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Livingston ESA’s Regional Transportation Collaborative. MAISA Summer Conference 2011. Background. Survey of local school board members in April of 2009 Transportation Study conducted in Summer/Fall of 2009 Presentation to Livingston County Association of School Boards (November 2009)
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Livingston ESA’s Regional Transportation Collaborative MAISA Summer Conference 2011
Background • Survey of local school board members in April of 2009 • Transportation Study conducted in Summer/Fall of 2009 • Presentation to Livingston County Association of School Boards (November 2009) • Four out of five districts chose to participate in the collaborative beginning with the 2010-11 school year.
Structure of the RTC • Consortium agreement between LESA and all participating districts • Individual contracts with each district for specific services • Initial three-year agreement • Buses (with one exception) were titled to LESA • No Market Value Purchases – Transfers were to LESA for $1 and then will transfer back to the district at the end of the agreement for $1.
Fast Facts • 134 buses (1 district kept title to their buses) • Employees of the Agency: 3 Supervisors, 8.5 dispatchers/routers, 7 mechanics, 179 drivers, 4 assistants • 2.4 million miles driven per year • 15,400 students transported on a daily basis • Participating districts • Brighton, Hartland, Howell, Pinckney (which had been privatized)
Financial Benefit • Initial estimated savings of $1.1-1.2 million per year for four districts • Projected savings (based on mid-year review) of $1.4 million per year • Savings (across the consortium) represent 15% reduction in transportation costs. • Savings compared with total budget of the four districts represents 0.72%.
Lessons Learned • Process for adding nearly 200 hundred new employees is time consuming and can easily overwhelm the system (payroll, human resources, etc.). • Customization for the unique needs of each district (based on board policy and parent expectation) is important, but not having a supervisor employed by the Agency makes some aspects of management inefficient. • Collective bargaining (affiliated with Teamsters, but still no contract). • Received many unemployment claims that had to be challenged.
Challenges and Opportunities • Increasing retirement rate represents the most significant challenge to maintaining a competitive collaborative (possible pressure to privatize). • Attracting and retaining a qualified pool of drivers and substitute drivers is an ongoing challenge. • Opportunity for additional savings through routing and streamlining administrative services.