Buffalo’s Board of Education voted unanimously Wednesday to approve a new five-year, $80.9 million transportation contract with the NFTA — but not without frustration over how the deal reached the board.
Members delayed a vote on Aug. 19 after receiving the recommendation just one day before their meeting. During Wednesday’s special session Chief Financial Officer Jim Barnes acknowledged the late notice was his fault.
“I'll take full responsibility if we're looking for someone to blame. I'm the reason that you didn't get a board rec until last Wednesday," he said during the meeting.
Barnes said the district had anticipated the higher cost during its budget process in May and set aside funding for an increase. He said the final agreement came in about $1.3 million below what the board had budgeted.
But Ferry District board member Stephon Wright said more time alone would not have resolved the board’s concerns, countering that their "questions still would have been the same."
The new contract is about 60% more expensive than the previous one, increasing from roughly $50.4 million to $80.9 million.
Some school board members say they felt strong-armed into accepting the contract.
Wright said he hoped delaying the vote by a week would lead to more services or changes to the proposal, especially as the district is paying significantly more under the new contract.
“Honestly, we could have voted to approve just last Wednesday at our last Wednesday's board meeting if it was going to be the same outcome," Wright said. "It's the same contract that they presented to us last week. It's nothing different. None of the languages have changed. No updates. So, you know, I am disappointed that NFTA couldn't give us more, but we have to do what we have to do to get our students to school safely and on time.”
The monthly student-pass rate is increasing from $70 to $85.50. Board members noted that a general-public monthly pass was $75 and questioned why BPS was paying more for passes with more restricted use.
Interim Superintendent Ebony Prophet-Bullock said NFTA’s rationale for the higher price includes several expenses the authority is asking the district to help cover.
“They are asking us very clearly in this contract to pay into a certain portion of the NFTA police," she told the board during the session. "They are asking us to pay a portion of overtime for drivers, to pay our portion of safety and security, to help them with upgrading their new fleet, the electric buses and things of that nature.”
At-large member Erik Bohen said the district had little leverage with roughly 11,000 high school students depending on NFTA transportation.
“NFTA probably knows that they're the only thing in town around here, and unfortunately, where do we go from here? Our kids have got to go to school,” he said.
The agreement can be terminated by either party with six months’ notice without paying out the remainder of the contract.
Prophet-Bullock said both sides were doing their jobs during a difficult negotiation.
“NFTA did what they were supposed to do. They were supposed to negotiate a really hard contract. That's what they did," she said. "They did their job. Our board did their job. They held they held me, their employee, accountable with tough questions."
The interim superintendent said that both parents and school officials were most concerned about students having reliable transportation as they prepare to return to class Sept. 3.
“I have high school principals today that were digging in their pockets, digging into their retirements, selling chicken dinners to get money to buy passes because they were that afraid that their children were not going to be able to get there on the third," she said. "I can tell them they don't have to do that."
