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Committee discusses district-operated transportation and rejects motion for Springfield cost comparison
Summary
Members discussed the district's decision to operate transportation in-house, administration said purchasing buses and bringing transportation inside saved roughly $5 million annually versus contracting, and a motion to request a comparative report with Springfield failed on the roll call.
Members asked whether district-operated transportation was more costly than contracting and requested comparative information. Administration responded that the district previously used federal ESSA funds to buy buses and that, by bringing the service in-house, it was able to reallocate what would have been contractor profit to higher driver pay, safety and training, and still spend no more than previous contracted costs. "We were saving, about $5,000,000 per year compared to what the cost would have been through contracted services," the administration said.
Member Mailman moved for a report comparing transportation costs between Worcester and Springfield. The chair captured the motion: "The motion is to do a transportation comparison between Worcester and Springfield." On roll call the motion failed (two yes, seven no); members who opposed said differences in program-based budgets, labor markets and operating models make a simple apples-to-apples comparison difficult.
Members also discussed athletics and special-events transportation and summer-school coverage; administration said the district can provide additional routes or summer services if budgeted, but such expansions have clear cost implications.
