City school board expected to be asked to OK busing pact

By Harold Gwin

The final details of a fuel adjustment clause still need to be worked out.

YOUNGSTOWN — Not all of the “i’s” are dotted nor all the “t’s” crossed, but the city school board is expected to be asked to approve a new three-year transportation contract for special-needs pupils tonight.

Community Bus Services Inc., which has been providing the service the past five years, is the sole bidder on the new contract and is offering a $371,000 annual savings in a three-year proposal.

CBS has also proposed a five-year contract that would be tied to a management service pact in which the company guarantees it will save the district $1 million a year in transportation costs.

Youngstown spends about $5.5 million annually on transportation.

Board member Michael Murphy, chairman of the board’s business committee, said the committee has decided to pursue the transportation contract and the management proposal as separate entities, based on advice from the district’s legal counsel.

The district sought bids on a three-year transportation agreement and will stick with that for now. The management services issue will come up again at the committee’s Aug. 18 meeting, Murphy said.

Terry Thomas, CBS president, said his $1 million annual savings guarantee was tied to a five-year special needs busing contract, but that he is willing to look at what savings he can guarantee the district in a three-year arrangement.

Five years might still figure into that effort, as the busing contract does provide for two, one-year extensions, he said.

Meanwhile, school officials thought they had everything finalized on the three-year contract two weeks ago, but Thomas came to Monday’s business committee meeting saying that a fuel cost adjustment proposal made by the district at a July 9 meeting is unacceptable.

Thomas said he initially agreed to the proposed 3.8 percent automatic annual adjustment in fuel costs suggested by the district, but later realized his company could wind up owing the district a rebate of $26,000 after three years if the cost of fuel doesn’t rise above a $4.51 per gallon base level established in the agreement.

He said he prefers the language in the old contract, which allowed CBS to pass increases in fuel costs on to the district.

He pointed out that CBS never implemented that portion of its old contract, though it could have billed the city schools $286,600 for rising fuel costs over the past five years, but he wants that protection to continue in the new agreement.

The discussion Monday prompted some committee members to express concern that the contract won’t be ready for the full school board to approve at its 6:30 p.m. meeting today.

Tony DeNiro, assistant superintendent for school business affairs, suggested that the contract be presented to the board anyway, with a memorandum noting that the fuel adjustment clause is still being negotiated. That’s only a small part of the contract, he said.

He said district officials will meet with the board solicitor this morning in an effort to finalize the fuel adjustment issue before the board meeting.

Youngstown paid CBS $2.4 million for the service for 699 children last year. The new contract shows a $371,000 savings, due largely to an anticipated decline in the number of pupils needing the busing service.

School officials said that number could drop as low as 450 children this year.

gwin@vindy.com