District to Consider Private Trash Pickup

Hoping to save money, Cypress School District trustees have authorized Supt. William D. Eller to look into contracting with a private service for garbage pickup without going through city government.

The school system now contracts for trash removal with cities within the district: Cypress, La Palma and Buena Park. Those cities, in turn, contract with private trash companies.

At this week’s school board meeting, Eller said that as a result of recent court decisions, school districts may now deal directly with trash haulers and that he has a written opinion on the matter from the legal office of the Orange County Department of Education.

“It is estimated that if the school district in its entirety . . . negotiates with a refuse removal company separately, savings in excess of 10% can be realized,” Eller told the school board.

That would be savings of $7,000 a year for the district, which now spends a total of $70,000 for trash service under contracts negotiated with the three cities.

According to the county Department of Education’s legal opinion, school districts can contract independently for trash removal either by exclusive franchise or by competitive bid. Eller said he would research both options.