That's enough to hire 275 schoolteachers. It is incomprehensible that elected officials would blow off that kind of savings. Local contractors who currently transport students are protesting. But the law requires the school system to bid contracts.
Fiscal responsibility requires hiring the lowest bidder.
School officials predict most current drivers would be hired by the new contractors. Local contractors and one national contractor complain that the school system did not adhere to its bid specifications. That does not appear to be the case. In order to give six local contractors the best opportunity to win contracts, the request for bid proposal indicated that no contractor would be awarded more than two geographic areas. However, five of the six local companies bid so high that they could not reasonably be considered and the request for proposal clearly allowed the school system to make adjustments.