Transportation staff provided details on a proposed Bus Patrol contract and outlined district efforts to address a continuing bus‑driver shortage.

Staff said the vendor’s model charges a maintenance/operations fee and that the district’s current understanding is a $275 monthly fee per bus in service under the program; ticketed violations captured by vendor systems are cited at about $300 each, the presenter said. The presenter said payment flows associated with each ticket include an initial portion to the vendor, with state and township shares described as well. The presenter cautioned that the exact split and monthly net cost depend on ticket volume and final contract language.

The contract would also add cloud storage and interior cameras on buses in addition to the district’s existing exterior cameras. Staff said cloud storage will retain footage without requiring manual chip retrieval and argued it will make videos easier to access for investigations. “It’ll be a vast improvement,” the presenter said.

Staff described a financial projection tied to typical ticket volumes and other districts’ results; they said that, depending on ticket volume, the district could see net revenue in the low‑to‑mid hundreds of thousands over a 10‑month school period. But staff cautioned that revenue depends on the number of paid tickets and that the district owes little or nothing in months with zero tickets.

On operations and discipline policy, some board members and staff pushed back on a requirement they had heard that drivers must produce seating charts for every route. Board members described that mandate as impractical and said staff told drivers not to complete seating charts if they did not want to. Staff emphasized that seating and student behavior responses remain at the drivers’ discretion and that the added cameras should reduce the need for pre‑prepared seating charts.

Transportation staff said the district is experiencing an acute shortage of drivers and that neighboring districts are also competing by raising pay and offering benefits. Staff said the district has about 57 regular bus routes and five van routes and is developing proposals for board approval that would raise starting pay, create incentives such as monthly attendance bonuses and build bench strength with paid substitute drivers. The presenter said some drivers are retired and noted that overtime, mechanics driving buses, and excessive extra hours increase costs and are unsustainable.

Staff said the district has discussed the plan with the township manager and that local law enforcement and township staff have signaled they will cooperate with the ticket‑verification process required to validate automated citations.

No formal vote was recorded on the bus‑patrol contract during the meeting; staff said details and a contract will be brought to the board for approval.