To renew or not to renew

For several minutes Monday night, the Acadia Parish School Board had no answers for a dilemma it finds itself in regarding student transportation.
On one hand, issues have been expressed and remain with Student Transportation Specialists, but on the other, the board has started to see a bit of the savings it was promised under the contract.
Last week the contract renewal came before the Budget/Finance Committee and the discussion that night was heavy as well.
“Are there some kinks in it? Yes,” said Superintendent John Bourque at the committee meeting. “I think, for the most part, they’re doing a lot of the things they said they would do. But, again, parents are our ‘customers.’ When they call us, we have to treat them like our customers in the office.”
The members of the committee, as well as the other board members in attendance from the prior committee meeting, could come to no consensus and so, it arose from the committee with no recommendation, a rarity in Acadia Parish these days.
A bit more information was presented Monday night for the board members to digest. The basic contract from 2012 had been sent as well as the parameters for renewal as requested by STS and Acadia Parish. Those parameters include the district shifting some cost to STS and STS continuing to collect a 2.5 percent per year increase for maintenance costs. STS is also requesting a three year renewal.
Board members, however, were not too keen on paying the extra cost or renewing for three years with issues still lingering.
“We do have concerns, and we have to make sure these concerns are addressed,” said Milton Simar Monday night.
Still, there is one board member that sees the benefit of a three year deal.
“Transportation is expensive,” said David Lalande. “I look at the contract, and the 2.5 percent, as an opportunity to actually forego any big inflationary surprises on a year-to-year basis.
“The second thing, our contract already addresses our recourse when we’re not happy with the service they provide. We provide a notice; they have to respond. We have 30 days for them to correct it, and then if they don’t correct it, we can get out of the contract within 10 days.”
After Lalande’s motion to renew for three years, discussion arose again, swaying more toward renewing for one year in hopes of renewing for longer after the issues are fixed.
At the end, a substitute motion was made to send the item back to committee later this month in hopes that there would be more clarity in regards to STS’s demands for this new contract.
That motion, passed unanimously.
The current contract with STS expires July 1.
In other action, the board approved the following recommendations from the Budget/Finance Committee:
• The acceptance of a donation of two temporary buildings from First Lutheran Church of Lafayette at cost to move. The buildings will be placed at Branch Elementary and North Crowley Elementary.
• The acceptance of the proposed 2015-16 General Fund Budget revenue.
• The bids for paper and cleaning supplies as well as small equipment for the Child Nutrition program.
• The declaration of the old Iota High School band uniforms as surplus property and allowing the school to dispose of the uniforms in an equitable and appropriate manner wherein the proceeds accrue to the Iota High band account. The band is looking to dispose of the uniforms in a sentimental fashion, auctioning them off in a closed bid manner.
• The allowance of procuring up to four new buses for the 2015-16 school session.
The board also approved re-advertising and accepting bids for its “Old Wal-Mart” property after miscommunication presented no bids.