BASD extends contract for Thomas Bus as a preferred provider
By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
Just what should the Burlington Area School District expect out of Thomas Bus Company when it comes to finances?
According to a vocal minority on the BASD School Board, that should include a full opening of the books by the company.
According to the rest of the board? The freezing of costs for this year in exchange for extending the opt-out notice from two to four years works just fine.
With the Buildings, Grounds and Transportation Committee unable to reach a decision on a motion at its meeting two weeks ago, the full board dealt with the contract April 14 at the general monthly meeting.
The end result is a basic transportation contract that costs the district $1.37 million each year.
That is the same cost as last year, which was a 1.57 percent decrease from the 2012-13 contract.
Most other costs – including extra runs, charters out of the district, charters in the district and fuel costs – remained the same as well. Kindergarten runs will remain at $1.30 per mile, with a minimum charge of $79 – an increase of $4 from the 2012-13 price and the only increase in the contract.
However, two of the board members said they wanted, among other things, a full audit of the contract and costs.
Roger Koldeway said that, with the contract lasting in essence five years, the district should audit the costs.
“To not do an audit on an $8.5 million contract would be against business standards,” said Koldeway. He also argued that, by agreeing to change insurance terms – to put into place a $1 million umbrella policy requirement on Thomas Bus – it essentially reopened the contract, putting into effect the audit per district policy.
And Koldeway clarified that, by an audit, it clearly meant financial. He and board member Phillip Ketterhagen both fought with the board last year regarding the busing contract, forcing changes in the purchasing policy because the rest of the board felt Thomas Bus Company – a local provider who has worked with the district for years – shouldn’t be subject to a bid process.
Busing service was thought then to be a “quality” over quantity situation, and a “local vendor preference” was put into place, as well as specifications for non-competitive or single-bid processes.
The final line of the policy also reads, “In multiple year contracts, mutually agreeable audit standards will be written into contracts.”
What that audit standard should be was the subject of the debate – as was the phrase mutually agreeable. After listening to Koldeway’s reasoning – which included the discussion of audits done on contracts at his current employer – School Board president David Thompson said that there is a difference between the private and the public sector.
“We need to consider the effects of our actions,” said Thompson, pointing out that the numbers would be then available for public consumption.
When Koldeway argued that the board needed to agree to an audit or change the policy, Thompson pointed out that the key phrase was mutually agreeable.
After that discussion, the $1 million umbrella language was added by a 4-3 vote and the contract reopened. In response to wanting to change from the two-year to four-year opt-out, Koldeway argued there was no “proof” that not making the change would harm the company – in spite of having a letter from a bank saying the lack of a longer opt-out would be “concerning.”
The extended period of time was approved 5-2 – with Koldeway and Ketterhagen dissenting – as was keeping the current purchasing policy, again by a 5-2 vote.
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