UPDATED: NK School Bus Drivers Offered 5-Year Contract

An earlier version of this article contained the incorrect length of the NKBCA contract.

The North Kingstown School Committee approved a five-year contract with the North Kingstown Bus Contractors Association to transport students Tuesday night.

School Attorney Mary Ann Carroll said the terms remain confidential until the contract is approved by NKBCA. But, NKBCA President Paul Mumford said after the meeting that he had already discussed the contract with his members and they would accept it. "It's a done deal," he said.

The approval came on a 4-0 vote late in the evening after an executive session to discuss the contract and after school committee members Richard Welch and Joe Thompson had left. (Larry Ceresi was absent.)

Lynda Avanzato and Melvoid Benson thanked the contractors for continuing to provide bus service without a contract. Committee Chair Kimberly Page noted the committee had issued an RFP seeking bus companies to provide transportation services, but the only respondent would have cost more than NKBCA members.

Sports occupied much of the meeting. First, the committee recognized North Kingstown  High School student , the girls tennis state champion. Later, committee members questioned Athletic Director James Marcello about exactly how he plans to cut $30,000 from the athletics budget, a reduction the board ordered last spring to help close an overall budget gap.

Marcello said he is purchasing only basic equipment and that booster club fundraisers had offset half the cost of football uniforms. He said the school department is considering reducing transportation for spring sports, relying instead on parents to transport athletes to nearby away games. But, he said, it was unclear whether those measures would save $30,000.

Committee member Bill Mudge commented that the cut was unrealistic and that sports should be fully funded with $30,000 from the reserve account.

Committee member Welch expressed dissatisfaction with Marcello's report, pressing for details on exactly how he would meet the lower budget. "This should have been completed," Welch said. "We are five months into the budget year."

Looking at the list of coaches' salaries, which were on the agenda for approval, Benson asked whether the athletic staff would accept an across-the-board pay cut of 10 percent. School Superintendent Phil Auger replied that the salaries had been set by contract.

Auger said he would provide more details on the athletics budget at the next school committee meeting, and the coaches' salaries were approved.

In an effort to boost revenue, the board approved a request for proposals from "vendors, entities or individuals" to provide advertising income from sports and other activities. "The intent is to establish revenue streams through the design of advertising media. This may include banners, signs, digital and printed materials that conform to NKSD policies and administrative review standards," the RFP stated.

Committee members insisted that the RFP be handled by the school business office, not the athletic department; that any advertising revenue be used to benefit all school activities, not just sports; and that ads be solicited for all school activities.

The committee also suggested formation of a committee involving existing booster groups and experienced marketers to map out the best strategy for maximizing outside support for school activities.

Under correspondence, several committee members said they welcomed an Oct. 25 letter from Marcia A. Lukon, the Jamestown School Superintendent. Lukon said the Jamestown School Committee plans to "send our present eighth grade students to North Kingstown High School as ninth graders for the 2012-13 school year."

Some committee members had worried that that Jamestown should pay more for its students might threaten the relationship.

After the meeting, Mudge said he is assembling more statistics to show Jamestown is underpaying for its students' education.