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<p>Giving his office a pat on the back for helping Crestwood School District &#8220;make needed changes to its transportation services contract,&#8221; State Auditor General Eugene DePasquale released an audit Wednesday noting the district not only failed to ensure bus drivers had required background checks, but that the district effectively granted a 20-year contract to one transportation company with annual increases built in.</p><p>The audit only refers to the company as &#8220;the primary contractor,&#8221; but in both cases it was Rinehimer Bus Lines.</p><p>District Solicitor Jack Dean, who had publicly acknowledged the findings of the looming audit release more than a month ago, conceded the findings were accurate but noted the audit&#8217;s praise for timely response to the problems.</p><p>Dean also noted that the initial Rinehimer contract cited as being 20 years was negotiated at the last minute after problems with another company.</p><p>&#8220;The district was under the gun,&#8221; Dean said, noting those negotiations with Rinehimer occurred on a Friday with school starting the following Monday.</p><p>Dean said that while the contract allowed multiple annual renewals and did have a 3 percent annual increase &#8220;what we ended up getting in 2016 was a contract that was actually less&#8221; than other companies had offered in the RFP process.</p><p>&#8220;The auditors took issue with the fact that it was, essentially, a 20-year contract,&#8221; he said, but they &#8220;recognized the spot we were in when we negotiated that contract.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Driver clearances</strong></p><p>Specific findings in the audit related to driver clearances:</p><p>&#8226; Auditors obtained lists of bus drivers for two contracted companies, but found the district lacked documentation showing the drivers had proper qualifications and clearances for both. The law requires the district have such documentation on file.</p><p>&#8226; One company provided complete records on request, but Rinehimer &#8220;did not have copies of the required drivers&#8217; licenses for more than two-thirds of its 46 drivers.&#8221; The district cancelled two days of school and delayed the start by two hours when school resumed while trying to correct the problem. Both Superintendent Joseph Gorham and Operations Manager Christopher Gegaris were put on paid leave, and will be off the payroll next month.</p><p>&#8226; Rinehimer&#8217;s records &#8220;were incomplete for 41 or 46 drivers, or 89 percent of all drivers.&#8221; The missing records included: 30 drivers without valid driver&#8217;s license with required &#8220;S&#8221; endorsement, 31 missing physical exam records, 2 missing arrest/conviction reports, 10 missing federal criminal history records, nine missing the state child abuse history clearances and five missing the state criminal history records.</p><p>Ultimately, the audit notes, &#8220;none of the drivers were determined to be ineligible to transport students.&#8221; The audit determined the problem occurred because the district had a flawed and outdated transportation policy and a lack of oversight of those responsible for enforcing policy.</p><p>In its response, the district noted it made numerous changes as recommended in the audit.</p><p>Regarding the lengthy transportation contract, the audit noted the district sought RFPs in 2016 and received three proposals, awarding the contract to the lowest cost proposal, but &#8220;just before the start of the 2016-17 school year,&#8221; that contractor informed the district it could not hire enough drivers.</p><p>The district then negotiated a contract with Rinehimer, which it had been using for years.</p><p>That new contract had &#8220;undesirable terms,&#8221; the audit stated:</p><p>&#8226; The five-year contract &#8220;included three separate five-year automatic extensions, which essentially resulted in a 20-year contract.&#8221; Those terms prevented the district &#8220;from seeking competitive pricing&#8221; and hampered it from &#8220;getting enhanced quality of service over the length of the contract.&#8221;</p><p>&#8226; Rinehimer was also given &#8220;first right of refusal&#8221; to enter into a contract under the same terms set by any proposed contract with another company. &#8220;This clause gave an unfair advantage&#8221; to Rinehimer, and could &#8220;discourage competitors from bidding.&#8221; It also discouraged Rinehimer &#8220;from making a good faith effort to propose the best prices and services it can offer.&#8221;</p><p>&#8226; The contract had automatic increases of 3 percent annually, disregarding number of days, vehicles or students. This addition was critical &#8220;because the original proposal by (Rinehimer) tied the price of the transportation services to the reimbursement provided by (The Pennsylvania Department of Education).&#8221; PDE reimbursement accounts for direct-cost factors including miles and number of students.</p><p>&#8226; The contract also levied a fuel surcharge paid by the district to Rinehimer, but cost and fees of the base price ($2 million) &#8220;were not sufficiently defined by the contract to justify the surcharge.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Contract terminated</strong></p><p>Crestwood has terminated the contract with Rinehimer effective next month and has worked out an agreement with G Davis Inc., a company that is also contracted with Dallas School District locally, though that deal has not been finalized.</p><p>In the conclusion, the audit notes &#8220;we are pleased that he district agrees the contract, as executed, was not entirely favorable to the district&#8217; and commends the district for seeking bids for transportation.</p><p>&#8220;Overall,&#8221; the audit notes, &#8220;the district&#8217;s corrective action plan appears to address our recommendations.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Dean </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_DeanMug.cmyk_-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Dean </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_DePasquale-cmyk_ne201811118498306.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">DePasquale </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_DePasquale-cmyk_ne201811118498306.jpg</photo1><caption1>DePasquale </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Guydish</p><p>mguydish@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</p></shirttailMeta></div>

State Auditor General releases audit related to Crestwood bus problems