As the 2018-19 school year winds to a close, five Franklin County School Districts, led by school business managers, have worked together for a new joint transportation bid for services within their districts, that will begin July 1st. The current contract expires June 30, 2019. The newly signed agreement will be the third joint purchase contract for the combined schools, and is the product of a long process.

Franklin County Technical School, Gill-Montague Regional School District, Pioneer Valley Regional School District, Greenfield Public Schools and Union 28/Erving/Swift River Schools are participating in the joint purchase, which was awarded to FM Kuzmeskus Bus Company of Gill. Each district voted individually to accept their low bid.

The school business managers meet monthly. Russ Kaubris, Franklin County Technical School’s Business Manager, was instrumental in ensuring the process ran smoothly. Discussions between the partner districts required alignment on many details, including getting the contract start dates and terms to line up. “Getting multiple transportation bids for services has become more difficult,” noted Kaubris, who noted that this is true across the state, not only within Western Massachusetts.

The new joint contract is a five year contract.