Pat-Med BOE Re-Selects Montauk Bus

The Patchogue-Medford School District Board of Education has again selected the Montauk Bus Service, Inc. to provide large school bus transportation after a second bidding period for the district’s transportation contract running from the 2013-2014 school year through to the 2015-2016 school year at Monday’s special BOE meeting at South Ocean Middle School’s conference room in Patchogue.

The company originally won the contract in May, but due to a legal technicality announced at the July 18 special Board of Education meeting, the district had to open up the contract for re-bidding. The district’s attorney, Gregory J. Guercio, said Monday the technicality was a miscommunication from his office on the district’s ability to choose a transportation company.

“At that time, the Board was under the impression as a result of a miscommunication on our office that it had the ability to award the contract in connection with the RFP based upon price and not based upon the required rubric,” Guercio said. He said the Board is now aware of its obligations, which are to award the transportation contract solely based on whichever company scored highest on the rubric due to adopting the RFP process and rubric. The rubric consists of 10 areas that include cost, insurance requirements, accident history and safety program among others.

Board president Brett Houdek told Patch after the meeting that Montauk Bus Service was not the highest rubric scorer when it was first selected, but the original highest scorer, who was not named, did not submit a bid during the re-bidding period. Houdek also said that both companies came in within fractional scores of each other, but Montauk saves the district $2.5 million.

Houdek also told Patch that the law requiring the district to select based solely on rubric score only applies to the transportation RFP.

“Because transportation has a special carved out law that says you must exactly match that RFP and only award, we didn’t have the latitude we did last time,” Houdek said. “So we had to re-bid it, make sure it was official, one of the bidders bowed out, so we’re essentially in the same process as where we were.”

The conference room Monday was packed with residents, several employees of the outgoing Suffolk Bus Company and at least one parent. Adele Shaw of Medford told Patch that she has been driving within Patchogue-Medford School District for 16 years with Suffolk Bus.

“Losing Patchogue-Medford was a big loss for us,” Shaw said.

A parent who is running a Facebook Page titled “Pat-Med Parents to SAVE Suffolk Transportation Company 2013” posted the news that Suffolk would not be returning with the following statement:

“I am sad to say the board gave the contract to Montauk again. My children have been crying since they heard. I have explained to each of them that they need to give the new drivers a chance. I on the other hand am still very concerned for their safety. I ask that all of you please keep me updated on how your experiences are with the new company.”

Houdek said all of the bidders had acceptable safety records, were fully insured, able to provide service in a timely fashion and that the Board has no problems with any of them.

What are your thoughts on the bus company switch? And the RFP process? Add them and discuss in the comments section below this story.