One of the first to share in Student Transportation of America’s (STA) $100-million “Education Stimulus Plan” is the Connecticut school district. According to the reports, the school bus contractor will give his initial payment of $830,000 to Regional School District 17 (RSD 17). It serves the towns of Haddam and Killingworth. STA placed a $770,000 order for new school buses to be manufactured during summer to replace all the school district’s older vehicles after it has signed the contract with the district. STA will begin serving RSD 17 this month. Gary Mala, superintendent of schools for the district, said that giving the opportunity to STA to manage their transportation operations will address three major challenges that their school district have to face for some time. STA will have to ensure that they have an adequate number of drivers to complement their existing driver force to keep their buses running on consistent routes with proper schedules. They are hoping that in the immediate future, parents will have seen the last of their all-too-frequent route changes and delays. But according to Mr. Michael J. Kennedy, chief operating officer of STA’s Atlantic region, that the company will offer positions to all current RSD 17 drivers and add permanent drivers for those bus routes that were being serviced by temporary personnel. Mala added that the revenue they have received from STA’s purchase of their bus fleet will give them the enough funds to contain costs associated with the operation of their school system. It also frees up capital funds previously earmarked for bus maintenance and purchases, so the district can move forward with many of the capital improvements to our school facilities that they have had to delay. The Regional School District 17 or RSD 17 officials anticipate that contracting with the company will save local taxpayers $2.4 million for just a couple of years. According to the reports, the contractor who signed the contract with Regional School District 17 has recently completed a conversion with a similar stimulus cash payment for taxpayers in Williamsport, Pennsylvania School officials. They said that contracting with Student Transportation of America or STA will save taxpayers $3.5 million over five years. The company purchased the district’s fleet for $1 million and they have invested an additional $1 million in new vehicles and they have hired 90 percent of the district’s existing workforce. Outsourcing plays an important role in the Connecticut school district and even in most of the industries because it really provides a great opportunity. It can help a certain industry to grow as its best and to be well-known worldwide.
