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School committee approves multi-year extensions for student transportation contracts
Summary
The Easton School Committee approved two-year extensions to its regular and special-education transportation contracts and a renewed out-of-district agreement, citing limited bids and modest, market-aligned cost increases; the record includes a $250 minimum per trip for certain outings.
The Easton School Committee voted to extend the district’s existing student-transportation agreements after officials said a recent procurement received only a single bid.
Director Spagna told the committee the district voided the bid and proposed a two-year extension for regular education transportation through June 30, 2028, with modest operating-cost increases he characterized as below regional averages. “The overall increase to our regular ed transportation that will affect our operating budget is 3% in fiscal year ’27 and 3.74% in ’28,” Spagna said, adding that a $250 minimum charge per trip for community outings and athletics will be incorporated into the contract language; he also flagged one typographical correction in the extension that should read “minimum charged per service.”
Spagna described similarly modest increases for special-education van services, saying the per-van (and ultimately per-student) pricing will adjust as ridership changes; he summarized the special-education increase as about 4.5% in FY27 and roughly 4.3% in FY28. The committee also approved a separate out-of-district agreement with VHS, a state contract vendor, which Spagna said carries no increase for FY27–FY28 and only a modest FY29 adjustment.
Committee members framed the extensions as continuity measures after a weak bidding response. Loomis moved the motion for the regular-education extension; the measure passed on a roll-call vote with recorded affirmative responses from multiple members. Similar roll-call votes approved the special-education and VHS agreements.
Because the record used several variant spellings for the vendor name (appearing in the minutes as “Mussolini,” “Lucini,” “Lucidi,” and “Lusini”), the committee noted these as typographical inconsistencies in the posted contract documents and Director Spagna said staff would reconcile the vendor name and a small typo on page 5 before final signature.
The committee was told the projected increases compare favorably with reported statewide transportation increases (which Spagna said can range higher), and that most athletic and community-trip costs will be charged to revolving funds that offset direct operating impacts. Spagna said the district is awaiting a prevailing-wage report from the state before bringing the finalized contract package for signing.
