Granite City board approves one-year bus contract extension with 9% rate increase

The Granite City CUSD 9 Board of Education voted to extend the district's current pupil-transportation contract for the 2021–22 school year, approving terms that raise rates by 9% over 2020–21 levels.

Board members were told the proposed extension preserves the district's existing fleet and contract terms while providing the contractor room to offer more competitive wages to drivers. "No, it's just with minimum wage going up and they have a driver shortage, it's just something we're going to face," said Zach, a district staff member who spoke during the discussion. Brad Irvy, another district staff member, told the board the district is short roughly 30 drivers at this point: "Well, right now we're close to 30."

Administration said the 9% increase is intended to make the contractor more competitive in the local labor market and to reduce the risk of service disruptions. Board members and staff noted competition for drivers from area employers and that retaining the current contractor on an extension could be less costly and less disruptive than putting the route contract back out for bid.

A motion to approve the extension was made, seconded and carried on a roll-call vote. The motion as described in the record was to extend the current transportation contract for the 2021–22 school year with the 9% rate increase; the transcript records the board approving the recommendation.

The board did not provide a breakdown of how the 9% increase will be allocated between wages, benefits and operating costs in the meeting record; administration indicated that the change aims primarily to improve driver pay but did not provide detailed line-item projections at the meeting. Next steps recorded in the meeting were the formal execution of the extension and continued recruitment efforts for substitutes and permanent drivers.