Ames district board awards transportation contract to First Student after public concern about driver pay and service continuity

The Ames Community School District Board of Education voted 5–1 to award a transportation services agreement to First Student Inc., a move staff said will reduce the district’s transportation costs substantially but that elicited concern from current contractor Durham School Services and several longtime drivers about potential pay cuts and loss of experienced staff.

The motion to approve the award to First Student was moved by Vice President Shields Cook and seconded by Board member Beerbohm; the measure passed with five votes in favor and one opposed.

District staff described a formal request-for-proposals process they said had not been run since 2015. A seven-member committee reviewed two responsive bids, scored firms on responsiveness, safety history, financial strength, references, and operations, and opened pricing envelopes only after qualitative evaluation. "When we look at the pricing, the pricing for First Student was less overall than the pricing for Durham," district staff said.

The cost difference staff cited was substantial: staff said First Student’s proposal was lower than Durham’s by "over a million dollars" on the general fund when modeled against the district’s current routes. First Student’s approach also included a different mix of vehicles on some special-education (SPED) runs (using vans for some one-student trips), which lowered SPED route costs in the bid.

Representatives of Durham School Services urged the board to delay the award. Jennifer Andress, regional manager for Durham School Services, said Durham has served the district for 16 years and asked the board to "table this decision so that the district can further evaluate the proposals and risk due to reliable service next year." She said Durham’s proposal honored a historic six-hour-per-day guarantee for drivers even though the RFP asked firms to price on a four-hour-per-day route basis.

Several current drivers also spoke during public forum. Mike Miller, a 15-year Ames bus driver, described longstanding relationships with students and said the district risked losing experienced drivers: "Don't lose these people because you can't afford them," Miller said. Todd Bell, a driver trainer, warned of community economic impacts if veteran drivers left for higher-paying work.

Board members and staff clarified how the advertised four-hour route baseline functions. District staff said the RFP asked bidders to provide pricing based on four hours per route as a consistent procurement baseline; that baseline is not necessarily the maximum hours a driver would work. A board member noted that the four-hour figure was a minimum baseline used for comparing bids and that the district historically guaranteed drivers six paid hours per day on AM/PM route packages.

Board members discussed the district’s budget constraints, noting that substantial savings in transportation could preserve funds for classroom positions and other programs. One board member said staff followed the stated RFP procedures and recommended the award based on the combination of service proposal and price.

The board’s action directs staff to finalize a contract with First Student Inc. District staff and the public repeatedly raised uncertainty about whether current drivers will remain employed with the district under the new contract; staff said transition details, routing efficiencies, and staffing plans will be determined through the contracting and implementation process.

No formal amendment or contingency was added to the award motion at the time of the vote. Durham representatives said they would follow up with the district in writing and by email.

Votes and related records from the meeting show the motion passed 5–1; the transcript does not record a roll-call naming each board member’s vote.