District 95 authorizes emergency expenditure to ensure specialized transportation service

A solution came down to the wire, but buses will be available for the start of school Wednesday for Lake Zurich Community Unit District 95 students receiving specialized transportation services.

The school board at a special meeting Aug. 6 authorized an emergency expenditure not to exceed $2.79 million for agreements with four vendors to replace Safeway Transportation Services Corp.

The board can award contracts without going through a competitive bid process due to an emergency, according to the approved resolution.

District 95 has contracted with Safeway since 2022 to provide specialized transportation services. In mid-July, the administration was made aware of changes in the company's financial status, according to Jean Malek, District 95 spokesperson.

Alternate options, including additional vendors, were explored, she added, as the district sought to learn more about the situation.

Due to financial difficulties revealed by Safeway, the administration determined it couldn't depend on the company to reliably provide all the contracted services during the 2025-26 school year, according to the resolution.

A competitive bid process at this point would have delayed the award of a new contract for bus services until school started and possibly after vendors no longer were available, according to the resolution.

Specialized transportation includes routes in the district and alternative sites as well as routes to the tech campus in Grayslake and to the district’s bilingual program, Malek said.

Four companies were selected: Durham School Services; Cook-Illinois Corporation; First Student Inc.; and Zoom Elite. Four were named because no single one could handle all the routes that were supposed to be serviced by Safeway, she added.

The change impacts about 35 routes representing roughly 5% (about 180 students) of bus riders, Malek said.