The Mamaroneck Union Free School District's transportation department runs on an "informal basis," without a well-defined set of procedures, according to a consultant hired by the district to analyze the transportation department in terms of "operations management, routing and bell times and outsourcing."

At Tuesday's regular Board of Education meeting, a presentation was given by Tim Ammon, vice president of Management Partnership Services, Inc. According to the company's Web site, they are "a leading provider of student transportation and fleet management consulting services."

All in all, Ammon indicated that Mamaroneck UFSD is utilizing their buses to the fullest. Almost every seat is used by a student, so capacity or utilization of existing buses is good. However, criticism sprang from organizational inefficiencies within the department and district itself.

The lack of a defined set of procedures leads to the absence of good risk management, explained the consultant. If an employee quits, for instance, there may not be any other employee with the same knowledge of history. Without firm, defined, written procedures, management will have nothing from which to work, said Ammon. Also, the amount of time spent on the management of payroll within the department takes too much time away from that employee being efficient in other ways.

Ammon found that the transportation management software could be reimplemented to expand its usefulness. This way, everyone can use it to support the district as a whole and not just one department. He calls this "capture, categorize and manage the system."

On a practical level, the schools in Mamaroneck have the same "bell times," which means that buses can only do one route per day. If the bell times were staggered, then buses could be "recycled" and work throughout the day on more than one route.

The Princeton Plan Analysis was also considered, whereby the schools would be grade-specific instead of zone- or neighborhood-specific. For example, Murray Avenue School might be K to 2^nd grade and Mamaroneck Avenue School would take the 3^rd to 5^th grades. MPS found, however, that this scenario would result in a greater number of students eligible for busing and therefore greater costs in general.

And then there is outsourcing. While Ammon admitted that outsourcing could save the district approximately 13 percent per year, he generally does not recommend it unless the scenario could save the client much more than 10 percent. Mamaroneck would be right on the cusp.

A significant cost to all New York school districts is the transportation of students to private and parochial schools. Though mandated by the state, public school districts do have the option to choose public transportation for these students as an alternative in certain circumstances. While there are many issues, including safety, to consider with public transportation, shared buses among adjoining districts is also a possibility to cut costs.

There are many factors that go into this analysis, all of which will be in a final detailed report that will be available to the Board of Education and the public in a week or so, according to Mr. Ammon. Keep checking the Mamaroneck UFSD Web site for updates.

At the beginning of the meeting, new Superintendent of Schools Dr. Robert Shaps took a few minutes to report that Mamaroneck schools had a "smooth opening" and are proceeding "full steam ahead."

If anyone is wondering what Shaps has in store for the district, or has a question for him, he is holding several 'meet the superintendent' meetings for students, parents, staff and community. The next two will be held in the Hommock's library on September 23 at 3:30 p.m., and September 29 at 7:30 p.m.

The next regular monthly Board of Education meeting will be on Tuesday, Oct. 19 at 7:30 p.m. in the tiered classroom.