The Office of the Inspector General has its eye on the Boston Public Schools bus contract that raised eyebrows final 12 months, with the state entity telling the college district to “proceed at their own risk” with the pact.
New state IG Jeffrey Shapiro despatched the college district, metropolis administration and Boston School Committee Chair Jeri Robinson a letter dated Dec. 21 showing to warn them in regards to the settlement the district is getting into into with Transdev, the corporate that’s run the town’s troubled faculty busing operation for years.
“The OIG is aware of publicly reported concerns with the current school bus operator’s performance under the existing contract and is aware of publicly reported concerns with the current school bus procurement,” Shapiro wrote within the letter obtained by the Herald by way of a data request.
The district, he wrote, is required to observe state procurement legal guidelines, and, “Therefore, the BSC and Boston Public Schools should understand that awarding such a contract at this time requires them to proceed at their own risk.”
The letter didn’t make any additional definitive claims about this specific contract, nevertheless it stated, “any contract entered into in violation of the statute is invalid, and payment to the vendor under such an invalid contract is prohibited.”
The faculty district stated in an announcement that they’re within the technique of understanding the problems.
“BPS transportation staff continue to work to finalize a contract for school buses for the coming fiscal year,” a spokesman stated in an announcement Tuesday. “With the informed guidance of the Inspector General’s Office, we have identified opportunities to clarify and improve contract administration that will be beneficial throughout the term of the contract. We are working with Transdev to incorporate those into the contract and anticipate presenting it to the school committee at their March 1 meeting.”
On Tuesday, IG spokesman Jack Meyers stated in an announcement, “The inspector general and the Boston Public Schools share the goal of having an effective transportation contract that gets students to school safely and on time.”
The contract procurement course of took some flak in December when the Boston Finance Commission, a statutorily created metropolis finances watchdog, took concern with the truth that just one firm — the one which at the moment does busing for the district — had put in a bid to run transportation for the district. FinCom’s head, Matthew Cahill, on the time stated he’d obtained “several complaints” in regards to the course of, which he stated had issues, as evidenced by the truth that there was solely the one bidder.
“The letter from he IG’s office supports our findings that there were some flaws in the process and the school department needs to address them publicly,” Cahill advised the Herald on Tuesday.
Boston Public Schools Superintendent Mary Skipper on the time defended the “we’re confident that the bidding process was competitive and that the bid received from Transdev meets all bid specifications.”
Shapiro wrote within the December letter {that a} “governmental body must use a meaningful selection process when determining whether a vendor is ‘responsive’ and ‘responsible’ to the solicitation of transportation services advertised in accordance with Chapter 30B,” which is the state regulation governing procurement of companies by entities akin to the college district.
The contract is for a five-year time period beginning this summer season, with an possibility for 3 one-year extensions. Transdev’s bid got here in at $17.5 million.
Shapiro within the letter steered that the district has a manner out of the contract, as “a governmental body has the discretion under Chapter 30B to cancel a procurement if the governmental body determines it is in its best interest, if for instance, there are flaws in the process.”
Busing is a longstanding drawback in Boston, which spends north of $130 million a 12 months on getting children to highschool. The efficiency occasions — which Mayor Michelle Wu has touted as enhancing this previous 12 months — have been such a problem that they’re one of many fundamental focus areas within the settlement the town signed with the state final summer season to keep away from receivership of the college district.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”