SFUSD board approves First Student extension and small Zoom van pilot amid safety and labor concerns

The San Francisco Unified School District Board of Education on Feb. 11 approved a one-year extension of its First Student Inc. contract for yellow-bus transportation and authorized a limited pilot contract with Zoom Services Inc. for van-based services intended to address specific emerging student needs.

Staff told the board the recommended actions include a seventh amendment to IFB TS2015 (First Student) to extend the term from Aug. 1, 2020, to July 31, 2021, include a 6% fixed-price increase and reduce the district’s not-to-exceed amount for the 2020–21 school year from $32,286,421 to $30,000,000. Staff also asked the board to award a small contract to Zoom Services for a pilot van program (presented as 10 vehicles) covering Feb. 12, 2020, through Jan. 12, 2023, with a not-to-exceed amount noted in staff materials (approximately $629,000 through Jan. 12, 2021).

Transportation staff said rising costs—about a 38% increase since 2014—are driven by complex bell schedules, multiple start and pickup times across sites, choice-driven routing and the need to serve students with high needs. ‘‘We cannot continue to spend this much money to transport this many students. It’s just not a viable option,’’ the presentation noted, and staff described operational changes already underway (new routing software that reduced bus use by 15 routes, hub-route pilots, revised IEP transportation options and an electronic field-trip request system).

Public commenters, particularly school bus drivers and union representatives, urged the board to separate the First Student and Zoom votes and raised safety and labor concerns about using light-duty passenger vehicles for home-to-school routes. Graham Norris, a school bus driver, asked the board to consider the different regulatory regimes that govern commercial school-bus operations versus passenger vans; Gail Flynn, a certified instructor for school-bus drivers, and union members cited California and CHP training and certification requirements for school-bus drivers (multi-day, in-person training and behind-the-wheel testing) and said online modules do not substitute for CHP school-bus certification. Several speakers pointed to a recent court decision and AB5 implementation and asked whether Zoom drivers would be employees or independent contractors and whether the company would comply with state law.

Parents and advocates also addressed service reliability for students who travel long distances or attend nonpublic schools; some parents described multi-hour commutes and difficulties reaching transportation staff during service disruptions. Other parents and staff who had experience with Zoom’s smaller shoestring contract (serving preschool-age intervention programs) described benefits for certain students—real-time tracking, booster seats and consistent warm handoffs—and urged a measured pilot so the district can evaluate outcomes.

Board members asked for follow-up information and requested written answers from Zoom on questions raised at the hearing (driver classification, training, vehicle ownership, wheelchair accessibility, background checks and operational procedures). Staff said they would ask Zoom to provide written responses and would return with pilot results to the board. The board then took a roll-call vote and approved the bundled contracts; staff said they will track outcomes and report back.

What happens next: the First Student extension will operate through July 31, 2021, under the terms read into the record; the Zoom pilot is a limited contract intended for targeted, emerging needs and will be evaluated for student safety, cost-effectiveness and service quality. Board members asked that any future significant changes be accompanied by vendor appearances and additional family engagement.