,” Dr. McHugh said, adding that district leaders planned a meeting with Safeway’s leadership to demand improvements.
Board members asked whether the district is considering putting transportation services out to bid for the next school year. Dr. McHugh said rebidding is “certainly not something we’ve ruled out,” but he cautioned that the regional market has limited carriers able to scale for the district’s needs and that the district partners with District 87 on routes.
A board discussion also explored a longer-term option of running district-operated bus service. The district noted that establishing in-house transportation would be a substantial undertaking: roughly 60 buses would be required and buses can cost about $500,000 each, meaning the capital investment would be large and likely phased over multiple years.
“One of the challenges is it requires a lot of upfront capital,” Dr. McHugh said when the board asked about a district-run fleet.
Board members also discussed electric buses and state subsidies. A board member noted that Illinois subsidy programs can cover up to 75% of the purchase price for electric buses in some programs, which could make a phased purchase strategy feasible over time if the district chose to move away from third-party contracting.
Nut graf: The district is pursuing immediate fixes with its current contractor while keeping alternatives on the table — including rebidding and, in the long term, buying buses and operating its own fleet — but no procurement decision was made at the meeting.
The board asked staff to continue pursuing performance improvements with Safeway, to examine market capacity for alternative contractors, and to explore grant and subsidy options for electric buses that could lower capital costs if a district-owned fleet were considered in the future.
Ending: Board members said they will continue oversight of transportation performance and asked the administration to develop options and cost estimates for future consideration.
