Columbus Municipal School District spends roughly $1 million less than Starkville per year to provide bus service for its students by outsourcing its operation. But Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District officials are convinced the control and efficiency gained from operating the service in-house is worth the cost difference.
CMSD has contracted with transportation company Ecco Ride since 2013. Ecco Ride trains, hires and pays for bus drivers for the district. CMSD is in its third year of a four-year contract which costs the district approximately $2.2 million a year.
In addition to hiring, training and organizing bus drivers, Ecco Ride also pays for all bus repairs up to $150,000 a year. If those costs exceed $150,000, the district will pay the next $50,000 and Ecco Ride will assume all costs more than $200,000. CMSD is financially responsible for all tires and gasoline costs for the bus fleet.
“Since we have added so many new buses the past four years, we did not spend the $50,000 we set aside and we were able to use it for the purchase of additional maintenance trucks,” Spears said. “(It) looks to be the same situation this year, but (we) will use the money for other priorities.”
CMSD has 65 buses in its fleet compared to SOCSD’s 66. However, SOCSD has approved spending $1 million to buy 10 more next school year.
SOCSD has maintained its own bus operations and repairs with district mechanics and its own garage. The district budgeted $3.2 million for the 2018-19 school year, which included driver salaries, fringe benefits, gasoline, repair parts and supplies.
Assistant Superintendent David Baggett said he isn’t familiar with Ecco Ride but said the district has not considered outsourcing transportation services.
“We’ve got a very capable transportation director (Kelvin Gibson),” Baggett said. “He understands buses and bus routes. We have our own garage with our own mechanics so we do our own in-house work. Unless somebody can show me a way where it’s cheaper and more efficient for us to outsource it, I’m just very comfortable with where we are and the service that we get for our service and community.”
SOCSD, a county wide school district, covers more square miles to transport students than does CMSD, which covers the Columbus city limits plus some adjacent mileage characterized as the separate school district.
On average, Gibson said SOCSD spends approximately $160,000 a year on bus repairs. For Baggett, having a personal relationship with each individual bus driver is a priority for him. He added by contracting with a third party, he felt the district would lose that.
“I look at is as every employee in this district is equally as important,” Baggett said. “Every day, the first person our kids see is the bus driver when they get on the bus and the last person they see is the driver when they get off the bus. (Bus drivers) have influence on how their day starts and how their day ends. For me, that’s a pretty important position. Whenever you outsource, you lose control. I know there are pros and cons for those types of things. I know who those drivers are and I’ve got a working relationship with those people.”
Spears added that by using Ecco Ride, CMSD officials are able to monitor drivers and bus behavior through the company. Earlier in the year, Spears said the board recognized a “higher volume” of bus disciplinary issues. When that trend was recognized, representatives from Ecco Ride presented to the board of trustees what was happening.
“We were able to reach out to them and see if it was a specific route or specific reason it was happening,” Spears said. “They talked about the training they were doing with drivers as well as other things to safeguard students and promote a more enjoyable experience of the student being on the bus.”
Baggett added SOCSD does not plan to outsource in the near future. With bus repairs happening largely in-house, he said nearly all “major” bus repair costs are from the parts alone.
“We do almost all the maintenance on our buses in-house,” Baggett said. “We save a lot of money not having to send (buses) off to places to get them fixed. Keeping our transportation in-house and not outsourcing is the priority at this time.”
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