Framingham Will Likely Get New School Bus Provider

FRAMINGHAM, MA — After a rocky end to a contract with school bus provider Durham, Framingham Public Schools is eyeing a switch to a new bus provider.

On Wednesday, the Framingham School Committee voted to move forward with a five-year, $30.5 million contract with NRT Bus. FPS Finance Director Lincoln Lynch told the committee NRT has glowing reviews, and will save the district about $115,000 per year over Durham.

The new contract would end Framingham's nearly decade-long relationship with Durham. In late 2019, Framingham began experiencing serious bus delays due to a driver shortage. The district gave Durham an ultimatum to fix the problem, or face an early contract termination.

"We thank them for their efforts over the past nine years," Lynch said Wednesday. "We've gone through issues and driver shortages and things like that, but I'm looking forward to the next six months as we ramp things up and bring students back ... they're a stand-up vendor."

Framingham opened bids for the bus contract in early December. NRT and Durham were the only two companies to respond. Durham provided two bids for five-year contracts: $37 million for a fleet of new buses and $35 million for used buses. NRT only submitted a bid for a fleet of used buses.

Under state law, governments are required to select the "lowest responsible and responsive" bids for any contract.

Lynch said he did a deep background check on NRT. He asked the company to provide a list of all the districts where it has had contracts in the Northeast over the past decade. He also interviewed 11 officials from school districts, and came away satisfied with NRT reviews.

The School Committee voted unanimously to support the NRT contract, but the Framingham City Council still has to approve it, which could happen in late February. Durham would continue as the bus provider for the remainder of the school year if students go back to in-person learning.