The District 153 school board will be paying more for bus service next school year.
The board approved a three-year contract with Kickert School Bus Line for service on its eight school bus routes, in addition to the special education routes. The contract calls for a 16.8% increase for 2022-23. The Kickert increase in 2023-24 will be 4.96% and in 2024-25 it will be 4.26%.
John Gibson, chief school business official, told the board at its June 13 meeting that the district solicited four bus companies and broke the bid process into full service and ancillary service to try and get other companies to bid. Kickert was the only company that bid on the contract. ALC Schools, Inc., which had been serving District 153 for ancillary services, joined with Kickert.
Gibson said the district saved some money by putting the bus contract out to bid. Kickert dropped its initial rate from a 25% to a 20% increase on double routes; from 15% to 10% increase on single routes; and dropped from 10% to a 7% increase on special education routes.
The district has been using Kickert, a Lynwood-based company, for a number of years. Late buses have been a problem this year, Gibson said. He said the problems have been exacerbated since the pandemic. Despite the salary increases, bus drivers are hard to find. Kickert also have increases in fuel costs and insurance, Gibson said.
For routes Kickert was not able to cover this past school year, the school district reached an agreement with parents to pay them to drive kids to school.
Board member Ashanti Bethea said she’s aware there’s been “a lot of parent concern about late buses, no buses, and so I think it’s very important that we let parents know that we hear their concerns” and are working toward solutions.
Gibson said the district is “trying to get a head start this year” to avoid problems, although he added, “we can’t promise anything.”
The district also accepted a bid from Performance Food Service for grocery and meat products for its school lunch program for $186,729.21. It was the only company to offer a bid.