First Student, the largest school bus contractor in North America, announced that three Midwest school districts recently signed multi-year partnerships for transportation services that will usher in new safety technology as well as continuing educational opportunities for local students.
The company said it is donating a total of $25,000 in scholarships to graduating high school seniors in Michigan, $15,000 to Flint Community Schools and $10,000 to Saginaw Public School District, respectively, as part of the new contracts that begin in September. Flint will also receive 45 news school buses over the three-year contract while Saginaw will receive 20 new school buses over the same time period. The buses in both Flint and Saginaw will include GPS tracking systems, the Child Check-Mate electronic reminder system and crossing gates.
Meanwhile, Xenia Community Schools in Ohio signed a five-year contract effective in July for 15 new school buses also equipped with GPS, the Child Check-Mate reminder system and crossing gates. First Student said it also analyze as part of the contract all 39 of the district’s current 39 home-to-school routes in an effort to maximize district savings.
A First Student spokeswoman added that the contractor expects to retain 90 percent of the current transportation employees at all three school districts.
