School district inks new bus contract with Hoglund

MONTICELLO — Monticello Public Schools will be continuing their long-standing relationship with Hoglund Transportation Company.

The Monticello School Board voted unanimously 5-0 at its most recent meeting Monday, May 6, to renew the district’s student transportation contract with Hoglund through 2029.

“I think we work well with Hoglund and they’ll be a nice partner to continue to have for the next five years,” said Tina Burkholder, director of business services for the Monticello School District.

In the rates set for 2025, for both regular and special education “to and from” routes, the daily bus cost will be $470. This is also the daily cost for summer school transportation services.

Burkholder said this is below the rates of most other districts in the region, including Elk River, which pays $493 per route; Rochester, at $507; and St. Cloud, at $487.

Locally, only STMA has a less expensive daily bus cost, paying $430 through its contract with Don’s Bus Service in Albertville.

The new fee is significantly higher than the $303 daily rate the district had set seven years ago, in the first year of its last contract, a five-year agreement with a two-year extension that was originally created in 2017.

In addition to inflation increasing prices over time, Burkholder explained the higher rate stems from rising costs that currently face transportation companies, including Hoglund, which end up getting passed on to customers.

“Some cost factors that are affecting our transportation partner were mentioned,” she said. “The cost of vehicles, unemployment costs, property-insurance costs, earned safe and sick time, paid family leave time that will come in 2026, health insurance and making sure all our buses have the camera and GPS equipment.”

The new agreement will run from Aug. 1 of this year through July 31, 2029.

There’s also a clause in the contract where the district and Hoglund can open up the agreement again for another five years, Burkholder said.

Hoglund has served the Monticello School District since its inception in 1947.

The district had also considered a bid proposal from Collaborative Student Transportation, known as CST, for one type of transportation, conducting a cost comparison between CST and Hoglund.