School board accepts five-year transportation contract with Student Transportation of America

The John Stark Regional School District School Board voted to accept a five-year transportation contract with Student Transportation of America, the district's incumbent contractor, after the district's transportation committee recommended renewing the agreement.

The transportation presenter told the board the contract would carry a 10.82% increase in the first year, followed by annual increases averaging about 5.44% in subsequent years. “In the 1st year, it's $31,345,” the presenter said when outlining the budget impact; later years were presented as additional annual increases of $15,246 (year 2), $16,085 (year 3), $16,968 (year 4) and $17,901 (year 5).

The transportation committee reviewed two bids: the incumbent, Student Transportation of America (STA), and First Student. The committee reported STA’s bid and operational familiarity with the district made STA the preferred choice. The presenter said First Student had higher employee wage assumptions that raised its cost structure and that STA represented the cheaper option overall in committee deliberations.

Board members discussed how the contract figures would be reflected in the proposed budget. One board member asked for the total cost by year rather than the incremental increases; the presenter said that the full-year totals would be provided. The board chair recused himself from the STA discussion and asked another board member to lead the discussion; the recusal was noted before debate began.

After brief discussion, the board voted to accept the STA contract by voice vote. The motion was approved by voice vote; the recorded roll-call tally was not provided in the meeting transcript.

The business administrator later noted the proposed budget presented to voters includes the contract amounts and cautioned that the transportation costs will be part of the default budget calculations if the overall budget is not approved at Town Meeting.

The board did not adopt a separate warrant article for the transportation contract; the presenter explained that because regular K–8 transportation is required by law, putting the contract on a separate warrant that voters could defeat would leave the district unable to accept a legally required contract.

The board asked staff to provide the full-year totals by line item before public hearings on the budget.

Ending: The contract acceptance concludes the procurement cycle for transportation; members asked for additional detail on annual totals for the public budget presentation.