Litchfield Elementary School District has approved a $28,000 agreement with transportation provider First Student to address a temporary shortage of school bus drivers.
The governing board unanimously approved the two-month agreement Nov. 3 as part of its consent agenda.
According to district documents, the transportation department needs short-term substitute drivers during November and December to maintain student transportation services.
District officials researched five alternative transportation vendors but determined none could meet the district's staffing needs during the required period.
First Student was identified as the only available provider capable of supplying qualified substitute drivers for the two-month assignment.
The district approved the agreement as a sole-source procurement, a purchasing process that allows an agency to contract without competitive bidding when no reasonable alternative supplier is available.
District officials said they compared First Student's proposed pricing with existing transportation contracts and previous invoices for similar services and determined the cost was reasonable.
The contract was among 17 consent items approved together without individual discussion.
"I move to adopt the agenda as presented, as to the order of business items, and approve the consent agenda as presented," board member Kimberly Moran said before the unanimous vote.
The agreement is intended to maintain transportation services while the district addresses its temporary staffing shortage.
The district did not specify in the agenda materials how many drivers are needed, which routes could be affected or whether any students have experienced transportation delays because of the shortage.
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Meet Stacy Stacy Mantle is joining the team at Independent Newsmedia, Inc. as an Education Solutions journalist, thanks to a grant from the Arizona Community Collaborative. She has a long history in education that ranges from teaching junior high and middle school to developing curriculum and standards-based assessments.
Community: A longtime advocate for animal welfare, Stacy is deeply involved in rescue efforts and volunteers with several nonprofit organizations.
Random Fact: Once upon a time, she shared her home with a pet coyote and two wolf hybrids. The experiences were wild enough to become the subject of her first book!
Education: She holds a BA in English with a minor in Political Science, a Post-baccalaureate in Secondary Education, and an MBA with a emphasis on Marketing.
Hobbies: In her spare time, Stacy writes fast-paced urban fantasy novels, crafts small-batch artisan soap, and is always up for hiking or off-roading through the Arizona wilderness with her husband of 23 years.
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