The Orland High School District 230 board authorized emergency funding after Safeway Transportation Services Corp. threatened to end its bus contract with the district, which would have left schools without student transportation in the middle of the year. The district’s 2023 contract with Safeway was set to end this school year, but company officials demanded in December the contract rate be increased in the final months to account for “ongoing and sustained cost increases impacting operations,” according to the approved funding resolution. The emergency funding went into effect Thursday night and will extend through the remainder of the 2025-2026 school year, leaving the next few years without a set transportation contract. Board members debated Thursday whether to continue the district’s contract with Safeway or find another transportation service. Jeff Eagan, assistant superintendent of business services, said the district could renew its contract with Safeway for one to two more years but said he anticipates rates would continue to increase in the renewed contracts. Eagan said the district would need to build more room in the transportation budget and move some funds around or even adjust the tax levy. “Those are all finite revenue sources,” he said. “If I put more in the transportation fund, another fund will be slighted.” Eagan said the emergency funding came out of this year’s budget, which had room for the increase. He said the new rates with Safeway, increasing from $354 per combined morning and evening routes to $506 per combined routes, will cost the district about $321,000 between February and May. Eagan said the transportation fund had a $350,000 surplus to cover these increased costs, but said transportation costs have run higher lately due to special education and other transportation costs that were unknown when the budget was approved last September. When board member Mohammed Jaber asked if the district’s contract with Safeway would be terminated in the next three months, Nolting acknowledged the option to renew the contract but said he had some concerns about Safeway. “Safeway is, obviously we have some concerns based on where we’re at today, but we haven’t necessarily ended any future relationships at this point in time,” Nolting said. If the board does not renew its contract, board member Tony Serratore said he is concerned the district might have a gap in transportation services. Serratore said the district needs to look for other options soon because there are a limited number of bus driving companies in the state and in the area. He also said Safeway has problems and some schools have abandoned them for other vendors. “There may not be anyone available to pick those routes, and we may have no choice but to potentially have to go back to Safeway,” Serratore said. Eagan said district officials had informal conversations about cost and timeline with other transportation providers last summer and early fall, when the district began having issues with Safeway. He said these companies estimated that it might take three months before they could take over district bus routes, due to time needed to set up buses, drivers, mechanics and other process details. No formal action was taken, he said. “If we give enough leeway or time to say the beginning of next school year, that would definitely provide enough time for them to make those adjustments and provide those services,” he said. District officials said in the past year, Safeway had financial difficulties that caused concerns about the reliability of service, according to the funding resolution passed Thursday. Safeway officials said in a statement to the district that the requested adjustment was necessary to maintain safe, reliable transportation services without compromising quality. Safeway officials sent an email to the district in January stating the company would will not be able to continue service beyond Feb. 15 without the requested rate adjustment, according to a district statement in the Feb. 26 board meeting agenda. District officials said the funding increase was a matter of ensuring transportation services provided by Safeway would “continue in a safe and consistent manner for the students,” according to the resolution. Other suburban school districts also had issues with Safeway in recent years, such as Summit Hill Elementary School District 161. District parents said kindergartners were not dropped off for hours in August 2024. District officials called for quick changes to “inexcusable” school bus services, and Safeway representatives answered questions from district officials in September 2024. [email protected] ...read more read less