FeedsSchools take up privatization Monday
The Northville Public School board is not expected to make a decision about the privatization of some services on Monday, but they will have more information.
The board will meet in a 7 p.m. study session at Hillside Middle School on the issue. The meeting, the second study session hosted by the board, was rescheduled from Wednesday, May 14 in part to give board members more time to look over the issue.
“We just couldn’t meet that deadline,” said Dave Bolitho, assistant superintendent of administrative services for the district. He said the Wednesday slot was busy, too. “We moved it to a less crowded evening and it gave us a little more time to go over the information.”
Board members first discussed farming out some services—such as custodial, food service and transportation—during the 2006-2007 budget year as a way to reduce costs and keep more funding directed to the classroom. Last year they developed a request for proposals and solicited bids from firms with varying degrees of success. They met in a initial study session last month.
The board received seven bids back for custodial services and only one back for transportation services. The food service request for proposal has not yet been completed due to different criteria imposed by the State of Michigan.
The board directed Bolitho to go through the custodial bids and come up with a shorter list of potential contractors.
“The selection committee found that three of the companies could do the job, if that’s the direction the board chooses to go,” Bolitho said.
They are G.C.A. services, which is based in Illinois but recently secured the contract for two other districts in Michigan. High-Tech and Enviro Clean.
“We’re putting together a list of options the board may want to consider,” Bolitho said.
Among the factors are the wages and benefits packages offered by the companies. Bolitho said this week he’ll also call references for the companies to gauge the satisfaction of other district officials.
He also interviewed the sole respondent to the request for transportation services, but said he will probably recommend the board go back out to bid for that.
“We felt that since they took the time to respond it was our responsibility to talk to him,” Bolitho said.
Board members have said that they have a responsibility to look into privatization as a way to save funds. Increases in district costs have continued to outpace increases in revenue, forcing an ever-tighter annual budget. The district could save as much as $300,000 annually by contracting the services out, according to preliminary figures. The cost savings are realized through salaries, benefits and retirement packages the district would not be responsible for.
School Superintendent Leonard Rezmierski said it was a tough decision, but one the district had to at least look into.
“We are mindful of how difficult this is for our valued support employees,” he said. “It’s important to remember that this is just the first step in an effort to determine if privatizing one or more of our support services is in the best interest of the school district and the students and families we serve. No decision has been made regarding privatizing services.”
Bolitho said he hopes to send out the food services RFP in June and have a contract—if one is approved by the board—in place in September.
The study session has been moved to the forum at Hillside Middle School to accommodate a large crowd.
It starts at 7 p.m. Bolitho said the board members will make a decision on the issue at their June 10 meeting after weighing the issue carefully.
“This is not a black and white issue,” he said. “There are a lot of emotions attached to it.”
