WARRENVILLE, Ill. — Durham School Services has been awarded a five-year student transportation contract to serve Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) beginning July 1.

This is the first contract in the state of Indiana for Durham, which currently operates in 29 states across the U.S.

The $15-million-a-year contract represents 250 home-to-school routes, supplemental transportation routes, and athletic and field trips. The contractor will transport more than 28,000 IPS students per day.

“Durham School Services is looking forward to working with the administrators, teachers, students and parents of Indianapolis Public Schools,” said Barry Stock, executive vice president of customer development. “We are committed to delivering the highest level of safety and service to the students and are excited to become a vital part of the community.”

Durham representatives are currently searching for a location for the new facility. They also will be working to fill nearly 500 positions and are looking to hire as many drivers, monitors, mechanics and staff from the current provider as possible, the company said.

"I hope we can hire all of them," said Mark Herington, director of business development. "It's certainly our intent to be successful in Indianapolis and have a smooth transition. That's going to require us to predominantly hire as many of the current employees as possible."