AKRON, Ohio — Legal questions loom for Akron Public Schools as the district works to determine how it will transport an estimated 1,200 homeless students and students with special needs to and from school when classes begin next month.
On Monday, the Akron Board of Education approved two resolutions giving the district permission to transport this population of students, as required by law. However, the board voted down a resolution that would outline how the district would do it.
“I’m glad that the school board decided to question some of the things that administration was saying in regards to the independent contractors,” Brandy Vickers told 3News.
Vickers is the spokesperson for what she says are more than 140 Independent Contract Operators (ICO) who transport students with special needs for APS.
HOW IT STARTED
The saga began in early May, when Vickers, along with other ICOs, raised concerns about the district paying more money to two outside companies to transport fewer students. The District says an ICO is paid at a rate of $21.35 per student.
In a May statement to 3News, a district spokesperson explained that the district paid contracted companies more than individual drivers because the companies provided additional services, like logistics and payroll.
According to an APS document presented at Monday’s school board meeting, the district spent $7.1 million during the 2023-24 school year on ICOs and two certified transportation vendors: KBT Transit LLC and UTC Transit LLC.
Angela Carter, the district’s chief of staff, says KBT was paid around $1.6 million and UTC $1.8 million to supplement the district’s transportation needs when ICOs weren’t available. ICOS were paid about $3.6 million to transport close to 1100 students.
BOARD VOTES DOWN TRANSPORTATION CONTRACT
In June, the board voted down a resolution for the district to enter exclusively into a transportation contract with Templeton Transportation LLC for the upcoming school year, which would have ended the district’s relationship with ICOs.
“The board made it clear from the first vote that they weren’t in agreement to doing anything with a transportation company when they had us already doing this job and we’ve been doing it effectively for the last 50 years,” Vickers said. “If something isn’t broke, why fix it?”
The board unanimously tabled a resolution at Monday’s meeting that once again included Templeton, who district leaders say provided the lowest daily rate ($27.86) per student of the 15 companies that submitted proposals to the district during the Request For Proposal (RFP) process.
“My advice would be that if we proceed with this, that these other vendors have every right to sue this school board and I will join them,” board member Barbara Sykes said during a discussion period, as the room erupted in applause after her comment.
LEGAL QUESTIONS
The board had been presented two options that included using the ICOs and Templeton combined, or once again going exclusively with Templeton.
Sykes argued that since the district presented the same Templeton option already voted down, the Board needed to vote to reconsider it. Sykes also believes the board is violating the RFP process by not going back to the other 14 vendors who originally presented proposals for competitive bids.
After back-and-forth discussions, Superintendent Michael Robinson asserted that according to the district’s attorney, they were not breaking the law.
The board is now in the process of getting clarification on the legal questions before the next regular board meeting scheduled for Aug. 12.
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