How Arcadia Unified calculates field-trip costs and why in-house buses can save thousands

Transportation staff described how the district estimates and charges for field trips, explaining the approval flow from school-site principal to TransTrack and the department's prioritization of home-to-school routes over field trips.

Manager Gabriel Santos explained the district's cost model: driver hourly cost (including benefits and PERS), overtime rules (overtime after 8 hours and double time after 12 hours), mileage charges ($2.15 per mile), and layover charges for short wait periods. He gave two concrete examples: a long athletic trip that generated overtime and double-time costs that totaled $2,349 for a bus, and a shorter trip that translated to $582 total.

"That translates to a 14 hour day, which translates to 5 hours regular time, 4 hours overtime, and 2 hours double time, which comes to a total of $2,349," Santos said when walking through a sample long trip.

Staff also compared two actual school trips: one that used four luxury motor coach buses at $1,700 per bus ($6,800 total) versus doing the trip in-house for $2,872 (including a U-Haul for storage), a saving of about $3,927, or roughly 57 percent. Transportation said estimates are intentionally conservative so schools budget for the higher possible cost, and staff aims to produce an average rate for schools to use going forward.

What happens next: staff will pilot a consistent estimate methodology with principals, coordinate with technology to build formulas and spreadsheets, and aim to provide conservative estimates that usually come in lower on final invoices.