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District outlines phased plan to reduce contracted special-transportation costs, seeks more drivers
Summary
Staff proposed a phased strategy to reduce contracted small-bus costs, increase in-house capacity, lease non-CDL buses as a pilot and negotiate joint contracts with neighboring districts to control special-education and out-of-district transport costs.
Concord School District staff presented a multi-step plan to reduce reliance on outside contractors for special transportation and to address a persistent driver shortage.
Staff outlined the scale of operations and recent shifts: there are roughly 2,000 eligible home-to-school riders and about 1,000 additional riders tied to athletics and trips, yielding an approximate peak demand of 3,200 seats on larger buses. Small-bus service (special needs and smaller-group placements) historically was largely provided in-house but has shifted post-COVID; staff reported 52 of about 200 small-bus slots are currently contracted out, covering 16 vehicles from multiple vendors and costing an estimated million dollars annually.
Nut graf: The district proposes a phased approach: (1) prioritize converting small contracted routes to in-house non-CDL buses, (2) recruit and train additional drivers (staff said non-CDL training is ~10 days vs. ~60 days for CDL drivers), (3) pilot leasing non-CDL buses from local vendors to test routing and costs before purchasing, and (4) pursue cooperative contracts with neighboring districts for shared placements where geography makes sense.
Staff said the district currently has several non-CDL buses and could lease additional vehicles (quoted vendor cost about $94,000 to buy a non-CDL bus). Leasing would be presented as a short-term proof-of-concept to avoid a large up-front outlay while staff builds driver capacity. The district projects the need to hire five drivers in the near term and identified immediate actions such as front-loaded lease payments to reduce monthly costs and vendor negotiation for multi-district volume discounts.
Board members and staff discussed contractual and labor issues. Staff said the newly negotiated bus driver collective bargaining agreement produced improvements in recruitment but that non-CDL driver terms may be covered separately; the board asked staff to brief it in nonpublic session on labor details. Members also asked which technology and scheduling software changes might be needed and whether additional routing staff would be required; staff said they will return with an updated cost sheet including upfront lease/purchase scenarios, estimated savings for 2025-26 and any software or scheduling labor needs.
Ending: The board directed staff to continue the phased plan, pursue vendor negotiations and return with dollar-level scenarios and updated driver-hiring timelines for inclusion in the budget process.
