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SFUSD board approves replacement GPS system for school buses after staff says vendor went bankrupt
Summary
Board approved a district purchase of a replacement GPS and vehicle-inspection system for school buses after staff explained the prior vendor’s bankruptcy; total system cost cited at $241,000 reduced to a $79,000 first-year net cost after vendor buy-back and Laidlaw and vendor offsets.
After public questions from a bus drivers’ representative about cost and necessity, Chief Facilities Officer David Golden explained the district’s longstanding GPS system cannot be continued because the original vendor went bankrupt and the hardware and software are not interoperable with new systems.
Golden described the functionality of the replacement: real-time bus location and speed, verification of arrivals and departures, route storage and review, and the ability to perform pre- and post-trip inspections electronically so drivers—and staff—can verify that no students are left on buses. He said the new equipment is movable between buses and offers features that the previous system did not.
Golden presented the price: the total system cost was $241,000; Laidlaw will contribute $94,000, the new vendor offered $40,000 by buying back obsolete equipment (a $25,000 discount plus other offsets), and the district’s net first-year cost was described as $79,000. He said annual operating cost in year two would be about $46,000 (roughly $18.49 per unit per month). Golden and staff characterized the purchase as cost-effective given improved features and vendor arrangements.
Board member Brock Estes and other union representatives urged caution and requested procurement and grant-record details; Estes noted he had filed a Public Records Act request for related contract/grant information. The board approved the purchase during roll call.
The action authorizes staff to acquire the replacement GPS system under a piggyback contract (a procurement mechanism that allows purchase via another district's existing contract). Laidlaw’s partial cost share and vendor buy-back were recorded by staff as offsets to the district’s initial cost projection.
