Framingham Will Seek New School Bus Provider

FRAMINGHAM, MA — After a rocky relationship with school bus provide Durham, Framingham Public Schools will soon seek offers for a new provider.

Framingham will open an invitation for bids on Dec. 9 to possibly replace Durham as the company's five-year contract ends. The district will likely pick the lowest bidder when the bid period closes on Dec. 30.

Between the end of 2019 and early 2020 — before the coronavirus pandemic ended the need for buses — Framingham had effectively put Durham on an improvement plan after chronic late problems.

In late 2019, about 150 students were arriving late to school each day on average due to bus delays. Durham said it was experiencing a driver shortage, and Framingham asked the company to increase driver pay, bring drivers in from other communities, and offer other benefits to fix it.

Last December, Framingham threatened to cancel its contract with Durham early and charge fines if the late problem wasn't fixed. By February, Durham reported that all its drivers had showed up for work between Jan. 2 and Jan. 20, thus avoiding penalties.

Finance Director Lincoln Lynch told the School Committee on Wednesday the new contract would have protections in case the next bus provider failed to live up to expectations.

Durham won a $29.1 million five-year contract in 2016 in competition with Five Star Transportation, which submitted a $34.2 million bid. Durham also submitted a $31 million bid at the time offering new buses instead of the used ones in the $29.1 million bid.