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Jeannette City SD approves new transportation contract despite driver concerns
Summary
At its March 11 meeting the Jeannette City SD board approved awarding the student transportation contract to a prospective vendor identified in the transcript as “Meijer's,” prompting a public comment from a longtime district bus driver who urged reconsideration over distance to vendor terminals and the potential loss of drivers; administrators cited an estimated ~$43,000 projected savings and onboard camera systems as key factors.
A longtime district bus driver told the Jeannette City School District board on March 11 that awarding the student transportation contract to an outside vendor identified in the transcript as “Meijer's” would be disruptive to local drivers and students.
"I have a lot of years here at Jeannette… I've built up retirement," the bus driver said during public comment, asking the board to "please reconsider" awarding the contract to the out‑of‑area company and raising concerns about where buses would be stored and how long it would take a replacement vehicle to arrive if one broke down.
District administrators defended the procurement decision at the meeting. An administrator said the district projected roughly $43,000 in savings on buses alone beginning next school year and highlighted safety and oversight features the contractor offered. "Meijer's is offering a system that has multiple cameras inside the buses, and it's almost real time data for us," the administrator said, adding that cloud uploads of footage would give principals access to onboard video.
Board members also discussed practical concerns raised by the public comment. The bus driver said many current drivers live nearby and rely on short response times; the driver estimated that vehicles staged at the vendor’s facility could take substantially longer to reach district runs than buses based locally.
Board members approved the contracts and agreements on the agenda by voice vote. The administrator said the district had relied on a competitive process that considered cost and operational factors and acknowledged the difficulty of changing longstanding local relationships.
A separate question during the meeting asked about Huddl, a video/communications product discussed in athletic and activities contexts. The administrator said the district has historically split Huddl costs with booster organizations on a 50/50 basis.
The board approved the contracts on a voice vote; the administrator said the new transportation arrangements would start with the next contract year as the district completes onboarding and vendor transition tasks.
