Effective Contracting Pupil Transportation Mary Sansaricq New York State Education Department Pupil Transportation Services Room 475 EBA Albany, New York 12234

Bidding & Contracting 3 Ways to award a contract Voter approval for multi-year contracts Extend competitively bid contract Extend 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 years and on and on Increase annually by May CPI Pass Through expenses – optional 7 Day Rule

Competitive Bids Single contract $20k or more Aggregate total of $20k or more of all new contracts (summer and regular school year combined; includes parent contracts) = must bid all Partial Year = Unanticipated, under $20k Emergency = Unanticipated, $20k or more Emergency = 31 days

Basics of Competitive Bids Must advertise in official newspaper 7 Day Rule = 5 days between bid ad and bid opening Must have defined quantities in bid specs Not too restrictive – age of buses Bid many types at same time, but separate awards – 10 month, Summer, field & sports

Awarding a Bid Contract Within bid opening period – 30/60 days Voter approval to award multi-year No proposition – Footnote specific info Award a zero cost; extend zero cost contract to keep for future use No 12 month busing contracts Separate contracts by type – field & sports, summer, school year

Cooperative Bid Greater Quantity = Greater Savings GML section 109-o Only parties to the bid can award – district names must appear in bid specs and in the advertisement Must have quantity to award May not piggyback on another district

RFP = Request for Proposal Have a problem contractor? Ed Law 305 (14), 8 NYCRR Advertising and bid specifications Minimum 10 Criterion No single criteria more than 50% Establish minimum score to award Score all proposals, even if only one contractor responded

Shared Services Shared service is not piggybacking! Shared service on district owned bus Piggybacking on a contractor owned bus Regional shared services to non-publics, special needs School districts and BOCES w/ COSERS Negotiate a price

Parent Contracts Most cost effective transportation SED, DMV, DOT jurisdiction May only transport your own child Only parents; not grandparents, aunts/uncles; siblings May be appropriate if child difficult to transport Parent already has specialized vehicle, equip. Follow all competitive bid rules – bid, advertise, voter approval to extend, contract form Restrictions on cost – IRS/district mileage rate, tolls. Not lost time, wages, inconvenience

Special Needs Transportation If the CSE orders, you have to do it Work with CSE – What “special trans.” Attendants, not monitors, are aidable Shared Services with other districts Parent Contracts

Non-Public Transportation Not required to be as timely Missing April 1 st not absolute denial “Centralized Pickup Points” May use “Transfer Points” Limit After School Services May not transport before first day of public school

Important Points to Remember No authority to transport before the first day of school Walk up to minimum eligibility distance to get to the bus stop School year trans contracts may not start before Sept 1; must end by June 30 Summer trans contracts may not start before July 1; must end by August days to file contracts from first day of service Multi-year contracts only filed once Submit Cost Justification form if giving pass-through No fuel surcharge or other expense beyond CPI

Other Trans Expense Needs Program Office Approval Routing, fleet maintenance over $10k Computer equipment, upgrades over $5k Two-way radios for older buses over $10k Radio station, antenna, repeater over $5k Transportation consulting services Global Positioning System (GPS)

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