The next time city school employees leave town for training, they may drive away in a rental car.
The Columbus Municipal School District’s Board of Trustees voted 4-0 Monday night to sign a contract with Enterprise Rent-A-Car, which will provide standard-sized cars for $34 per day in-state and $37 per day for out-of-state travel. The rates will include comprehensive and collision insurance coverage.
The district already owns a 15-seat passenger van and a 2007 Chevrolet Impala, and the rental cars will only be used when the two vehicles aren’t available, Deputy Superintendent Craig Shannon said.
The new endeavor is part of ongoing efforts to cut operating expenses within the district.
Staff members are reimbursed 51-cents per mile roundtrip when they must travel out of town for professional development, but district officials believe in some cases the rental cars will be cheaper.
Liddell said the district reimburses employees around $160 for a trip to Jackson, whereas a car could be rented for $34 a day, plus fuel costs.
No students will be transported in the cars because of liability issues, Shannon said.
Board President Tommy Prude was in favor of the idea, hailing it as “innovative,” and using it as an example of the district’s new approach to trimming the budget, after a year of being “acutely aware of cost-savings to the point of pain and suffering.”
He and Liddell estimated the rental cars will save the district 25 to 30 percent of what they’re paying now, though neither could cite that figure. The district is also trying to save money by holding more professional development workshops in-house.
“Our culture (at CMSD) is all about cost-savings now,” Prude said.
The Enterprise contract will go into effect this week and will continue through June 30, 2013.
Board member Currie Fisher was not present at Monday night’s meeting.
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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