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Board approves $40M rainy-day withdrawal and increases First Student transportation authorization to cover higher SPED costs
Summary
The board authorized a $40 million withdrawal from the rainy day reserve tied to Proposition G salary add-ons and approved an increase to the First Student contract to cover unexpectedly high special-education transportation costs, while directing staff to pursue routing changes and an RFP that factors in zero-emission goals.
The Board of Education on May 28 approved two major fiscal items: a requested $40,000,000 withdrawal from the district's rainy day reserve and an increase to the not-to-exceed amount for the district's contract with First Student to cover higher-than-anticipated transportation costs.
Chief Financial Officer Rita Madavan told the board the $40 million request would support salary add-ons provided in fiscal year 2018-19 under Proposition G (the Living Wage for Educators Act) and noted the measure faces a legal challenge. "The requested action is that the Board of Education approve a withdrawal from the school district's rainy day reserve in an amount of $40,000,000 subject to the provisions of the charter language under Proposition G ... as amended by voter approval of Proposition C," Madavan said.
On transportation, Orla O'Keefe and transportation staff presented the request to increase the current contract's not-to-exceed authorization (the board had previously approved a one-year extension) to cover summer services and additional buses. Staff said costs for transportation have increased about 42% since 2014-15 due to higher vendor rates, more buses and driver hours, and more students with transportation specified in IEPs. The request covered an updated not-to-exceed amount of about $33,000,000 to cover services through July and summer school.
Transportation staff described short- and medium-term strategies to reduce costs: strengthening the IEP/transportation (TED) process to permit hub routing and gen-ed routing options, upgrading routing software this fall, and issuing a new RFP in August that will include points for zero-emission vehicles. Commissioners asked follow-up questions about emissions goals, incident reporting, driver assignments and whether general-education riders could be means-tested; staff said incident reports and an online feedback form are in place and that RFP specifications will include environmental criteria.
Roll-call votes: the rainy-day withdrawal was approved (roll call recorded as 5 ayes) and the First Student contract amendment was approved (roll call recorded as 5 ayes). The board directed staff to return with additional details during the RFP and budget processes and to target cost-saving measures for the coming year.
Implications: staff said investments in routing software and changes to the TED/IEP process could reduce the number of buses and driver hours over time; the board requested more granular data on who uses general-education routes and whether different stop choices and bell-schedule alignment would yield savings.
