Batavia schools hire new bus company

Batavia schoolchildren will be transported to school by a new bus company this fall.

The school district has dropped First Student, unhappy with its service for regular transportation. In a memo about the contract, Assistant Superintendent for Finance Kris Monn said First Student had failed this year “to promptly deliver all students in a safe and efficient manner,” including an undetailed “student safety issue in May.”

Monn declined to specify the issues, but said Tuesday night, “We don't believe they were remedied in the right type of fashion.”

Board President Ron Link said the district believes the company violated the terms of its contract and, therefore, nullified it.

Instead, it hired Illinois Central School Bus for a three-year contract. The first year is expected to cost the district $1.24 million; the bill goes up 2.5 percent each of the next two years.

The district estimates it will save 17 percent with the new contract.

It has also hired Illinois Central School Bus to provide special-education busing at a cost of $278,348, nearly 53 percent cheaper than the bid of the current provider, Spare Wheels.

The contracts call for Illinois Central, which is headquartered in Channahon, to open a terminal within five miles of the district.

First Student, which has a branch in Batavia, did not bid on either contract, because it disputes the contract revocation, according to Monn.

Maureen Richmond, spokesman for First Student, said Wednesday that the company has not received formal notice of specific performance issues, but “is working with the school district to resolve the issues.”

For the fiscal year that ends Friday, the district expects to have spent $3.32 million on transportation.