When the Marion, Mattapoisett, and Rochester School Committees met together during the summer, they voted to allow the business administrator to request new bids from various bus companies to hopefully bring down the three towns’ costs to transport their Bristol County Agricultural High School students to and from school. Although one company did submit a bid to specific to the Marion School District that was lower than the prior contract, it was still well above the amount the district budgeted for Bristol Aggie bussing.
Superintendent Doug White told the Marion School Committee on September 4 that, although Braga Transportation’s bid of $34,920 was lower than the prior contract, it was not as low as he had hoped it would be.
“It’s still is going to be a significant shift in cost for Marion,” said White. “As you can see, the bus cost $34,920 for Marion; we only budgeted $17,000.”
White said once the higher-than-expected bids were received, he met with the three town administrators from the Tri-Town and explained the situation. He said one possible solution that arose was for the three school districts to purchase one bus with shared ownership. While that is still a possibility at some point, for now, White said, it’s not a viable option.
“We just felt that because of the timing and lateness to it in securing drivers, insurance, and all the costs that go along with that, we decided to… ask the committee to award the bid to Braga Transportation and we’ll work with the [Town of Marion] to offset the other $17,920,” said White.
School Committee Chairman Michelle Smith expressed gratitude for the lower bid, saying, “I’m very thankful that the towns came out to meet with us and to talk… and be proactive about how we’re going to look at this for the future, so that was very exciting, very promising…”
The committee voted in favor of accepting the $34,920 one-year contract, with the option of adding a second year if needed. In the meantime, White said he would investigate the costs associated with the schools buying and sharing a bus, including the cost of gas and the driver’s salary, and consider whether it would makes sense economically to move forward.
In other matters, the committee accepted two donations: one for $1,000 from the Marion Teachers’ Association, and one for $100 from the Nye family. The funds will be added to the principal’s discretionary account.
The next meeting of the Marion School Committee is scheduled for October 16 at 6:30 pm at Sippican School.
Marion School Committee
By Jean Perry