A Bus Contract

For John, BLUF:  This Special Education bus contract imbroglio does not seem perfectly clear and straight forward.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Lowell board delays decision on special-ed transportation pact

That would be the Lowell School Committee.

This article is from The [Lowell] Sun, by Reporter Todd Feathers (tfeathers@lowellsun.com), 10 November 2017.

Here is the lede plus two:

After weeks of deliberation and a lengthy executive session on Thursday, the School Committee voted 5-1 to delay making a decision on the district's special-education transportation contract.

The committee has been considering terminating the current contract with SP&R Transportation after a 5-year-old boy was left on a bus for five hours earlier this year.&Nbsp; School administrators have been in talks with Pridestar EMS to take over the contract, and the company presented a detailed proposal on Thursday.

But after an executive session, the committee reconvened and with no discussion voted to table the issue until Nov. 15.

This leaves me with three questions:

1. If the Contract Incumbent is in breach of contract (incompetent), why have they not been terminated?
2. Does the School Committee, or the School Administration have contracting authority?
3. Shouldn't the issuing of a new contract require free and open competition between all qualified parties, with the award going to the lowest responsible bidder?

Regards  —  Cliff