Auditor General DePasquale Calls on General Assembly to Require All School Districts to Bid Student Transportation Services
Auditor General DePasquale Calls on General Assembly to Require All School Districts to Bid Student Transportation Services
Says his audits found 19 districts spent $54.8 million more than state reimbursement provided
HARRISBURG (May 12, 2016) – Pointing out that school districts spent $54.8 million in excess of the Pennsylvania Department of Education reimbursement, Auditor General Eugene DePasquale today called on the General Assembly to require all school districts to seek competitive bids for student transportation services.
“I want to put more education dollars in our classrooms, not our school buses,” DePasquale said during a news conference at the state capitol.
“Since 2013, our audits have identified 19 school districts in 11 counties that paid $54.8 million more than the state transportation reimbursement.
“To get the best possible price and ensure transparency for taxpayers, student transportation contracts should be re-bid every time they are up for renewal,” DePasquale said, noting that the Public School Code does not currently require school districts to bid-out busing services.
“I’m calling on the General Assembly to enact legislation to ensure school districts are getting the best possible price by requiring them to seek competitive bids for transportation services.”
Last week, DePasquale released the latest audit for the Altoona Area School District in Blair County that showed the district exceeded the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s (PDE) reimbursement by more than $3.3 million during the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years.
The Altoona Area School District originally sought bids for the transportation contract, but that was in 2006, and the contract is now extended through June 2018.
“By the end of the current term, the Altoona district will have been in a contract with the same transportation provider for 12 years,” DePasquale said.
“Because of our audit, Altoona officials said they plan to renegotiate with the current contractor and seek bids for transportation services when the current contract expires,” he said, noting, “That decision to renegotiate and then rebid the transportation contract is great news for students and taxpayers.”
Despite being called out in its last audit for not bidding-out transportation services and paying $4.2 million above the PDE reimbursement, in March the Scranton City School District voted to extend its existing, no-bid busing contract for another four years.
“In some cases school districts might be getting the best deal available for transportation services, but it is hard to prove that to taxpayers unless you make the effort to solicit bids,” DePasquale said. “Competitive bidding is a good business practice that provides for more transparency and could result in lower costs to the district — that could mean more money for classroom education.”
For example, the December 2013 audit of the Riverview School District showed the district sought bids for transportation services and still paid $1.1 million more than the PDE reimbursement. In its response to the audit at the time, Riverview officials said they planned to rebid the contract next time it expired.
Under the Public School Code, PDE is to reimburse school districts for student transportation costs using a complex formula based on a number of factors, including the number of students, daily miles traveled, and contractor costs. However, the PSC does not require districts to competitively bid for transportation services.
“Amending the Public School Code to require schools to competitively bid transportation services will improve transparency and could put more money in our classrooms,” DePasquale said.
All school district audit reports are available online at: www.PaAuditor.gov.
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