Buffalo Public Schools has agreed to pay $3.7 million to a private bus company for the month of September – even though the district’s students are not riding any buses this month.
But Maryvale, one of the county’s smallest school districts, is refusing to pay First Student for the months that its students are not riding the bus.
“They’ve been asking us to pay them for fixed costs,” said Maryvale Superintendent Joseph D’Angelo. “I’ve been telling them, 'we can’t pay you for services we aren’t getting.' ”
Under current law, the state can reimburse districts only for services that are provided, according to State Education Department officials.
The reimbursement rate varies for each district. In Buffalo, it’s 87%.
On Thursday, Buffalo told First Student that starting in October, the district would pay only for the services the company is providing, said Nate Kuzma, the district’s general counsel.
People are also reading…
“The response from them was positive,” Kuzma said. “They said that when the time comes for them to begin busing our students, they will be ready.”
Buffalo agreed to pay $3.7 million for September to First Student in late June, before the district knew whether schools would reopen this fall.
“It was a business decision made collaboratively with First Student so that we were 100% prepared for whatever happened in September,” Kuzma said.
“We knew we couldn’t ask them to do everything they needed to do to get up and running and then not pay them” if schools did not reopen, he added.
A First Student representative noted that many private transportation companies have struggled to stay afloat during the pandemic.
“We are currently working with each of our district partners to ensure transportation service resumes as seamlessly as possible as students return to the classroom for in-person learning,” Chris Kemper, senior director of corporate communications, wrote in an email.
"I do not have a figure for New York State, but I can tell you that the vast majority of First Student’s school district customers, about 80% nationwide, have provided funding support," Kemper wrote.
Buffalo and Maryvale, like many school districts in the state, stopped paying their bus companies when the pandemic forced schools to close in March. Both districts said that their contracts with First Student require them to pay the company based on the number and length of its bus runs.
Maryvale’s contract with First Student, at just under $4 million for 2020-21, is about one-tenth the amount of Buffalo’s contract with the company.
D’Angelo said First Student called Maryvale last week, asking for the district to cover some of its fixed costs, such as rent and utilities.
“They tried to strong-arm us,” he said. “They said, ‘We’re experiencing financial troubles and you’re not paying us. If you don’t start paying us, we might not transport your kids when you’re ready to open.’
“We told them many times, 'we pay you to transport kids.' If they’re not transporting kids, I can’t pay them.”
First Student acknowledged that it had asked Maryvale to pay for some of its costs.
“We have asked to be paid for the services we are providing in September so we are able to continue start-up activities and bring our drivers back to work,” Kemper wrote in an email. “This will help ensure transportation service resumes as seamlessly as possible as students return to the classroom for in-person learning.”
Maryvale and Buffalo both opted to open remotely, then reevaluate the situation after a few weeks. Maryvale announced this week that it would remain remote until at least the end of November, citing a number of reasons, including its dispute with First Student.
When schools are open in Buffalo, First Student transports 29,000 elementary and middle school students who attend district schools.
Buffalo’s district schools are closed, but First Student has provided transportation to 2,038 students living in the city who attend various non-district schools that are open: parochial schools, charter schools, and schools that provide special education services, according to district spokeswoman Elena Cala.
The $3.7 million that Buffalo agreed to pay First Student for September does include the busing that was provided to those students, she said, but the district could not provide a breakdown of its payment.
