Transportation dominated a portion of the Nov. 18 agenda after staff reported two voluntary contractor terminations and outlined changes to the route-award process.

Staff reported letters from two contractors seeking voluntary termination of their bus contracts: Angela Gilley (bus 96) with a stated termination date of Dec. 1 and a return of insurance stipend funds to the district of $2,399.76, and Christie Taylor (bus 201) with a last driving date of Nov. 21 and an insurance stipend return of $2,421.98. District staff confirmed those contract-termination requests and described the expected administrative adjustments.

Separately, transportation staff described a new route-awarding procedure announced via email on Sept. 24. Eleven contractors returned completed applications; after that, staff said they received calls from contractors who said they did not see the email. Staff offered two options to the board: (1) proceed with awarding routes to the 11 contractors who complied, or (2) reopen the application with a short window for others to respond. Some board members argued it would be unfair to the contractors who complied to reopen the process; others favored giving a quick second chance to account for junk-mail and other delivery problems.

Board members also revisited whether the county should again provide liability insurance for contractors rather than the current stipend approach. One member said the stipend approach costs the district roughly $250,000 annually compared with historical coverage by the county; another urged the board to coordinate with county commissioners to ensure contractors are included in county bid specifications.

Transportation staff also said some contractors have not returned required route descriptions despite repeated requests; staff proposed using contract remedies (withholding payments) if necessary. The board asked staff to circulate the current list of applicants and to recommend a short timeline if the board elects to reopen the process.