District to pay bus company $95,000 to cover shutdown

The Port Washington-Saukville School District will pay Johnson School Bus Service $95,000 to cover the period of time school buildings have been closed this year even though the company has not provided transportation. 

That amount is based on a clause in the bus contract that calls for the district to pay the company half the average daily cost of transportation if schools are closed for reasons other than weather, Director of Business Services Jim Froemming told the school board last week.

Referring to the coronavirus pandemic, Froemming said, “No one would have expected anything like this, so it’s interesting that a provision like this would be in the contract.”

Half the district’s average daily busing cost is $1,900, Froemming said, noting that public school districts pay the transportation costs of parochial schools within their boundaries. That amount multiplied by the 50 days school will have been closed by the end of the school year equals $95,000. 

Froemming said Johnson Bus Service initially asked the district to pay 90% of the transportation costs but then agreed to an amount dictated by the contract.

Supt. Michael Weber said that other school districts are faced with having to pay the bus companies they contract with a higher percentage of costs.

“We’re fortunate to have this clause in the contract because schools that don’t are having a very difficult time with this,” Weber said. 

Froemming called the resolution fair.

“They (Johnson Bus) provide a wonderful service, we have a contract and they have costs to cover,” he said.  

Summer school, however, is another issue.

The district is planning to hold in-person summer school classes in July, at least for students in kindergarten through eighth grade, but it remains uncertain if that will be possible. If school buildings can’t be reopened, it has not been determined if the district would pay Johnson Bus for a portion of the transportation that isn’t needed, Froemming said.