
The Northborough, Southborough and Regional School Committees have rejected the two bids received for the transportation contract. (Photo/Maureen Sullivan)
NORTHBOROUGH/SOUTHBOROUGH – The Northborough, Southborough and Regional School Committees have rejected the two bids received for the transportation contract during a joint meeting on Jan. 13.
The lowest bid would have resulted in a 45% increase to the daily rate per bus for fiscal 2026.
Several committee members said that going to Northborough and Southborough for more money for the same service would be difficult.
“Particularly in this budget climate, I think we owe it to the students and to the community to see if we can do something different to get a better contract, recognizing that there is going to be an increase and that’s a tough place to be anyways,” said Regional School Committee member Sean O’Shea.
Bids
The Public Schools of Northborough and Southborough received the two bids on Dec. 16 from the current provider NRT and First Student.
According to Assistant Superintendent of Finance Rebecca Pellegrino, the current three-year contract began in 2020 with the option to extend it into fiscal years 2024 and 2025. The contract included 32 total buses. In fiscal year 2021, the daily rate was $347.19 per bus per day, and by fiscal 2025, the daily rate increased to $375.81 per bus per day. The daily bus rates are shared by the three school districts.
As the lowest bidder, NRT’s proposed daily rate was $544.99, or a 45.02% increase over the current daily rate. The total fiscal year 2026 contract would be $3.1 million; Northborough’s share would be $690,611.33 and Southborough’s $596,437.06. The Regional District’s share would be $1,852,094.02, prior to the regional transportation reimbursement.
The contract would increase by 3% annually through fiscal 2030.
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First Student’s proposed daily rate was $681.62, or a 81.37% increase over the current daily rate. The total contract would be $3.9 million with Northborough’s share being $863,748.86 and Southborough’s $745,964.93. The Regional District’s share would be $2,316,417.41 prior to reimbursement.
The contract calls for annual increases of 5%.
Superintendent Greg Martineau said the district already negotiated with NRT and there were no changes to the price.

(Screenshot/Public Schools of Northborough and Southborough presentation)
Contract terms
According to Pellegrino’s presentation, the proposed transportation contract included language that the buses would be no more than five years old and have no more than 60,000 original miles at the beginning of each contract year.
Another change was that the contract required the contractor to have four substitute drivers specifically dedicated for the school district in event of absences.
“What we find is that they do not have enough substitutes in place when we require them. So, in this bid document, we did ask they have four spare drivers that were specifically dedicated to our district,” she said.
The district also added language to transport students for the Extended School Year. Under previous contracts, late buses were included in the daily rate. The proposed contracts included separate rates for the late buses.
The contract also included a provision that the contractor would be expected to create and update the bus routes, and it asked for the contractor to employ a bus dispatcher that would be dedicated to the district. While there are video cameras on all of the buses, the district requested the ability to review the audio and video in real time.
There were two alternatives for the bid that could be added to the contract. The first alternative would be for a device that was capable of recording vehicles that do not stop for the bus, and the second would be an electronic student ridership tracking system.
While the district was negotiating with NRT, Martineau said there were two items that raised the overall cost the dedicated substitute drivers and the age and mileage requirements of the vehicles.
In weighing the pros and cons of rejecting the bids and reissuing an invitation for them, Pellegrino said the district would be able to change the bid specifications to achieve any savings and could lead to more competitive bids from multiple vendors. However, she noted that the process would be extended and the amount within the fiscal 2026 budget would remain unknown. Additionally, she said there is a potential that the bids could be higher or the district does not receive any bids.
She said district staff recommended that a new invitation would include revised language pertaining to the substitute drivers and vehicle age.
The district is also interested in engaging a transportation consultant to assess transportation in fiscal 2029. Martineau said the consultant would analyze what it would take and cost to bring transportation in house at the end of the three-year contract.