Only 1 company bids for Dist. 57 bus system

Only one company bid to run Mount Prospect Elementary District 57's bus system, the school board was told Thursday.

Should the board hire the company - Grand Prairie Transit - the district will pay it $1.06 million next year. That's about $42,000 less than what the district pays now to run the transportation system in-house. By 2013, outsourcing could save the district $128,500, according to Business Manager Dale Falk.

"This really bugs me: Why only one bidder?" asked board member Sann Knipple.

Falk said the district "is in a unique situation."

"We lease our own buses, and the company would have to use those," he said. "The company also has to use our maintenance facility, which is five miles away. That option can't be waived."

The school board will vote on the outsourcing decision July 15.

Should the board hire Grand Prairie Transit, the company will try to hire bus drivers already employed with District 57, said John Knoelke, a vice president of Cook-Illinois Corp, Grand Transit's parent company.

"They know the routes, they know the kids," Knoelke said at the meeting. "It would make the transition easier for us."

Grand Transit would also pay drivers a similar salary and offer comparable benefits, he said.

Some parents who attended Thursday's meeting said the money saved by outsourcing the bus system wasn't worth it.

"You'll have a high turnover because you're going to go out to bid every three years and possibly go with another company," Paul Chartouni said. "You'll lose a lot of drivers we already have if you outsource."

Parent Mike Minasian said the board should be wary that only one company bid to run the service.

"You need more than one bid," Minasian said. "The reason you didn't get more was because this whole thing was rushed."

The school board started talking about outsourcing a few weeks after one of their bus drivers, Betty Burden, was accused of being intoxicated while she drove 50 students home from school on March 9. Her blood-alcohol content registered .230 at the scene, police said.

The school board later fired her and her supervisor. Burden pleaded not guilty to aggravated DUI in May and awaits trail.

In April the school board hired a company to evaluate the district's transportation system, and the 25-page report recommends the district outsource bus service.

Another problem the audit found is that district does not have a supervisor present when drivers report for work; a supervisor "allows for determining if there are 'no-shows,' (would) communicate any changes or adjustments, and most importantly, observe the condition of each driver," according to the report.

If District 57 decided to stick with running its own bus system next year, it would spend about $1.1 million to run the service to and from the district's four schools. That figure includes installing video cameras and GPS systems in the buses, which was strongly urged in the audit, Falk said.

Bus: Parents warn of single bid in rushed process