Bill Text: NJ S2023 | 2014-2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Authorizes a board of education to reject the lowest bid for a school transportation contract based on the school bus safety inspection record of the bidder.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-05-05 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Education Committee [S2023 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2014-S2023-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Authorizes a board of education to reject the lowest bid for a school transportation contract based on the school bus safety inspection record of the bidder.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning contracts for pupil transportation services and amending N.J.S.18A:39-3.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. N.J.S.18A:39-3 is amended to read as follows:
18A:39-3. a. No contract for the transportation of pupils to and from school shall be made, when the amount to be paid during the school year for such transportation shall exceed $7,500.00 or the amount determined pursuant to subsection b. of this section, and have the approval of the executive county superintendent of schools, unless the board of education making such contract shall have first publicly advertised for bids therefor in a newspaper published in the district or, if no newspaper is published therein, in a newspaper circulating in the district, once, at least 10 days prior to the date fixed for receiving proposals for such transportation, and shall have awarded the contract to the lowest responsible bidder.
The board of education may, by resolution approved by a majority vote of the board, disqualify a bidder who would otherwise be determined to be the lowest responsible bidder, if the board of education finds that in the prior school year a significant percentage of the school buses owned and operated by the bidder have failed a school bus safety inspection based on out-of service criteria as established by the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission pursuant to section 6 of P.L.1999, c.5 (C.39:3B-23).
Nothing in this chapter shall require the advertisement and letting on proposals or bids of annual extensions, approved by the executive county superintendent, of any contract for transportation entered into through competitive bidding when--
(1) Such annual extensions impose no additional cost upon the board of education, regardless of the fact that the route description has changed; or
(2) The increase in the contractual amount as a result of such extensions does not exceed the rise in the Consumer Price Index as defined in section 3 of P.L.2007, c.260 (C.18A:7F-46) for that school year, regardless of the fact that the route description has changed or an aide has been added or removed; or
(3) (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1982, c.74.)
(4) The increase in the contractual amount as a result of an extension exceeds the rise in the Consumer Price Index as defined in section 3 of P.L.2007, c.260 (C.18A:7F-46) for that school year, but the following apply to the extensions:
(a) The increase is directly attributable to a route change to
accommodate new student riders or safety concerns as provided for in the original bid, or the increase is directly attributable to the addition of an aide as provided for in the original bid; and
(b) The school destination remains unchanged from the original contract.
Any such extension as described in this paragraph shall require the approval of the executive county superintendent of schools.
Nothing in this chapter shall require the immediate bid of any contract renewal for the remainder of a school year in which the only change, in addition to route description, is the bus type. However, any such extension shall be approved by the county superintendent of schools and shall be bid for the next school year.
b. The Governor, in consultation with the Department of the Treasury, shall, no later than March 1 of each odd-numbered year, adjust the threshold amount set forth in subsection a. of this section, or subsequent to 1985 the threshold amount resulting from any adjustment under this subsection or section 17 of P.L.1985, c.469, in direct proportion to the rise or fall of the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers in the New York City and the Philadelphia areas as reported by the United States Department of Labor. The Governor shall, no later than June 1 of each odd-numbered year, notify all local school districts of the adjustment. The adjustment shall become effective on July 1 of each odd-numbered year.
(cf: P.L.2007, c.260, s.66)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill authorizes a board of education of a public school district to reject the lowest responsible bidder on a contract to provide school transportation services if the board of education finds that in the prior school year a significant percentage of the school buses owned and operated by the bidder have failed a school bus safety inspection based on out-of-service criteria as currently established by the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission.
In 1999, the Legislature enacted the "School Bus Enhanced Safety Inspection Act," P.L.1999, c.5. That law provides for the inspection of all school buses by the Motor Vehicle Commission and authorizes the commission's inspectors to declare "out-of-service" any school bus which by reason of its mechanical condition may cause a breakdown, accident, or unsafe condition for the occupants of the bus. While that law has been successful in identifying problems with school buses and removing from the roads those with serious safety violations until such time as the violations are corrected, there is no way under the current school transportation bidding procedures for school districts to consider school bus safety records of school bus operators during the bidding process. This bill addresses that problem by permitting a school district to reject the lowest responsible bidder on the basis of the bidder's prior year out-of-service record.
