Bus company barred from bidding on Paterson school bus routes loses fight | Paterson Times Paterson Times

Bus company barred from bidding on Paterson school bus routes loses fight

By Jonathan Greene
Published: March 17, 2015

school-bus

A West Orange based school transportation company that was disqualified from bidding on Paterson Public Schools’s student bus routes lost a fight this month when an administrative law judge entered a default judgment in favor of the schools.

Mayor Transportation also known as Saleh Trans submitted the lowest bid for 41 bus route for school year 2014-2015, but it received not a single one for allegedly “commingling bus routes” in the past, according to records.

The public schools notified the company in a letter dated August 15, 2014 that due to multiple violations of the terms of its prior contract with the schools it has been disqualified from receiving bus routes for 2014-15 school year. The letter further noted, the company would not be permitted to bid on transportation routes for a three-year period, according to records.

The bus company appealed to the New Jersey Commissioner of Education on August 21, 2014 stating the schools could not disqualify bids based on “prior negative experience” without holding a hearing before the executive county school superintendent to determine whether there was a breach of contract or “nonperformance.”

Subsequently, the school system initiated a hearing with the Passaic County executive county school superintendent on August 22, 2014. A hearing was held seven days later. A decision followed on September 3, 2014 that found the bus company had “nonperformed.” Another letter was issued to the bus company disqualifying it from bidding on transportation contracts.

During the same period, the bus company’s complaint to the Department of Education was moved to the Office of Administrative Hearings. The schools moved to dismiss the complaint which was determined to be “moot” because the schools held a hearing before the executive county school superintendent.

The bus company “never responded to the summary disposition motions” resulting in a default judgment in favor of the school system on March 6, 2015.

Stock photo used above.

Editor’s note: Stock photo that bore “White Plains Bus Company” on the side of the featured image has been removed. The White Plains Bus Company was not involved in the Paterson incident.


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