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Board deadlocks on Everdriven contract after parents and drivers press to keep ASC service
Summary
After hours of public comment and questioning about procurement and community impact, the Paramount Unified School District board tied 2-2 on a motion to award a student-transportation contract to Everdriven, leaving the current ASC taxi service in place for now.
The Paramount Unified School District Board of Education failed to approve a one-year contract with Everdriven Technologies on July 17, ending the item in a 2-2 tie after weeks of public pressure from parents and service providers.
The proposal, on the July 17 agenda as item 9.14, would have shifted the district's special-needs and general student taxi service to Everdriven. Everdriven representatives framed their bid around safety and consistency; Alex Mirbrook, Everdriven's business-development lead, said the company is "equipped to transport any student and every student" and described a tech-enabled package with cameras, telematics and a parent app.
Parents and drivers who spoke during public comment urged the board to keep the incumbent vendor, ASC, which has provided contracted taxi service to Paramount Unified since 2012. "They are like family to them," said Jean Torres, a parent who said ASC drivers have provided continuity and emotional support for children with special needs. ASC representative Marco Sto. told the board ASC is driver-owned, that drivers are business owners "who have a personal stake" in safety and continuity, and that ASC received top technical scores in the district's evaluation "in every category except price." Sto. said ASC charged $120 round trip and that the ALCA funding for the contract is roughly $2.9 million; ASC billed about $2,952,000 from July 2024–June 2025.
Board members debated procurement process and community impact. One board member said attorneys warned of potential litigation if the board later tried to award the contract to a different provider after the bid process, and described the district's obligation to follow procurement rules. Another member said the board, not staff, is the final decision-maker and emphasized the need to weigh community trust and the effect of lower-priced bids on driver pay and service quality.
During the motion and public discussion, board members pressed Everdriven on local presence and bilingual staffing; Everdriven said it maintains local operations teams and can provide Spanish-speaking drivers and staff, and that video footage can be archived beyond the standard 30-day retention if needed. Everdriven representatives also said they had been SB88-compliant earlier in 2025 and detailed fingerprinting, drug-consortium testing and a proprietary driver-training curriculum.
When the board voted, the motion to award the contract with Everdriven failed on a 2-2 tie. Under board rules, the motion did not pass and the district left the item unresolved; staff said the matter will return to the board for further discussion.
What happens next: Board members indicated they will continue to review procurement timing and outreach. Several parents pressed for additional community meetings and clearer notification if the district advances contract discussions. The board did not enact any immediate contract change and did not name a replacement vendor at the meeting.
Votes at a glance: The Everdriven contract motion (9.14) failed 2-2; other routine finance and personnel resolutions on the agenda were approved earlier in the evening, typically on unanimous 4-0 votes.
The board adjourned at 8:47 p.m. The district plans to revisit transportation contracting in a future meeting.
