BOISE, Idaho — The first day of school is less than two weeks away, and new changes are rolling out for transportation in the Nampa School District (NSD).
In June, the board decided to contract with First Student, a transportation company. Prior to that, they had contracted with Brown Bus Company to transport Nampa students.
Nampa had used Brown Bus for over 60 years. The decision to end the relationship came after Brown Bus did not fill out transportation bid paperwork correctly earlier this year.
Matt Sizemore, the community and public relations for Nampa School District said, "we will be saving approximately $1 million to $1.5 million per year."
He said the savings are attributed to First Student's bd coming in lower than the district budgeted, a district-owned bus yard, and control over their bus routes.
On Tuesday, the board approved the lease for their district bus yard to be on the property of the former Armor Meat Packing Plant at 3410 East Railroad.
Sizemore said it's the ideal location.
"We haven't had our own depot before but having our own transportation staff there, as well as being able to control our own routes, that's another huge thing for us," Sizemore told KTVB Thursday.
The lease will be renewed each year for the next five to seven years, according to the lease agreement.
The bus yard is located in an industrial zone.
"It's not going to bother neighbors, it has plenty of room for all the buses," Sizemore.
KTVB stopped by the property on Thursday. There weren't any buses on the lot, and it appeared it still needed to be cleared.
Sizemore said the buses are being kept at South Middle School temporarily.
"Within the next two to three weeks, the hope is to start getting all the buses over there.," Sizemore said. "We have most of them here in the area already. the last ones to my knowledge will be here by next week."
All the buses are airconditioned and under two years old.
Sizemore added they will have enough drivers for the first day of school.
"First Student is on track to have enough by the start of the school year. we're very close," he said. "We're going to have buses ready to roll on day one to safely get our students to and from school every day."
Wednesday the district released this year's initial bus routes plan.
"Because of the four schools closing within the districts, the district went through in the entire re-boundary process," Sizemore said. "So, because of that, it's almost a start from scratch type situation when it comes to bus routes. So, they're being completely redone."
The routes are getting mixed reactions from parents online.
"We want to hear from parents, if they think an area is not safe, we want to know about that," Sizemore said. "Of course, we don't want kids waiting for too long outside or having to sit on the bus for too long. We want to make sure kids are as safe as possible."
Nampa's transportation department will be reviewing routes, and feedback, in order to finalize routes, the week prior to school starting, Sizemore said.