The Barrington School Department is currently in its final year of a multi-year contract with its transportation contractor, Ocean State Transit. 

The current contract, said Barrington Schools Finance Director Doug Fiore, offered Barrington a below-market rate for busing students to and from school. But that is likely to change next year, said Mr. Fiore. 

In an effort to minimize the future transportation costs to the district, Barrington officials are collaborating with school leaders in Bristol-Warren, Portsmouth, Tiverton and Little Compton on a shared contract with a bus company.

"We hope to gain some economies of scale by bidding together," Mr. Fiore wrote in a recent email. "School transportation is such as significant capital investment for companies that we hope to be a more attractive contract for them by combining."

Mr. Fiore said that a transportation company may be able to save money by servicing multiple communities from a single depot, rather than maintaing depots in each town.

"Additionally, they may choose to pool their buses for use in more than one community to minimize their purchases," he wrote.

Mr. Fiore said the district has hired a consultant who is soliciting bids from transportation companies. Busing costs will become clearer in the near future, he said.

Busing costs, in the past

In 2017, the Barrington School Department spent $1,102,063 on the bus contract, $275,972 for bus drivers, and $28,080 on bus monitors. The bus contract increased to $1,212,731 in 2018, while the district spent $309,085 on bus drivers and $50,612 on monitors. 

In 2019, the contract with the bus company increased slightly to $1,215,587. The school department spent less on bus drivers, that figure dropping to $266,990, while the cost of bus monitors increased to $82,000. 

This year, the district is spending $1,558,093 on the bus contract, while bus drivers cost $271,626 and monitors cost $80,080.

According to the budget summary provided by school officials on Feb. 20, Barrington schools are expecting increases in two transportation-related areas: a $248,710 increase to the bus contract and a $61,508 increase for bus monitors.