After another five years with Durham, Aubrey ISD is again going out to bid for a transportation provider.
The board approved the begging of the RFP process at its Dec. 18 meeting with a few adjustments from years prior presented by Assistant Superintendent Eric Hough.
“This is very similar to the one we used last time,” Hough said. “The big difference is under references. For some reason we had it where they could get negative, if they got a negative if they got a bad reference or just didn’t turn them in. Now they can get 10 points for references.”
With new possibilities on the market, the board has also removed an item regarding a contractor’s current relationship with the district “We took out a line item about relationship with the district, and we took that out not because we didn’t want to consider it but had people who said, ‘Well, you’re just going to give your current provider points for that,’ and weren’t interested in bidding, so we felt like we’ll know whether we’re happy or not and use that in our determination,” Hough said.
Maintenance and Operations Manager Matt Gore earlier referenced a recent conversation he’d had with Durham.
“He says they are staffed at 110%,” Gore said. “I followed up and asked if that’s the case at other places, and he said no. At 110%, they’re able to fill routes when drivers call in, so they have the extra drivers so we’re not having to combine routes as much as we have in the past. So hopefully the campuses are seeing that.”
Hough said he and the RFP committee hope to bring a conclusion before the board by March. RFPs will include optional systems to be bid separately including Wi-Fi on the buses and a swipe card system to monitor each student as they board and exit.
Construction Consultant Dr. Scott Niven gave another update on the district’s construction projects sparking brief conversation regarding the high school and field house renovations and new indoor facility.
“I’ve got videos this week of 18-wheelers trying to navigate in front of the school at drop off,” Jody Gonzalez said.
Niven said the district has agreements with the crews to avoid that happening.
“They’re supposed to not be there for the morning drop-off or in the afternoon, but they have not been adhering to that,” Niven said. “I’ve got to get ahold of these subs so they can get back to the normal order of business. There are no surprises about this site and what it was going to be. I think sometimes they get a little loose and need to tighten back up.”
The timeline for those projects is otherwise proceeding on schedule.
“You’ll see that they’ve taken out some of this dry, and there is a major drainage project that’s got to happen soon,” Niven said. “We’re going to discuss keeping our site nice and clean tomorrow. There is a little housekeeping that’s got to go on with that, but we’re going to get that in order.”
Board member Benton Bland asked about the timeframe for the parking area in the front of the school near the pharmacy which was previously used to store dirt. Niven said it should be cleared and completed by next spring.
“We’ve got a place back behind the football field that would be a good place to store dirt, so we can have that parking lot and relieve some pressure,” Bland said.
