Latricia Lloyd, a driver for Durham, waits in bus number 388 to pick up students at the end of the day at the Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences on Monday, Dec. 7, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn.Hamilton County Board of Education members are expected to vote Thursday on whether to stick with controversial bus vendor Durham School Services or go with a new contractor.
The school board meets at 5 p.m. for a special-called session in which school district officials expect to make a recommendation to the board for a new transportation contract, said Ken Bradshaw, chief operations officer of Hamilton County Schools.
Bus Contract Review Timeline
> Nov. 27, 2018 – Discussion of request for proposal (RFP) at school board work session> Dec. 11, 2018 – RFP released to vendors> Feb. 8, 2019 – RFP closed> Feb. 26, 2019 – Evaluation of the proposals by district officials began> March 8, 2019 – Durham School Services and First Student, Inc. proposals shared with the school board> March 11, 2019 – Presentations at school board meeting by vendors> March 28, 2019 – Presentation and recommendation by district officials to the school board at special-call sessionSource: Hamilton County Schools spokesman Tim Hensley
The district has been reviewing possible transportation options for months and will choose between bids from Durham and First Student Inc. that were submitted after the official request for proposal process began in December.
Some school board members said they aren’t sure if they are prepared to vote, though.