001um thank you Caitlyn I would like um I would like to call um the special Board of Ed meeting to order today is January 10th and it's 5:30 so um Susan um as as we have had the conversation about you and I um is um is is really kind of talk about the transportation you were having a lot of information and um a lot of concern about what was happening and um as we begin to um to uh create our budget um or take your budget and make it ours um we wanted you wanted us to know what's kind of going on so I would like to say thank you to Sam because I know that you've been you and Ken have been working really hard at negotiating around this so I'm that's the scene
002that is um that is where that's where we're going to start and I'm going to sort of pass that the torch on to both you Susan and your staff so as you know this is really one of the main drivers was this newly um created bus bid and two bids came in and I'm going to have Ken actually sent you some documentation and notes around this and then actually a graph and a chart around what the monies look like as we go through five years with this bus company um should we want to do that so the bus company if we accept a bid um we're in it for three years and then we can have an extension of the other two years so we have looked at this we've scrutinized I've the staff has
003been wonderful about researching finding out who else is out there there who's been bidding what else is going on in the state it's actually a topic on my agenda for um the superintendent on Friday to find out how people are doing with this but um we actually reviewed some of the information that was sent out and Ken has um really kind of a logical way of going through this with you and then certainly want to entertain any questions or ideas you might have um it's not signed off and so we've had some bus drivers actually say that um they're not getting the bid that someone else is and that is not true there were only two bids that came through and you know we want to share really both of um you know both of
004the bids and while this isn't a negotiations the bid process is quite different I really felt I needed the board to be in on this because it's such a driver of the budget so I want your Insight so I'm kind of asking for your um thoughtfulness and letting me know if you have other questions or things we should be looking at so I'm going to turn it over to Ken and Sam to kind of walk us through a little history walk of how this process works and what our findings are and even some thinking we've had around this of how we can make this more palatable uh sure so um we did provide Susan uh Sam and I did write up um kind of like a brief on on what we did but uh in
005case Cas you hadn't looked at it or just to maybe just to to to talk about some of the points um we gave a little bit of history on the current contract um that and it's actually a contract that's been extended a couple of times originally it was um I think it was 2011 uh so it is an older contract that we've been extending um and so it but once we um once we decided we want we were going to go out to bid we we did have a preliminary discussion with sta uh prior to bidding to find out what uh an increase might look like had we wanted to entertain um and uh an extension and it it was large it was a large increase uh so we we definitely thought that going out
006to bid was the best idea um we worked with the transportation consultant Mike Kennedy uh who has some experience both with our district as well as the area districts uh you know we we we discussed among other things uh we discussed who would pay for fuel where the buses would be housed uh and the and the 6 to6 um um uh schedule that that we currently have uh it was decided that um that fuel it was best if we continue to purchase the fuel uh versus have the transportation company purchased it because they would be uh making assumptions on where that cost would be going and adding a markup on top of that so it be more efficient if we bought the fuel ourselves uh we also were uh wanted to to keep the buses
007within town uh both from an efficiency standpoint so they don't have to travel as far to get to our students uh but also for the fact that uh we may be able to recoup some uh some property tax uh with having those buses housed within uh within our borders uh and then finally on that six to6 um it was uh we didn't find any other districts in the state that are currently have this 6 to6 schedule so there was nothing really to compare it against um 6 to6 is difficult for transportation companies to um to predict in that you know they'd have to be ready at any time with any bus uh for that 12-h hour period uh so it's hard for them to to manage and and what they end up doing is just
008tacking on some more uh costs to the bid so we thought in an effort to keep those bids lower uh we would remove that six to6 uh in addition uh during the pandemic we didn't get the benefit of that six to6 because we weren't doing any of those extra uh runs and so whatever extra we might be paying for that is is not really wasn't being utilized during that time uh so uh we we came up with the the bid specs we we contacted six bus companies um and we also put it in the newspaper uh we had three bus companies that came to our pre-bid uh um uh conference to discuss uh that was uh datco out of New Britain we had first student and stda that came to the pre-bid uh and in
009the end on December 6 when we uh when we actually opened the bid there were just two bus companies that put in they actually put in three bids well SDA put in one bid and uh first student put in two bids one for an all all new buses and one for a mix of older and uh and and newer buses uh once we calculated those bids the uh the lowest uh lowest amount uh was sta uh they were lower um I don't know if you if you I can put up this uh me I'll put up this little yeah that would help the moneyed we do have it let's see um there it is all right hopefully you can see that uh so this is just totaling uh the the cost uh for those three
010bids uh you see in the yellow that's what the cost is for this year and then um you'll see the three columns one was sda's bid and the other two were first students uh two bids and all three are going up the first year by approximately a million dollars or more correct yep nearly and and after yeah yeah yeah and so yeah um SDA for instance go goes up 21% in uh year 1 and then 5% thereafter whereas first student um had their two bids with 32.4% and 26.5% increase in the first year and three and a half percent increases thereafter and then the bottom line is also good to look at after all that time what is the percent increase yep um I we I did talk to some other districts I spoke with
011uh New Britain talin Trumble nguk danburry Griswald Waterford um and they're all having um they're all experiencing double digit um uh increases um only do Britain tand and Trumble have actually gone out to bid at this point uh New Britain and talin came in their their bids were very very close to the bids that we got back uh Trumble is opening up their bids next week um and uh I I think what's happening is that these what we're getting on these bids is these are the market rates uh as of now um there's been quite a a you know a lot of change in the in the bus uh area um increase in wages um and and and and so I think it's driving a higher higher cost um and I have to say I
012I was a little concerned after meeting with colleagues and um Waterford had said that they really had closed a deal at you know something three to 5% for the next five years and but when we went to investigate percent doesn't always tell you everything so they had a bus contract that was much higher rate per day and so we had been fortunate to be with STA and have something that was much more reasonable so while it's up 21% um from what you know Sam and Ken and I have really researched it seems to be what others are paying so it's not you know out of the norm for what other school districts are paying Trumble is anticipating a 20% increase in their bus contract which they're gonna they're going to open up those bids next
013week but that's that was their anticipation um so at this point uh the recommendations from Sam and I would be um that we go back to the lowest bidder which happens to be SDA in this case and just uh see if we can um maybe I don't know if we can help to to to that that that that year one uh increase is just so large is there some way that we can spread that over maybe uh some Years or or a year uh or something like that but that would be the recommendation that uh we have at this point so I understand from the bidding process that you can actually negotiate with the top bidder so there's some things that we want to make sure are happening um you know as we've had with
014the six to6 to have some of those field trips in place within the parameters of groten um you know there's some other things too that we want to lay out um to see I'm really concerned that our bus drivers are still using a piece of paper and when they are new to the bus company they're looking at the paper and driving the bus sometimes and I really think they need to have some kind of really good navigation system there's a law that says they can't be you know on their phones or or watching a map but they can listen to directions so I think more work needs be done with our legislators when we get our legislative breakfast to allow bus companies to have the kind of navigation systems we all have in our own
015automobiles to really safely get our kids back and forth the old days of the paper routes need to be gone they're not effective and they cause a lot of concern on the day-to-day practice where buses are late new bus drivers get lost and it really needs to be improved I I I hear your concerns and those are incredibly valid but I kind of want to stay to the money first and then we can talk about okay supporting you around the safety of the bus drivers and more importantly the the I only mention it because this would be a time that we could negotiate some of that within so could agree to something and then say but also we want to got that thank you um I'm gonna um recognize Rita thank you let me lower
016my hand um I have three points that I'd like to bring up um the first is that Connecticut is going to be you know at least 30% of all buses in the state of Connecticut including school buses need to be electrified by 2030 and we have gotten um me emails I have brought this up we've gotten emails from parents wondering you know have we applied for some of this funding Volkswagen it's actually comes from a settlement from Volkswagen so 9.5 million is being used by Griswald Middletown New Britain to Electrify a portion of their buses just to start the first year but there's 55 um I think it's million dollars in this V Volkswagen settlement and beyond that there's five billion dollar for transport and the climate initiative in the new transportation and infrastructure um
017act that was passed by Congress so I want to know how aggressive we have been about looking at this with sta what are their plans um my second point is I don't want to see a five-year contract a lot of that has to do with the electrification of the buses I think that that's way too long and and I think we need to be to let them know that this is a really important for our state as well as Massachusetts Rhode Island I mean there are 15 states that have signed on to this initiative and they have these boot camp um that that these initiatives that you know Administration could be signing on to going to these meetings and trying to find out like griswell did and Middletown how do we get some of that
018funding that is very important to me the other thing is um you you know we need to talk to them about the fuel since we you know it's going to be changing we need to either have hybrid buses and this and the state funding is for buses that are 2009 and older so we have to find out I know it said in this contract that some of the buses might be new other ones were going to be older well how old is old what are they talking about and does this talk about seat belts for students um so there I have a lot of questions about this I mean it's fine if you want to go to stda I just don't want to see a five-year contract and I want to know more about what
019we're doing as a school system to Electrify our school buses like we should be doing thanks thank you Rita Liz yeah I just wanted to ask is the five-year contract is that standard for around around our region or is it I mean I don't know is that the norm is that we go for a five-year contract or is it you know would would a three-year contract be better um or or available so so it is a three it's a three-year contract with the two two additional year extension individually so one year or or or two years and that is that is that is somewhat standard and the two years are at our option we determine that um Kim can I ask why we're the only system that does six to6 for our buses well Rita
020you certainly can but that was going to be my question but okay oh and I guess can I extand can I expand your question Rita um is that is there a way for us to not I mean do we have to have if we have six to six is that the whole Fleet or can we say a certain time of the year because I do know that there is meets and all that stuff but is there a way to kind of and would that negotiate our price down and and Ken and Sam I'm not even pretending that I know about that and after they answer my question Matthew I'm going to recognize you thank you for letting me jump in I think that needs to be clarified this is not originally this was not a
021six to6 but we have included costs for the middle of the day for our preschools because we need to get our preschoolers back and forth and um so I'm going to let Ken and Sam talk to you this is not what it used to be but it does include the cost to transport all our children during the day back and forth to school correct this this this this is not uh so what we bid out was not six to6 it was it's a it's a it's a it's a daily rate uh and then it's the uh it's a it's a midday run rate and that's and those are the numbers that you see there which is comparable to what we have right now um as far as except for field trips except for field trips
022and to have them at our beck and call all day long for 12 hours right right so do we need to rethink how we do things as far as I I I don't know change the hours of school again oh yeah that that would be fun all right Matthew and then Beverly Matthew I know that you've unmuted but we cannot hear you is this any better no yeah you get a little bit closer you're um it's actually very faint sorry my um my Instinct and I I expect Jay Jay or or the other guys could know it's my instinct that when they build a three-year with extension contract with the uncertainties in fuel whether there's a recession that drives prices down tremendously or uh a boom time which drives them up that somehow the first
023three years they're going to build in a cushion to guarantee against inflation in the last two years so I'm wondering and it's above my pay grade I'm wondering if we decided to go for a three-year contract without that extension whether the fact that there was no potential Li liability to the company for unexpected expenses the last two years of five-year contract whether that alone might not enable them to shave some of the cost off the three-year contract just an idea Ju Just to be clear um the these these numbers do not include the cost of fuel the the district purchases its own Fuel and delivers it to the bus company you're correct I did not express myself well uh if we're in an inflationary environment and they're going to have to replace some buses if
024they we go with old bus some old buses I like the questions that were already asked but they're guaranteeing to replace them with new buses or with old with other old old buses if the existing old buses um see the end of their days there there's a minimum age uh in the bid specs there was a minimum age of of bus uh do we have any exposure for maintenance well they own the buses so they'd have to M they maintain the buses okay thank you nothing will guarantee they'd replace them with new buses they have other um districts they have contracts for so for instance they lost a contract in uh at the other end of the state recently uh if those buses if our buses ran out of time uh they could replace them
025with buses from another District or they could purchase new buses but they there is a limit on the age of the buses and of course uh these buses are inspected by the state on a on a continuing basis so um they have to be up to Snuff right uh at all times Matthew I'm assuming that you're done with your questioning thank you Bev uh thank you um Sam when they talk about new buses they're gonna have some old buses some new buses are they like 2023 2022 buses or they're just new and the old buses they they did give go ahead Sam I don't um no you can uh you can jump in but I don't believe SDA stated uh in in their proposal any number of new buses um they they they just uh
026maintain the fleet uh uh up to a certain uh certain age of those buses uh it may have been 10 years I don't remember at the moment but I can pull that out okay because I thought they have some new buses and some old buses so I was unclear what that meant how new were the new buses the new go ahead the the new bus uh um uh bid was from first student they they they the ones that bid the new bus completely new buses and then a mix of of newer and older buses okay all right that was just okay my mistake I'm sorry about that um since we don't have them from six to six how much extra is that going toost cost us for extracurricular activities for busing do you have an
027idea about that so the the numbers that uh that are that are shared on that sheet that includes that includes the all the the midday runs and the late buses uh what it doesn't include are any of the uh extracurriculars that uh that go go outside of the district and are not six to six because you know presumably they be it' be the same um um um we still have to pay for those uh with the six to six and in the in the next one um so um what what we what we don't have uh if we don't have the six to six would be the uh kind of the the buses within District um uh that go to uh for instance the the within within District locations like like Bluff Point or or
028even over to Mystic Aquarium in uh Dennis pquad supp post um so so that currently wouldn't be part of this but as s Susan stated that's that's something that we'd like to continue the discussion with sta about okay and I agree with Rita about not having a five-year contract just having a three-year contract so this is a three-year contract but it has an extension and one of their ways of wanting you to extend if you have really good service is that of course the percentage goes down over time the first year you really pay the largest amount I'm gonna recognize Dean thank you so two unrelated questions but related to buses um and the first has to do with um the interest in electrifying and and I'm not sure how the state mandate is supposed
029to work but is the proposal by some board members the the the urgency expressed by some board members is that that we acquire buses ourselves that the district now own the buses no okay because that's going to be tires and breakes uh and actually more often than not what the state it's just they're giving the money to the bus companies Middle Town is getting six new buses risal is getting buses but they appli for this and I'm just wondering whether or not we as a school system has done this have gone to these boot camps have understand that there is a large part of money out there but you have to seek it and the money goes to the bus companies and they in for so many buses so let me I actually attended one
030of those at learn and I think I've spoken to the board about that the cost is like $400,000 and from the grant you get about $200,00 and you really have to be in sync with your bud bus company to be able to go after these grants um that's and there are some problems with these electric buses still not getting back home kind of thing Le leaving leaving aside the issue with the buses themselves I do remember the $400,000 figure I do remember somebody saying that the subsidy is about half of that I are we genuinely talking about partnering with a bus company where we buy them Electrics buses I mean why should we care whether they get a subsidy or not it sounds like all we can do is say hey the next time you
031bid we want to see a good size of your Fleet be electric otherwise we don't want to talk to you is it is that what you're talking about yeah I mean we're paying for fuel right I'm sorry we have to pay for the fuel for these buses so that's on top of the contract the way the grant works is the district has to seek the grant right and then the fund the bus company has to pay for the bus and get the reimbursement so it there is some collaboration that has to happen with this right and I really don't think that the next bus contract if it's an all electric Fleet we get the buses for free I think we're going to wind up paying for the juice if I were the bus company why
032would I pay with the juice now free you won't get them for free it's just that it's better for the environment okay it's better for the environment here but not where the coal plant is burning to make the electricity to run the bus but okay and and the $400,000 is for the bus alone it doesn't include the infrastructure that it takes to have the charging stations for a school bus at a bus garage somewhere according to what I've read the state is helping with that with this um Volkswagen diesel admission environmental mitigation trust right so I am wondering um Susan and I'm we meet every Tuesday morning and we had a conversation about setting up an agenda to because Heather has agreed to kind of come back and and have more conversations and I'm wondering
033if we can add this to um to our agenda about taking a look at what is the requirement that the state is having for the district I Rita I I hear you and I am with you I think that we need to be moving to more eco-friendly um ways of transporting our kids um and however I do hear Dean's part about the fact that we're still not good enough around how to produce our electricity and it is being fed and and fueled by coal producing plants and so but we're also being sent another mandate where our town has to pay for it and so I guess I would like to hear from our legislators about how they're going to either help us get more than just half of the money or get a get the
034juice for the for the buses but like what is the realistic plan for that because if we're going to go if they want us to go electric okay but then how do we do the transition um from point A to point B um and um you're forgetting that we pay for fuel so less to pay for an electrified bus I mean that's why our buses are now changing in the state of Connecticut and why our um North you know our our local trains are all electrified now so once again I I I'm not forgetting about I I I'm gonna push back on that Rita I'm not forgetting about the fuel I'm just saying I I think it's really important that we hear from our state legislation about what is the state thinking about that so
035that we can then have a a much bigger a plan about that but I'm also afraid that we're getting off the subject and I'm I'm for blaming and I and I'm going to take own ownership of that um but that we we really need to be given guidance to Ken and Sam about we are now seeing that percentage for the first year what I'm hearing Matthew I do see your your hand up but let me just finish I do I do see that 20 I don't have it's on my screen and I'm trying to look at people um I I do see that 21% Canon Sam what I hear from you is that's okay I much rather see people's face basis um is what I what I hear from you is that you're wanting to
036see if you if there's any negotiation around that 21% and are you guys are you guys as as the people who are working for working for Susan But ultimately working for us because um as as the board are we are are we are you feeling comfortable about those other three years um um in terms of pay uh for increases I don't think any of this is comfortable well I I mean I mean the reality is is that it's the reality it is that this is huge like 21% the first year is huge um and however this is this is above my pay grade in terms of understanding is if this is what you're seeing and can I do appreciate the fact that you've gone out and you've and you found out information from other school
037districts that's that's pretty darn am that's pretty darn amazing um but I I guess for me is I'm just trying to I'm just I'm just trying to get a handle about understanding what your recommendation because I got lost in the electric vehicle and I had a second question but okay I'll wait my God is that why the two I'm sorry Dean yeah sorry I'm Gonna Let You continue and then yeah I'll finish um and I said it was unrelated uh to the electric end of it years ago when we had to redistrict because it was a racial imbalance I'm not sure what school or School set us off I wasn't on the board at the time of course but I remember the bus routes had to be redone because kids had to be shuffled around
038to meet the state requirements I also recall that our Representatives at the time all three Democrats actually um said boy that's really unfortunate you know maybe Gren I can't remember I think it might have been representative mower who suggested that gron actually challenge the state on the on the racial balancing and see what happens I thought that would put the ECS Grant at risk but in any event it may be one of these things that cannot be parsed out of our budget but do we have an idea are we is our route system is our requirement for buses based in any way on needing to move kids from and of course the high school and middle school are not in play but having to move kids from elementary school to elementary school to satisfy the
039state requirement with regard to what the state would call State balancing are we what are we paying a premium for that and if so what would that be can we tell what that is nobody knows but that's okay I didn't expect an answer I can tell you that when uh Dr gr I first talked about uh having all magnet schools uh way back when he was still here we talked about busing at that time and we were pretty sure that uh by going all magnet in the district it was going to increase the length of bus runs because you're moving somebody from North Pleasant Valley Road all the way to Mystic River school for for instance um and that the bus runs would be longer um so that might increase the the cost of the
040buses so I I think there probably has been some effect there but uh I don't know what that percentage would be or what that number would be the figure that I recall again when when we had to redistrict and add runs uh to to move kids around um with something in the neighborhood of 700,000 additional for the uh for that service but I mean it could have been because we had sort of a where we were and now what we have to spend to change but if we're not in the middle of redistricting or you know we're sort of busing kids around or they're asking to be bused they want to go here they're doing it on their own it pro we probably don't have a baseline for comparison so we know well we would
041be spending this if kids went for example to their nearest uh available elementary school as opposed to saying we got to take one person from here and send them over there and vice versa but all right I'm gonna Matthew and then Beverly Matthew you are are muted you think I'd have figured that out by now uh I listened to Dean's comment about the source of the electricity being cold fired power plants so while we were chatting I quickly went over and asked the question the source of Connecticut electricity it took me to the Connecticut government portal on a source of electricity and it says that all plants supplying electricity in Connecticut are gas not coal that's thank you it's still CO2 but okay in a perfect world okay so let's move on please Beverly thank
042you Kim you know what this um I I hope Susan that you and Sam and Ken can negotiate a better deal with them and spread out that 21% but the real sad thing about the increase which is a million dollars if I have it about right is that it's going to affect the other things that we want in our budget and that's the sad thing we're we're we're not going to get 4% we're really going to have to start looking at where to cut I I can't see the Town Council the RTM agreeing to 4% and that's the sad thing about this large increase in the bus budget and um that's just too bad I um I think I share your sentiment thank you Beverly Rita yes um I would like to see whether or
043not I know there are towns around us that no longer have the late runs because of the cost of the buses what is the impact of that we're also busing children all over town because of our magnet schools does that need to be re rethought um and that we used to have the busz buses 6:00 a to 6 PM because we had kindergarten runs when our children went half day to school so yes you're talking about preschool now but before they were the kindergarten runs when everybody went half day um but it it's just such an expense and it just seems like you know there's like not much we could do about it but I'm hoping that we could find some savings by talking to the bus company seeing whether or not we need to
044do something about these late runs that are costing more what do the other towns have if they don't have six to6 I would like to know what that is and that that was that's one of my questions if you anybody could tell me why we're six to six and no one else is so so Rita um I think you're bringing up some really good points and I don't know how the rest of the the board feels but Susan I'm wondering how how hard would it be for you and your staff to kind of take a look at what the impact is if that we didn't offer some like what are there's obligatory runs that we have to do I hear that that's not what I'm asking for information on but I I'm wondering are there
045the spaces and places that we are doing because it seems to be it was working it's helpful but if if this is what it is um like is is that going to be one of the areas where we have to kind of like tore in and so I don't know if I know I'm not talking complete sentences but I'm wondering if that is information that you could get to us and whether that's the will of the board I think they've parsed out what the after school bus runs are right but I I question um Us La um interfering with the access that we've provided for kids in this community whether they're no matter where they live to all the after school clubs activities Sports um tutoring you know supporting their classes and if we start
046messing around with providing transportation for kids during the school day to get them back and forth to school or even after the school day that could be really um impeding many students who wouldn't have a ride back and forth after school so we could certainly look at what that dollar amount is but I'm really interested in working with this bus company to say if this is the money that it takes to run your bus company how can we lay this out better so that it can be more digestible for the board to be able to for us to be able to pay for this in the next three years but you know I we can certainly give you those numbers I don't think they're going to be that much money for when I think about
047diversity equity and inclusion and access to providing our children what they need before and after school and during the school day that would be number one priority for me I guess Dean I'm going to recognize you Andre I will absolutely recognize you but if if I can just um jump off Beverly and Beverly if I'm not if I'm misspeaking for you I I apologize and please correct me but I think Beverly's end statement was like this is really sad because we are going to start to need to take a look at that and maybe having that information about because that it's a logical conclusion is that well then we'll just cut off some of our bus service and so take a look at what that is so that we could have that information because as
048a as a collective board we could say absolutely not like we're never going to do that or we could kind of say this feels really yucky but this is what we have to do in order to be able to to provide a budget that makes sense to the district and also to um and and to the and to the community at Large so I'm gonna we certainly have that information and can provide it I I I I think the board would really appreciate that thank you and I think that that only tells I mean Susan you and I talked about that this morning like what is our story right right okay Dean and then Andrea all right that's this brings up a good question which is in some bid situations when you invite people to
049bid and they submit bids and you have the lowest responsible bidder if that's how you want to describe it uh the V the descriptions Vari you in those situations they would say with State contracts you cannot just say well okay low bidder unless it was somewhere worked in the terms of the bid uh let's negotiate for a different price you're gonna have the other biders number two and number three saying wait a minute we could have negotiate it too but we thought we had to provide the the Alpha and the Omega price so we did and now you're turning around and you're negotiating with the with the the winner for an even better price well on that basis we could do better so you have uh you have legal actions there how when we said
050we want when we say bids are we asking for bids or do we ask for like quotes so not really Bound by anything you know must we policy around this Dean we follow the policy around this strictly okay buried somewhere in the book yeah I'm sure yeah um I just want to make sure we don't run into any uh you know any third rails like that where we have first students say wait a minute what are you doing negotiating with sta you know you gotta you know we can negotiate too if you want I'm sorry I didn't hear that that was directed at me no sorry by accient my phone turned on and I'm trying to like turn it off so it doesn't speak any Andrea okay just start off okay I know that nobody
051on the board wants to take anything away from kids I know that and but I I really want to emphasize what what Susan said and I don't know maybe it's it's I'm not worried about the money as much as I am worried about the kids and I know everybody else on the board feels the same way but given what um Dean just said is there a possibility to reopen bids and would that obviate that problem of saying well you should have told me and if we reopen the bids would that solve that problem so we we we can throw out these bids and and and rebid um there is some risk there because uh the bids are they public um information uh so there is risk that um they'll just bid up to the to
052the highest bid um it's it's it's one of our options we could throw out what we have and rebid but we might be paying more in the end it's a risk the we discuss that Dr akman I did you know when I first heard it we did discuss that does this need to happen the the concern was that there were only two companies that bid um if we had more participation from the other bus companies then uh we might be in a different situation but um there was only two two two companies um and so that yeah it'd be a risk thank you Ken William yeah I think that's my biggest concern being that we had so few bidding that both of them would you know up their bid if we if we uh you
053know withdraw these current beds um I don't think anybody's going to make it better you know especially with the economy the way it is so I'd be worried about that William are you like do you have another question or comment nope a lower my hand okay thank you I just I'm I'm just try Liz ssen I was just wondering um and if I I'm sorry I was late so if I missed this I apologize on operator error but um going with this 21% increase how impactful is that on the bottom line of your budget it's worth a million dollars increase worth so that's in addition to what you've already that's in the proposal in the proposed budget we we knew about this so we added it in the budget so it's in there it is
054in there so it's not an additional thing that we have to worry about no but it's it's a big piece of it it is a big I I I totally hear what you're saying I really do um i c i and again I apologize if you've done this was what was the reason for the the uh increase and if I missed it I like I said that those are my very words Liz how come it's so much why what's happening here and I had just um spoken with colleagues that seemed to be coming had come in last year at a much different rate and but then I I looked at not just the percentage increase but um you know I have to commend both Ken and Sam for doing their due diligence and their homework
055and finding out what others are doing and so what has been proposed in the bid is not different much different than what's happening around us um when you look at the dollars and cents I think we had had a few years there especially when we extended that it was really in grotton's favor the cost that we had and now it's really more like what other people are paying and as as we seem to be getting these bids in around the state it is kind of in line with what we're seeing but it is a big chunk to bite off the first year so we definitely and with our um I just want Dean to know that with our policy that's set by this Board of Ed there is the ability in the bidding process to
056talk to the people who gave you the best bid so we're just you know we're not negotiating per se we're just talking to them about ways that we can really make sure our kids and you know are getting what they need um you know whether it's some additional field trips whether you know it's um looking at the payments schedule over the three years so it's worthy of having conversations with the and it's in the policy it it states with the lowest bidder as long as as long as the instructions to the biders makes the biders aware of the policy right not just internal right exactly well they should would have to have the policy and I'm not sure we did have a consultant Ken and Sam do you believe the consultant made the biders aware
057of the policy that we have on bidding or would that be there be responsibility to understand that I would say that no he did he I I doubt that he made them aware of the policy he we never just uh he he never asked us about the policy policy that we had this would be a general practice within the bidding process right okay so I don't know what the end result of tonight's meeting is going to be whether you had intended to call for a vote or consensus but personally I would um encourage uh Ken and Sam to sit down uh with sta as as we've now understood that um the process allows for that I have some specific um suggestions about what I would say to them if I were to sit down with
058them but I'm not sure I should Telegraph that um in the meeting um but I think there are some some Pathways um that uh that could um that could work and so I I think we've had a long uh productive relationship uh with sta um I know opinions may vary on that uh however I think a lot of that was uh due to the you know know the staffing issues and and all of that um I think that um they showed very good faith a few years ago when they provided the outof town uh field trips for free um I believe there someone we can work with and I believe that uh that Sam has an excellent relationship and um I would trust him to to sit down and and pursue this further thank you
059Jay I think Jay I think that the reason why the board needed to be brought not to be brought in is that that this was that this was um we would always be brought into the into into this process but I think that at this point during the budget is that so one that the board had a sense about what what Ken and Sam were looking at when they were dealing with sta but that also if there was a strong I I I never was thinking about taking a vote tonight I think it more was you know keep us for me it's kind of like what are the questions that the board has do we have ideas can Ken and Sam and Susan kind of let us know what what's been going on up to
060this point and um I think that I think that this has been a very fruitful conversation I feel like I even now have a better handle about that um and um that is something that I think that we're going to have to add to our thoughts about the budget um and if we if we are looking at coming in at a certain time a certain percentage what does that mean I mean we're getting we're actually getting to that point where probably we need to have that conversation with with Susan um around that but um I don't I Jay I never thought it was going to be a a vote on it necessarily unless the board is moving towards that but just kind of like for me it's kind of like it sounds like you guys
061are in the better are are are moving moving very forward in a very deliberate um way um and go forth and keep us posted on that and I will Rec and this has been helpful to me because I've jotted down your ideas your thinking even around electric buses you know um and Jay I I'll look to you if you have some other ideas um but I think this has been helpful so in those conversations we can articulate better what the needs are and you know one of them I'll say is can we structure this a little differently so we don't take this hit all in one year so yeah and that's you know what I'm just going to put it out there uh because I mean it's it's it's not as though it's it's any
062anything that nobody else would have thought about but maybe we go back and say we want a four-year deal and so it's not as front loaded so that we can reduce this this year's hit a little bit um you know again how many years have we been with sta a long time it's it's been a long relationship and yeah I mean personally I would I would definitely Entertain You Know locking it in for another year or so if it meant that we didn't have to pay you know this enormous 21% you know upfront just spread it out a little bit and um I don't know only Ken and Sam and sta can figure out if that if that makes uh Financial sense but um I think that this 21% is just um you know uh
063it's just too much of a shock definitely sticker shock are there any thoughts or concerns Ken s Sam and Susan do you feel like you got what you needed from the board knowing that we're probably guys we're going to have some more meetings around this um J I really like that idea and I don't know if that's even plausible I'm sure you guys have thought about it but even to kind of go back we want to kind of keep this relationship because I think Jay to your point we have worked really along with them and we've had our we've had some some struggles with them even kind of more recently than not but I think that they've worked with us and and partnered with us very well um and so but does this feel like
064this has met the needs for for your staff for the board to be um updated on the stuff and to and to have some I very much appreciate it I thank you um and I'm glad that so many of you were able to be here tonight um and you know where to find me if an idea Pops in your mind you know shoot me an email give me a call um or Sam or Ken just because um we have like we have this also this window of opportunity of this 45 day so you know um it's been a long wait for them to hear back from us as well but I did did want to get the board's feedback before we made any decision Canon Sam oh Beverly Susan when do you plan on speaking
065with them again well I would say we should speak with them this week I don't know where we are in the 45 days Ken I know that it was earlier December when we gotta have it we got to have it done by the 19th yeah yeah this week yeah next week next week but um it's coming up yes uh Kim um this I think this meeting has given Ken and Susan and I a good direction for us to move forward on this so I'll be contacting SDA tomorrow and Susan Ken and I will meet and determine uh when and where we'll meet with them and continue our discussions thank you Beverly do you have more questions before I recognize Rita no I don't thank you um I just wanted to make a statement that I
066believe that next year our budget it'll even be more challenging because the Esser and the art funding is going to be leaving and we're going to have a lot of teachers that we're going to have to think about you know if we're going to be rehiring so maybe if you had to have a year where it was um the percentage is higher maybe this would be the year I don't know so it's just something to think about for our in the next year we did that's a good idea we did talk about that as well yeah thank you so Bor what do you what what say you I know that policy has been waiting to get their meeting started at 6 um and so I think that this is a good place to end I'm
067looking forward to hearing about your conversations um s Ken and Susan and um once again you guys this is such a phenomenal board we're so very thoughtful and I I feel very honored um to be part of it so thank you very much for your conversations tonight last night and the night and last week um I just think that um the district is very lucky to have all of you and and have all of us so thank you very much and so I will entertain a motion for adjournment Rita I'll make that motion toour oh oh my goodness we have it seconded all and all those in favor of AD Journey please say I I know I I and some of us stay on for policy and people can hang and people can hang out
068with me if you want to I'm going to the Town Council to hear about the fields bye everybody you