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Weare board awards five-year transportation contract to Student Transportation of America, votes to cut one route to limit cost impact
Summary
The Weare School Board accepted a five-year transportation contract with Student Transportation of America with steep first-year price increases and voted to reduce regular routes from 12 to 11 to offset most of the cost.
The Weare School Board accepted a five-year bid from Student Transportation of America (STA) and voted to reduce regular daily bus routes from 12 to 11 to reduce the immediate tax and budgetary impact.
School administrators presented results of a competitive bid process conducted by SAU 24 on behalf of Heather Guevara and John Stark, saying STA and First Student submitted proposals. The board was told STA’s offer carried a 10.82% rate increase for year one and 5.44% annually thereafter on the district’s baseline routes, with similar escalators that could affect special-education, extracurricular and field-trip runs.
The board and staff described the first-year jump as front-loaded to account for recent infrastructure and labor cost changes, and said prior pandemic-era contract extensions meant this was the first full rebid in several years. The business administrator said the contract’s per-route daily rates are calculated from the number of routes the district runs over the school year; moving from 12 to 11 routes reduces the district’s first-year cost increase from about $88,400 to roughly $12,955 under the new STA proposal. The presenters emphasized that the per-route pricing is based on the district’s current route map and the contract numbers are fixed (not caps).
Board members raised operational concerns: driver shortages have already forced the district to operate some days with fewer than 12 routes and some student rides are long. Administrators said STA has been responsive and that contract staffing and training are lengthy processes, but the vendor has generally provided reliable coverage. The board agreed it could add or remove routes during the contract term as needs change.
A motion to accept the STA bid was seconded and approved by the board. Later in the meeting a motion to reduce daily routes from 12 to 11 carried by voice vote.
Administrators also reported on an SAU pilot of electric buses used on shorter Henniker routes and noted the vendor did not include fuel for those buses in its original pricing; that contributes to some savings. The district said it will pursue available grant opportunities for additional electric buses and continue to monitor driver recruitment and training.
The district staff said the new contract will affect future-year projections and the board discussed how routing choices now change both the proposed budget and the statutory “default” budget that applies if voters reject the proposed spending plan.
Board members and administrators said they would keep the community informed as routing changes are implemented and if service or schedule adjustments are needed.
