Guide

Chapter 30B and School Transportation Contracts

When a Massachusetts school district hires a private company to transport students, the contract is almost always bought under Chapter 30B of the General Laws, the Uniform Procurement Act. You don't need to be a lawyer to bid, but a handful of its rules decide who wins, how long a contract runs and what can change after award. Here they are, from the statute itself.

Which process the district must use

The dollar value of the contract decides the process. For a town or regional school district:

Under $10,000: sound business practices, with no formal competition required.
$10,000 to $100,000: written quotes from at least three vendors that customarily provide the service, awarded to the responsible vendor with the lowest quote (section 4).
Over $100,000: sealed bids through an invitation for bids (section 5), or a request for proposals when the district decides price shouldn't be the only factor (section 6), with public notice either way.

Sealed bids: the lowest responsible and responsive bidder wins

Under an invitation for bids, the contract goes to the lowest responsible and responsive bidder (section 5). The two words mean different things. Responsive means your bid conforms in all respects to the invitation: every required form, price line and signature, in the format asked for. Responsible means you have the capability to perform the whole contract and the integrity and reliability to perform it in good faith, which a district can check through your fleet, licenses, references and record.

Bids are opened publicly, and the names of all bidders and their amounts are recorded, so you can attend the opening or ask for the results afterward. Before the opening you can correct, change or withdraw your bid in writing. After it, you can't change your price. The district must waive minor informalities or let you correct them, and if a mistake and the intended bid are both clear on the face of the bid, it corrects the mistake and you can't withdraw.

Requests for proposals: when price isn't the only factor

A district may use a request for proposals instead of sealed bids only after deciding in writing that choosing the best offer needs comparative judgment of factors besides price (section 6). Your price goes in separately and is opened so that the people rating quality never see it. Evaluators rate each proposal on each criterion as highly advantageous, advantageous, not advantageous or unacceptable.

The district then picks the most advantageous proposal from a responsible and responsive offeror, considering both price and the ratings. If that isn't the lowest price, it must explain the reasons in writing. Proposals are opened privately and kept confidential from competitors until the evaluation is done.

Contract length, renewals and options

The solicitation must state the contract term and any renewal, extension or purchase options (section 12). A term longer than three years, counting every option, needs authorization by majority vote. Longer terms are common in school transportation all the same: Franklin County's contract runs from July 2024 to June 2029.

For any contract longer than a year, the invitation must state the quantity of service (and whether it is actual or an estimate), require a unit price that stays the same for the whole contract unless the solicitation provides for price adjustments, say whether you price the first year, the whole term or both, explain how the award will be decided, and warn that the contract will be cancelled if funds aren't appropriated in a later year.

Options belong to the district. It decides alone whether to exercise one, and it must first determine in writing that doing so is more advantageous than buying the service another way.

Changes after award

A district can add service, such as more routes, without a new procurement if the unit prices stay the same or go down, the procurement officer documents why the increase is needed and more economical than a new contract, both sides agree in writing, and the total contract price rises by no more than 25% (section 13). The district and contractor can also agree to lower unit prices at any time.

Paperwork that can sink a bid

Every bid or proposal must include a signed certificate, under penalties of perjury, that it was made in good faith and without collusion or fraud (section 10). Leave it out and your bid can be rejected as not responsive. Contracts of $10,000 or more must be in writing, and the district can't pay for service delivered before the contract is signed (section 17), so don't start running routes on a handshake.

A district can cancel a solicitation or reject any or all bids when it decides that serves its best interests, as long as it states the reason in writing (section 9).

Bonds and insurance come from the invitation, not the statute

Chapter 30B doesn't set a bid deposit or performance bond for service contracts. Each district decides and says so in its invitation: the Franklin County IFB requires a performance bond equal to 10% of a year's contract price, while the Belchertown, Granby and Ware bid says one may be required. Insurance minimums are set the same way. Our insurance guide walks through what those two invitations require.

Sources

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