Posted 1:16 am Thursday, April 17, 2008
No Privatization Of TISD Bus Fleet Planned
By MEGAN MIDDLETON
Staff Writer
Contrary to recent rumors, Tyler ISD Superintendent Dr. Randy Reid said the school district is not planning to privatize its transportation department.
Staff Writer
Contrary to recent rumors, Tyler ISD Superintendent Dr. Randy Reid said the school district is not planning to privatize its transportation department.
The district, however, did allow a private transportation company that approached it to look at whether it could save the district money.
"We were approached by a private transportation provider who just came in and talked to us about the idea. They'd talked to other districts in East Texas about it and basically wanted to know if we would be interested in having them give us just a review of our transportation services and whether privatization would be something that could even provide a savings to the district," Reid said.
"Personally, in my role as superintendent, I always need to listen when somebody says they can help us provide something cheaper. That doesn't mean we're going to do it."
Reid said the district provided the company, Durham, with information about bus routes and cost factors, "so they could just massage it and see whether savings could even be a possibility for us."
"That's the last I've heard from them. That's been several months ago. They've not gotten back to us," Reid said, adding, "We don't have a plan to privatize. We're not trying to put together a plan to privatize. If they came back and said there was significant savings, that wouldn't even necessarily mean we would do it even then. It would certainly be something that we would want to talk about."
Reid said that such a change would require a minimum of a year or longer to consider and implement.
"Long before we would ever make any determinations, there would be ongoing discussions at the board meetings. Unequivocally, at this point it is an absolute non-issue and not anything that we are even considering right now," he said.
"If it ever even got to that point - and I really stress the 'if' - it would be something that we would probably have board workshops on, that we would talk about in the community. We are not ever going to try to roll something like this past people."
He said, "If it ever comes to any kind of pass, which I don't know that it ever will, it would certainly be a very long process with plenty of opportunities for people to provide input."
In 2003, TISD looked at the idea of privatizing school bus transportation. District personnel at that time had met with three providers of school bus transportation - Laidlaw, Durham and Southwest Student Transportation. Two had conducted studies that found contracting bus service could save money. At a board meeting that took place during that time in 2003 when TISD was looking at the idea, some bus drivers spoke out against privatization.
Trustees eventually dropped the idea after administrators reported a study found the district's own bus fleet was efficient and cost-effective and that outsourcing would not bring substantial savings.
Reid, who became superintendent of TISD last year, noted in an interview this week that, "it's a lot of work, a lot of headaches" and added, "There has to be substantial savings before it would even be an option for us."
He also pointed out that there would also be a bid issue involved.
"If these guys came back and said 'yes we think there might be a possibility that you could save a lot of money on this' and we investigated it and decided we were going to do it, we then would have to bid the process before we could even do it because there are other transportation companies that would have to come in here and have to take a look at it and see what they wanted to do," Reid said.
For those who have worried something is happening in secret, Reid said plainly, "What I would say to that is no. And if you check, decisions like what you're talking about can't be made in secret -it's illegal - and I'm not planning on going to jail."
Staff Writer Betty Waters contributed to this report.
