School Transportation to Stay In-House for At Least Another Year

Concord’s School Committees on Monday voted to keep school transportation services in-house for at least another year and establish an advisory committee to study safe, cost-effective transportation solutions.

School committee members said bids to outsource transportation services -- from First Student, Dee Bus and Durham School Services -- fell short of compelling them to make a long-term decision to outsource, and decided to go ahead with a short-term solution of leasing a maintenance facility to house the district's fleet of school buses.

The transportation situation cropped up last fall, when district administration retained the services of a consultant to look into the option of outsourcing transportation services, which will be displaced by .

A recommendation to consider outsourcing options was met with vocal opposition, hundreds of yellow yard signs and two .

In separate motions on Monday night, the Concord Public and Concord-Carlisle Regional school committees voted in favor of keeping transportation services in-house for the 2012-2013 school year, leasing maintenance space to store the buses and forming an advisory committee to look into a longer-term solution.