A new bus company will be providing bus service to Stillwater Area Public Schools starting July 1 under the terms of a new contract approved last week by the school board.
The board voted 6-1 on Thursday to enter into a six-year contract with Lakeville-based Schmitty & Sons; board member Tina Riehle was the dissenting vote.
The contract with Schmitty is about $1 million a year more than the district’s contract with its current transportation company, MTN, district officials said.
Fridley-based MTN currently covers 83 routes in the district, transporting about 11,000 students each school day. It bills the district more than $9 million a year for its services.
The district has been involved in litigation with MTN since last year.
In May 2020, the school board hired MTN, going against a staff recommendation, in part to save about $100,000 over four years. That decision, district officials say, has led to late and inconsistent service, frequent route changes and stranded students.
When the school year started before Labor Day last year, some buses ran up to an hour late. The district blamed MTN, alleging in a September lawsuit that 23 percent of its routes were going uncovered. A month later, Stillwater stopped offering rides to some 1,500 students who lived within two miles of school.
MTN owner Tashitaa Tufaa countersued the district, alleging breach of contract and racial discrimination, and claiming the district tried to force the company to do things the contract did not require.
In March, district officials informed MTN it would terminate the contract after this school year, two years before it was up.
“I don’t know that anyone on this board is happy about the fact that we are being asked to pay more for transportation, but any one of our families out there can tell you that we needed to make a change,” board member Bev Petrie said. “I’m glad that we were able to find one bus company that would give us an offer. …This isn’t a situation that this board put us in.”
MTN officials on Tuesday did not immediately respond to a reporter’s request for comment.
Interim superintendent Malinda Lansfeldt said the district had been notified that MTN was short of drivers as the school year comes to a close, and some routes might be canceled or combined.
SCHMITTY & SONS
Bill Forbord, COO of Schmitty & Sons, told the board last week that the bus company would immediately begin recruiting drivers in the district.
He said the company is employee owned and operated and has been in business for 70 years. It currently runs about 450 buses a day.
“Through COVID, we never missed a single route for any of our customers,” he said. “I admit there were days I was driving a bus. One of the company policies is that everyone in the company has a bus license. We’re proud of that. If we wouldn’t have had that bench, we wouldn’t have been able to handle all of the staff that was out.”
The Stillwater district’s transportation-management firm since late 2020 has been CESO Transportation. CESO’s Derrick Agate told the board that Schmitty & Sons has an “immaculate service record and safety record.”
“We have vetted them, and I really believe that it will be a great fit for Stillwater school district and families and students,” he said.
Board Chairwoman Alison Sherman said she is “excited to have a partner that can service” despite being “devastated by the additional costs.”
“We need to fix the problem,” she said. “No one wanted to be spending levy dollars on transportation, but lessons have been learned, including following recommendations of experts when they are given to you. Better days are in front of us.”
Riehle disagreed with the board’s decision, saying that it was “very, very expensive” and would mean the board would have “no more extra money at this table for anything.” She also said she was concerned about entering into a six-year contract with Schmitty & Sons. The district’s contract with the superintendent, she noted, is for only three years. “I feel that this is a really risky move at this time,” she said.
TRANSPORTATION BOUNDARIES
Following the board meeting, the school board held a work session to discuss possible changes to the district’s transportation zones – changes that could help decrease the cost of the bus contract, officials said.
Prior to adjusting transportation zones this year due to busing challenges, the district has historically provided busing service greater than the state-required 2-mile boundary – busing all elementary students living further than a half-mile from school and all secondary students living more than one mile from school.
Adjusting the transportation zone for the upcoming school year could “help make up for the more than $1 million increase in the new transportation vendor contract,” said Carissa Keister, district spokeswoman.
The board will revisit the transportation zone conversation at a future meeting, she said.