Concerns hold up busing issue

By Harold Gwin

One company has already told the district it can trim costs by $500,000 a year.

YOUNGSTOWN — The city school board’s business committee wants to be sure that any bidder on a proposed transportation “support services” contract bids on the entire package, not just a part of it.

The committee has been working since last fall on a busing consulting service contract they hope will save the district money by reducing bus routes, making existing routes more efficient and streamlining payroll and other facets of pupil transportation.

The committee thought it had a request for proposals (RFP) ready to go last week to the full school board and the state fiscal oversight commission (which is controlling Youngstown school finances while the district is in state-ordered fiscal emergency), but Chairman Michael Murphy said he had concerns about the document’s wording that would have allowed a company to bid on only one or more of the five components of the contract.

Murphy called the committee together again Monday to make changes in the wording to ensure that vendors must bid on the entire package, not just parts of it.

“I want one company with one bid on everything,” he said.

The company selected won’t take over busing operations but will serve as a consultant, offering cost-saving proposals.

The contractor also must provide digital video-recording/global positioning system units for 60 city school-district buses, computer software for both bus maintenance and replacement programs, computer software for tracking bus routing, software for driver payroll accounting and general consulting services.

Tony DeNiro, assistant superintendent for school business affairs, said the revised RFP will now go to the school board and fiscal oversight commission. The district hopes to have proposals in hand in about a month, he said.

gwin@vindy.com