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A Connection to the Community A 100 year partnership designed around community growth
In 1888, Simon Newman founded a small community in the hills of central California. Within a few short decades, they needed a way to provide their growing city with better access to education. Utilizing limited resources and ingenuity, Frank A. Patchett fabricated a bus from a Model-T frame, attaching bench seats, wood paneling, and a roof to the truck’s flatbed. Upon completion, Patchett introduced the motorized school bus to America for the first time, and carved out a place for himself in Americana worthy of recognition. This bus, now known as First Student’s Number One bus, is so significant and symbolic to the community that it is incorporated in the city crest. Since the days when one bus could suffice for the City of Newman, the population has grown to more than 10,000, with a school transportation program utilizing four routes to service over 1,500 households, and bus company ownership changed to First Student. And while the community has seen significant change in its 124 years in existence, the lasting partnership between Newman and their transportation provider has remained a familiar strength. First Student’s Newman Location Manager Pam Evers notes that, “It’s very unique for a company to have a partnership with a city for this long in the transportation industry…Newman loves us, we love Newman.” A local herself, she’s seen firsthand how those 100 years of experience are tied inextricably to the history of the community. A strong connection to the history of the community
doesn’t just mean First Student has roots in the past, but an insightful perspective and deep investment into conquering the challenges of the future. Ed Felt, superintendent of the Newman School District, has seen the benefits of First Student’s experience from an administrator’s perspective. “Our biggest challenge these days is…support we receive from the state and federal government to operate our schools,” says Felt, who was forced to cut $1.3 million from the city’s budget this past
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year. Working closely with the local team, they collaborated to reorganize and reduce the routing system from five routes to four, saving the district around $116,000. Felt noted that cutting routes, “Was something we had to do to make our budget balance… we had about a month timeline to work things out. [Pam] was done before the timeline.” He identifies the speed and local familiarity displayed by Pam
and her team as just a few of the benefits of contracting with First Student, as opposed to owning and managing transportation internally. Referring to districts who own their transportation program, he sums up the difference briefly: “When you own them, you own all the problems.” Solving these problems motivates First Student’s central mission: providing safe and efficient solutions to school transportation, customized to the individual needs and goals of each of customers.
“
we are a large company built of many small businesses... you have local leadership, local decision-making, and
local commitment to the customer distinguishes First ”
First Student’s Stockton Location Manager Brigden Summers (former Newman manager)
Student’s
relationship from other transportation services saying, “We’re actually thought of as part of the school district,” highlighting the effectiveness of their cooperative arrangement. It’s built on a century of trust and hard work; “they know we’re working with them to partner in creating a fantastic service…that’s intuitive and understands their needs exceptionally well… but that’s just the way First Student does business.”
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