Preston — Three school bus companies submitted proposals to the town by Thursday's bid deadline in the latest study to determine whether the town should keep its locally owned bus service or outsource school transportation.

Town and school Finance Director John Spang said the three companies responded with financial information for nine different scenarios.

Spang said he hopes to review the bids and have information ready to present to the Board of Education Transportation Committee at its meeting Monday at 6:30 p.m. at Preston Veterans' Memorial School.

Different scenarios include whether the company or the town would purchase fuel and whether the company would purchase the town's fleet of buses, Spang said.

The firm submitting a bid with the most local connections in southeastern Connecticut was Student Transportation of America.

The company provides bus service in Griswold, Ledyard, Groton, New London, Waterford and Region 17 Haddam-Killingworth in the local area, along with Guilford, Naugatuck, Wilton, Greenwich and Danbury, according to references in the bid package.

Durham School Services, described by Spang as one of the largest bus transportation companies in the country, serves Wethersfield, Stratford, Wallingford, Mansfield, Waterbury, East Haven and many school districts in Rhode Island.

DATTCO of New Britain operates a large school bus business, along with coach bus service and a bus sales dealership, Spang said.

The company last year won the bid to take over school bus transportation in Plainfield, which had owned its own buses and transportation service, as Preston does now.

DATTCO also runs school bus service in New Canaan, Cheshire, Middletown, Plainville, New Hartford, East Hampton and several other Connecticut towns.

The Preston Board of Education voted 4-3 in September to launch a new bus transportation study just several months after rejecting two bids received in a study done last winter.

Board members in favor of the new search hoped that changing some bid specifications — allowing the company to purchase the town's buses and allowing for a five-year contract rather than a three-year contract — would improve the responses.

Those opposed believe the town should retain the local control and preserve the strong relationships families have developed with local bus drivers.

The school board's contract with Connecticut State Employees Association-Service Employees International Union (CSEA-SEUI) Local 2001 calls for the union to respond with an alternative proposal within 60 days of receiving information on a selected outside firm's proposal.

Spang said there is no set time schedule for selecting the best bid proposal, but the board plans to have a final decision on whether to keep local ownership or outsource bus service in time to include the financial costs in the proposed 2016-17 school budget in spring.

c.bessette@theday.com

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