Thomas Bus gets ‘preferred’ status as community turns out in support of company
By Jennifer Eisenbart
Staff Writer
What makes the best business practice for Burlington Area School District when it comes to contracts like student transportation – the lowest cost, the best service, or some combination of the two?
On the surface of a 7-0 decision to approve the renewal of a transportation contract with Thomas Bus Company Monday night, it looks like the district may have simply gone with service over cost concerns.
But after close to two hours of discussion and debate on the subject, the 7-0 decision was anything but simple.
More than 50 concerned parents, employees, teachers and Burlington residents showed up in support of the bus company Monday night at the general BASD School Board meeting. The show of support was in response to a 3-2 recommendation by the Buildings, Grounds and Transportation committee last week to not renew the contract with Thomas and let Thomas simply serve the final two years of the current contract while bidding out the contract to ensure the best value for the district’s money.
Instead, after numerous motions and amendments were considered Monday night, the final decision was to approve not only a renewal of the contract with Thomas that holds costs steady at about $1.4 million per year, but also extend the contract to five years instead of three.
However, the final motion that was approved included a pair of important points. One was an amendment by Jim Bousman, made to list Thomas Bus Company as a preferred provider for a service-driven estimate. This would presumably satisfy the BASD policy that any contract over $10,000 be bid out for competition purposes.
That amendment will still need to be addressed and changed by the BASD School Board Policy Committee.
The second point, reiterated by Roger Koldeway, points out that the contract can be, in essence, dropped with two years notice, effectively putting the contract out for bid three years into the contract if need be.
To reach that final agreement, though, involved a great deal of give and take, confusion, statements in support for Thomas Bus Company, and the very real question of what constitutes the best business practice for the district.
Testimonials
After quickly honoring various individuals and teams within the district at the start of the meeting, the board found itself listening to a full slate of public comments – all tied to the bus contract.
All but one of the comments was in support of renewing the Thomas contract – and rejecting the recommendation from the committee meeting last week.
Jay Askin, who had sent a long email to all of the School Board members Monday, summarized his email for the 50-plus people in attendance.
“The board has discretion to take a look at the best business practices,” he said. “It’s generally good to put big-dollar items out for bid.
But with school transportation, he said, “it’s more than just dollars, and it’s more than just what an immediate savings might bring to you.”
Askin pointed out that the local company employs many Burlington residents (40 to 50 part-time drivers, five full-time employees), and that money could leave the community if Thomas Bus Company didn’t get its contract renewed.
Others echoed those sentiments, and more spoke to the reliable service and extra care the company takes not only with its equipment, but the students in its care.
Burlington High School teacher Josh Dow called the company the school’s “first line of defense.”
“It’s the first thing that those kids see,” he explained, pointing out regular drivers provide normalcy for students, as well as a support system.
He also compared it to childcare and asked which would come first in that choice – cost or who you would trust?
“If those are our kids getting on those buses, I want to go with who I trust.”
The lone voice for bidding out the contract as recommended was Bonnie Ketterhagen, the wife of School Board member Phil Ketterhagen.
“What do you think is good business practice?” she asked. “Wouldn’t you get several bids? Wouldn’t you compare labor prices?”
She also suggested including the intangibles Thomas provides in any soliciting of bids, so as to receive the same level of service.
“The issue is not the wonderful Thomas Bus Company. It’s about business practices,” she said.
Thomas Preusker, a City of Burlington alderman and a former member of the BASD School Board Finance Committee, urged the board not to take it out to bid, calling it a unique situation with too many variables to account for.
“I object that you can write all the unique things you do as a company into the business practice,” Preusker said in response to Bonnie Ketterhagen. “You just can’t fit all the variables in there.”
Cost vs. service
For all of the support shown for Thomas, though, there was never any question by members of the board about the job the company does.
Both Phil Ketterhagen and Roger Koldeway made that very clear when given the chance to speak.
“The board needs to do its due diligence,” said Phil Ketterhagen, adding that the board has no real comparison numbers to work with to ensure it is getting the best value for its dollar.
“A bidding process is nothing more than a process,” he said. He had also proposed that Thomas Bus Company get right of first refusal in any bids.
Koldeway added, “We want to keep that service. We need to know where we stand with this contract.
“We won’t know until it goes out to bid,” he added, pointing out that, in spite of many objections to the company’s bid being out there now and possibly undercut, he doubted anyone could underbid Thomas Bus Company.
“But we need to know.”
Rules of order
When the meeting finally came around to voting on the recommendation, though, it took several tries – and failed votes – to come up with a motion that seemed to meet everyone’s expectations.
The right of first refusal amendment proposed by Phil Ketterhagen was defeated, and several other amendments and motions were considered.
Bousman, the head of the Buildings, Grounds and Transportation Committee, wanted to extend the negotiation period with Thomas Bus Company in order to get extra time to research numbers. That motion failed as well.
There was also confusion on the sheer number of amendments being proposed. Phil Ketterhagen said the board couldn’t simply keep amending, and Bonnie Ketterhagen offered School Board President David Thompson what looked to be a Robert’s Rules of Order cheat sheet.
Thompson eventually ruled that he couldn’t find anything setting a limit on amendments, and Roger Koldeway tried to amend the motion so the contract would be for three years, not five.
That failed as well.
After the meeting, Lysbeth Hintz – the owner of Thomas Bus – had a simple statement.
“We’re glad everything is all settled,” she said. “We can get back to business.”
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