Colerain keeps on bussing
Officials at Northwest Local School District, in Colerain, have decided that maintaining the status quo in school transport will be better for their budget.
Upon reviewing three submitted proposals during a February 9 meeting, the district officials realized that privatizing the schools' transportation would come with a big caveat.
Last November, the board of education invited private transportation companies to submit proposals to the district, to see if it would be more cost effective to outsource student transportation. Last year, the district's budget for transportation was around $7.2m.
None of the proposals submitted allowed the school district to continue to own the bus fleet. Maintaining ownership of the actual buses was important to the district, so that it could switch back to managing transportation if a private company became too expensive. If the district loses the fleet and needs to purchase new buses at a later date, doing so could strain its budget.
To further cement its decision, the district could consider providing drivers with digital business cards or other ways to identify themselves.
The Ohio Association of Public School Employees Local 230, the union for the bus drivers, was happy with the district's decision. The president of the union, Tracie Keller, told the Community Press:
Upon reviewing three submitted proposals during a February 9 meeting, the district officials realized that privatizing the schools' transportation would come with a big caveat.
Last November, the board of education invited private transportation companies to submit proposals to the district, to see if it would be more cost effective to outsource student transportation. Last year, the district's budget for transportation was around $7.2m.
None of the proposals submitted allowed the school district to continue to own the bus fleet. Maintaining ownership of the actual buses was important to the district, so that it could switch back to managing transportation if a private company became too expensive. If the district loses the fleet and needs to purchase new buses at a later date, doing so could strain its budget.
To further cement its decision, the district could consider providing drivers with digital business cards or other ways to identify themselves.
The Ohio Association of Public School Employees Local 230, the union for the bus drivers, was happy with the district's decision. The president of the union, Tracie Keller, told the Community Press:
"It was our goal to keep transportation services in-house, and we did not want to see a lot of experienced drivers leave the district."