Board extends METS transportation contract for one year after questioning total costs

The Monroe Public Schools Board approved a one-year extension of its transportation services contract with METS after a lengthy discussion about payroll, administrative fees and the district's exposure to costs. Superintendent Sean Shaw said the 2023–24 payroll paid to METS was just over $1,007,000 and that the previous administrative fee was 25% (about $250,000); METS requested a move to 27%, which staff estimated would raise the administrative fee to approximately $282,000 for the year.

"The payroll that we paid to Metz was 1000000 just over 1000000 dollars and 25% for the administrative fee," Shaw said during the presentation. Board members said they wanted clearer totals for the entire contract (payroll plus administrative fees and reimbursed costs) and pressed staff on how changes in start times and additional fee-for-service uses might change exposure. Some members voted against the extension explicitly because they said they had requested more information and did not feel they had sufficiently received it; despite those no votes the motion to extend carried.

Staff explained that many reimbursable items (testing, training, and supplies) are direct-billed at cost and not marked up by METS, and that the district's shift to using METS had been intended to save retirement and administrative costs compared with direct employment. Superintendent Shaw noted the district paid METS about $1,007,000 in payroll in the 2023''24 year and that moving from a 25% to a 27% administrative rate would add roughly $32,000 in administrative fees under that payroll base. Board members asked staff to provide more complete totals of expected exposure and a clearer staffing/hours breakdown for a follow-up briefing.