VCPS Superintendent Josh Johnson
VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The Valley City School board held a special meeting on January 31st to open bids for the purchase of up to seven school buses.
Superintendent Josh Johnson said we had requested bids on three mini buses, two regular route-style buses, and two activity buses. He said to run a district-owned and operated bus service next school year, we are predicting that we will need 10-11 school buses (4 mini, 4-5 regular, 2 activity.) I recommended to the school board not to take any action on the bids; rather, to table the decision to allow our administration and transportation committee to compare the bids and bring back a recommendation at a future board meeting.
At the beginning of this school year, we began our study considering four options for the ’24-25 school year. Our study on transportation (bussing) services was created due to financial necessity. The rising cost of contracted busing has made it difficult for us to budget annually for transportation services in our school district. Our very preliminary cost comparison between bid contracted bus services and district-owned for the upcoming 2024-2025 school year is an annual cost difference of over $325,000. While it is still early to completely predict our costs for district busing, we are estimating district-operated annual costs at $525,000 compared to contracted costs estimated at $850,000. This school year, we are estimating that our total transportation costs will end around $610,000.
Dietrich Bus has provided our school district with outstanding bus services for many years. An alternative busing option for VCPS is being considered for one primary reason, financial. If the decision is made by the school board to purchase buses and operate a district busing service for ’24-25, we will ensure that the high-quality bus service that our students and families have been accustomed to will continue next year at Valley City Public Schools.
Mr. Josh Johnson
Superintendent
Valley City Public Schools
The full response from Josh Johnson following the meeting with reporter Steve Urness is below.
Below is the school districts itemized busing costs over the last six years.