A proposal calling for the D.C. school system to buy buses it has been leasing for years is sparking a turf battle between the Board of Education and a court-appointed administrator overseeing transportation for the system's special education program.
David Gilmore, who was appointed by a federal judge in 2003 to correct longstanding problems in transporting special education students, is demanding that the school board buy 375 buses it has been leasing. Buying the buses, Gilmore asserts, would save $28 million by 2011. He also wants the school board to spend $1.76 million for a three-year maintenance contract with the company from which the buses are being leased.
D.C. schools lease 375 buses to transport special-ed students -- wasting millions, a court-appointed official says.
(Tom Allen -- The Washington Post)
|
|
"I determined it would be far cheaper for the department to own the fleet rather than leasing," Gilmore said. Instead of spending $7 million to $8 million a year to lease, he said, the school system would pay $9.1 million "and never have a lease payment again."
"If they don't act, I have the power to acquire the buses without the school board," Gilmore added. "But I don't want to do business that way."
Transportation for special education students has long been a dicey issue in D.C. The school system overall has one of the highest per-pupil costs in the nation, largely attributed to the volume of special education students who are transported out of the system into either private schools or public schools in neighboring districts.
School board members, who are studying Gilmore's proposal for a possible vote next month, are reluctant to buy the buses without seeing bids from other transportation companies.
The current contractor, Laidlaw Transit Inc., was hired to run the transportation program in 1999 at the urging of the D.C. financial control board. School board members have criticized the company, alleging high absenteeism and work stoppages. They have also expressed concern about Laidlaw's parent company, which went through bankruptcy in 2003.
Moreover, during a time when the school system is attempting to reform its procurement process, board members say the proposal represents a return to no-bid contracting. Without other bidders, they say, they have little information to determine whether they could get a better deal from another company.
"My biggest problem with this is, why aren't we doing a competitive [bid]?" said board member Victor A. Reinoso.
"I'd like to know if it would be better to do this incrementally over a period of time instead of all at once. . . . Or would we be better off to continue leasing?" he added. "A number of questions about the proposal haven't been answered, and that makes me uneasy."
Board members also complain that Gilmore is creating large shortfalls for the school system. Last year, they said, Gilmore overran his budget by $15 million. And at Monday night's board meeting, budget officials projected a $14.65 million shortfall in this year's special education transportation account.
"He's spending 25 to 30 percent more money than we were before," school board President Peggy Cooper Cafritz said in an interview. "We could buy every kid a car and a chauffeur with what they're spending."
Gilmore, who oversees the transit of 4,000 special education students on yellow buses and another 8,000 through public transportation, said he is spending what is required to get the job done. The school system, he said, spent too little money before.
He was appointed by the federal court as part of a consent decree that settled a class-action lawsuit filed by more than 1,000 special education students. The lawsuit, filed in 1995, asserted that the school system had violated federal law by failing to pay tuition and transportation costs for disabled students who needed services at private facilities.
Lisae Jordan, lead counsel for the special-ed students, said she didn't have a position on whether the school board should buy or lease the buses. But parents, she said, have noticed a vast improvement since Gilmore took over.
"More students are getting to school on time and closer to reasonable ride times," she said. "Prior to Gilmore's appointment, children were picked up late and sometimes not at all. They spent an inordinate amount of time on the bus."
