Lincoln School Committee authorizes new five-year bus transportation bid

LINCOLN — October 20, 2022 — Lincoln authorizes five-year school bus bid with fuel-escalation clause and EV-incentive language. Business administrator Mary Ellen Doherty told the School Committee on Oct. 20 that the FY24-28 invitation for bids would cover seven routes, include Inspector General-recommended fuel adjustment language, and add an "incentive clause" inviting the contractor to partner on alternative-fuel vehicles down the road. Doherty pegged a diesel bus at $90,000, an alternative-fuel bus at $180,000 and an electric bus at roughly $300,000, and warned driver prevailing wages could climb from $25-$27 to $27-$30 an hour. The committee also unanimously awarded a one-year Hanscom snow contract to D&P Contracting at a 2 percent increase, and heard that Medicaid reimbursement has risen to about $80,000 annually — enough to "pay for one of their positions," Doherty said. Search consultant John Brackett completed focus groups with 110 participants and 91 survey responses.