NJ laws mean schools are stuck with bus contractors facing criminal charges – Asbury Park Press

New Jersey’s top law enforcement officials say two school bus companies let unlicensed drivers, criminals and people using illegal drugs transport the state’s public school children.

But even pending criminal charges against A-1 Elegant Tours and F&A Transportation can’t stop the firms from gettingfuture contracts with public schools. 

Why do schools still employ them to drive our kids? Simple, school officials say: New Jersey’s laws prohibit them from doing otherwise if a company offers up the lowest price.

It’s the latest example of the state’s flawed safety regulations — revealed last month in a USA TODAY NETWORK investigation — that allow questionable contractors to skirt the rules and still get business even if students are put at risk. 

INVESTIGATION: Five takeaways from NJ school bus investigation

CHARGED: School bus contractors charged with fraud

Paterson Public Schools has contracts with East Orange-based F&A Transportation that cover three school bus routes. One expired Oct. 31, however a second contract runs until Nov. 19 and a third ends Jan. 15. 

 F&A was the lowest responsive bidder for these contracts. Despite the criminal charges, the state law gives school districts virtually no wiggle room to dismiss the lowest bidder or prevent them from bidding on new contracts. 

“The only way the district could end these contracts before they are scheduled to end is if the state education commissioner or the Passaic County executive superintendent disqualified the company from receiving the contract,” according to a statement from Paterson schools spokesman Paul Brubaker.

School districts can seek to disqualify a company from bidding for up to three years if the district itself has had negative experiences with the vendor, according to state law. 

But disqualifying a company can be be its own insurmountable task. Paterson Schools issued more than 100 violations against Paterson-based A-1 Elegant Tours before the company agreed not to bid on contracts for two years.

The district previously said it agreed to the two-year time out because the hearings to disqualify a contractor are lengthy and would have only stopped A-1 Elegant Tours from bidding for up to three years, the maximum disqualification period allowed under New Jersey law. 

Schools could get guidance from the New Jersey Department of Education to help them make decisions on renewing contracts. 

“After an investigation is concluded, the Department of Education will issue a memorandum to notify school districts of the results of the investigation, which serves notice to districts that they should take into account those factors in any decision-making in contracting with the company,” department spokesman Michael Yaple wrote in an email. 

It’s not clear just how many schools are locked into contracts with both companies. F&A Transportation and its sister company, Smart Union, held about $3.5 million in contracts with school districts in Essex, Passaic, Morris and Union counties, according information the attorney general’s office released when it charged the companies’ owners in October.

Ahmed Mahgoub and Faiza Ibrahim, the husband and wife who own both F&A Transportation and Smart Union, were charged with second-degree counts of theft by deception, conspiracy and false representations for a government contract, as well as a third-degree charge of tampering with public records or information. They also were charged with misconduct by a corporate official, a second-degree offense. 

In June, the owner and manager of A-1 Elegant Tours were charged with theft by deception, conspiracy, false representations for a government contract, tampering with public records or information and misconduct by a corporate official based off its operations under contracts with Essex County school districts. 

The Essex County contracts totaled $1 million, however A-1 Elegant also had contracts with public school districts in Hudson, Passaic and Union counties. 

Both companies were featured in the USA TODAY NETWORK investigation.

The attorney for A-1 Elegant owner Shelim Khalique did not return a call for comment.

The attorney representing F&A Transportation in a series of municipal court cases said he could not comment on the attorney general’s case against the bus company or impact it had on its business because he has not been formally retained for that proceeding. 

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Susanne Cervenka covers Monmouth County government and property tax issues, winning several state and regional awards for her work. She’s covered local government for 15 years, with stops in Ohio and Florida before arriving in New Jersey in 2013. Contact her at @scervenka; 732-643-4229; scervenka@gannettnj.com.