Page 10 THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, December 10, 2021 BUS | FROM PAGE 1 lowed at this time. Both School Committee members and Mayor Christenson acknowledged the comments of those two speakers, as well as many others who had contacted them on the issue. Mayor Christenson, who spoke right before a 6-3 vote in favor of Malden picking up the last one-year contract option with NRT, provided some striking clarity. “For me it’s the great unknown. This has been the most volatile line item on the school budget year in and year out, and if you thought it was a challenge before, you ain’t seen nothing yet,’” Mayor Christenson said at Monday night’s regular School Committee meeting about the bus transportation contract. Mayor Christenson and other School Committee members noted bus transportation, like some other contracted service enterprises, had been severely impacted by personnel shortages and other serious issues since even before the COVID-19 pandemic. But the introduction too much to speculate,” Mayor Christenson. “I support the extension of one more year, with the full intention of putting the contract back out to bid early in the next school year so we will have time to get plenty of input from all parties who are impacted.” Spadafora talked about a chalof the once-in-a-100-years virus to the world has magnified the provision of services. Ward 3 School Committee Member Jennifer Spadafora, who is the designated member for transportation issues oversight, had reviewed the timeline for the contract, noting it was a three-year agreement with NRT, signed to begin in 2018, with two one-year School Department options for 2021-2022 and 2022-23. Malden Public Schools (MPS) pays about $2.5 million annually for the NRT services, to provide bus transportation for 346 special needs students both in and out of district. Both Spadafora and Mayor Christenson said they backed picking up the final one-year option with NRT since time and financial uncertainty are big obstacles to the alternative: seeking new bids from another vendor in time for a new service vendor to be hired and acclimated to the Malden district. “For me, it makes sense financially to take this budget concern off the board,” the Mayor said. “At least we know it is at our option, and we know what our cost will be.” “Without knowing what our Chapter 70 funding will be due to our enrollment numbers or what the new Northeast [Vocational] school project is going to mean to us, cost-wise, it is just lenging timeline if NRT’s oneyear extension was not voted in. “Time is of the essence; if we tabled a vote, we would have to put it off to January at the earliest, then vote on an RFP [Request for Proposals], which would take us to February or March,” Spadafora explained. “Then we’d have to interview and be cutting it too close to be able to train drivers to get to know routes. We have 50 routes every morning and afternoon for our students, including in and out of district.” In building a school budget proposal that has traditionally been razor-thin in the ability to reduce it to fit financial parameters, not knowing what bus transportations costs would be that late in the game, such as in the spring, would be anathema to budget preparation protocol, Spadafora said. “Our Assistant Supt., Toni Mertz, is working on the [FY23] school budget right now, It’s important to know what [bus costs] we’re building into our budget right now,” Spadafora said. “With the climate we are in now as for hiring and training drivers, it is important that we have this [contract] issue settled as soon possible.” Ward 5 School Committee Member Adam Weldai said he is pleased with the degree of input he had received on the bus contract issue, including from someone directly involved with the matter, Committee Member Spadafora, whose son is an out-of-district student who is bused daily. “Give SEPAC credit that they have increased engagement and participation from caregivers. The most important question I had when talking to those who contacted me was ‘do they take part’ in the daily transportation service,” said Weldai, who seconded Spadafora’s motion to extend COMMISSION | FROM PAGE 2 zens," Councillor Anderson said. "It's time we walked the walk after talking about these issues and how to address them for so long." Councillor Sica said she was hopeful that the establishment of the Racial Equity Commission, which is expected to come about in early 2022, would be a positive step in the right direction. "With the help of our Diverthe contract. “Most of them did, and most of them spoke favorably of the company [NRT]; plus, we have a committee member [Spadafora] intimately involved with the service.” Spadafora related that she had also had some issues at times with NRT, but added that the company did respond quickly to questions and complaints and “did their best to rectify them in a reasonable time frame.” Spadafora said that first-year Assistant Superintendent for Student Services Pamela MacDonald had made monitoring the bus transportation process an important priority since MacDonald came aboard in August. “She [MacDonald] has been working closely and extremely diligently with NRT on complaints and other issues, and NRT has been very responsive,” Spadafora said. “Whether it is that the route takes longer than it should to get to school in the morning – they have put students on different routes and the problem is solved immediately, or they have even added routes.” Outgoing Ward 7 School Committee Member Michelle Luong, a steady champion for MPS Special Education students, agreed that the time factor is critical and said she could support the extension of the contract, if communication could be improved so as to address any remaining issues with students’ transportation experience could be addressed and rectified immediately. Ultimately, Luong voted against the motion to extend the NRT contract, joined by members Joseph Gray (Ward 6) and Robert McCarthy Jr. (Ward 2). All other members voted in favor: Mayor Christenson, Michael Drummey (Ward 1), Spadafora, Leonard Iovino (Ward 4), Weldai and John Froio (Ward 7). Echoing Mayor Christenson, Spadafora pledged to get the new contract process going as early as possible in 2022, “so we can hit the ground running.” She also said all stakeholders “would have a seat at the table, starting with SEPAC.” sity, Equity and Inclusion coordinator and a small group of committed residents, I believe that we can break the negative cycle we have fallen into," Councillor Sica said."It is my hope that we will be able engage the community in meaningful dialogue outside the political arena, work toward building mutual respect and understanding, and make significant strides toward a more holistic and inclusive community."
11 Publizr Home