MISSION VIEJO : Santa Barbara Firm Wins Busing Pact

Saddleback Valley Unified School District trustees have approved a one-year, $1.29-million busing contract with Santa Barbara Transportation, a growing company whose bid was more than $200,000 less than its nearest competitor.

Board of Education members said Tuesday that they could not ignore the savings offered by the Santa Barbara-based company, although they expressed mixed feelings about ending a five-year relationship with Mayflower Contract Services, which they said has provided good school busing service to the district.

But during a lengthy question-and-answer period with board members, officials with Santa Barbara Transportation said they believe that they can provide equal service for a lower cost. They agreed to hire as many of the present bus drivers as possible and pay comparable wages and benefits. Officials also assured board members that they would have extra buses available for field trips and in case of breakdowns.

“Given what we’ve seen, Santa Barbara can do the job for less cost,” board member Frank Ury said.

Ken Stokes, president and owner of Santa Barbara Transportation, said the firm could offer such savings because his profit margin is lower.

“We’re totally committed,” Stoker said. “We’re here, and we’ll give you one year of excellent service.”

District business officials initially recommended approval of a $1.5-million agreement with Mayflower Contract Services, saying the contractor would be able to continue its high level of service to the district.

With anticipated rebates in the coming year, Mayflower officials had said they could have narrowed the gap between the two contracts to about $80,000.

Until contracting for busing services with Mayflower five years ago, the district had run its own transportation program.

The district buses about 2,000 students to and from school each day.