Dedham will receive a share of a $440,000 settlement after a school bus company allegedly rigged bids on student transportation contracts in three Massachusetts communities.

The Massachusetts Attorney General's Office announced the settlement with JSC Transportation Services on Sept. 17. The Waltham-based company agreed to the payment to resolve allegations it improperly raised prices and misled officials in Dedham, Lynn and Saugus, MassLive reported. The Attorney General has sole discretion over how much each community receives.

The AG's Office alleges that in 2022, JSC and Beacon Mobility Corporation agreed on which company would win contracts for transporting students with disabilities in the three communities. JSC allegedly agreed not to compete against Beacon in certain districts, while Beacon stayed out of others. The arrangement drove up prices school districts paid for special education transportation, according to the Assurance of Discontinuance filed in Suffolk Superior Court.

Dedham felt the impact directly. JSC held the contract for transporting special education students in Dedham during the 2021–2022 school year through a subsidiary. On May 26, 2022, JSC contacted Dedham about extending the contract. The next day, a JSC employee proposed a large price increase, according to the court filing.

When Dedham reached out to a Beacon subsidiary on June 17, 2022, to explore alternatives, a Beacon employee said she had recently spoken with a JSC employee who suggested the two companies not underbid each other. Beacon never followed up with Dedham, and JSC's subsidiary kept the contract.

JSC also allegedly signed a document in Saugus falsely certifying it had not coordinated with competitors during bidding.

The agreement does not constitute an admission of the allegations by JSC. Steven Frank, general counsel of JSC Transportation Services, said in a statement to MassLive that the company was "pleased to resolve this matter and eliminate the distraction and expense of prolonged litigation." Frank added that JSC remains committed to competing fairly and complying fully with all antitrust laws.

The $440,000 will be paid in installments: $140,000 within 30 days of the agreement's effective date, $150,000 after one year and $150,000 after two years. JSC must also maintain an antitrust compliance program for at least five years and cooperate with future state investigations.

The JSC settlement follows a larger $2.4 million settlement the AG's Office reached with Beacon Mobility in July 2026 over the same scheme. Dedham received $43,233 from that agreement, deposited into the town's General Fund, according to a town announcement posted July 28.

Dedham Town Manager Leon I. Goodwin III said in that July announcement that the town had "struggled with unsustainable cost increases for many goods and services, especially since the pandemic," and called it "reassuring to see the Attorney General's Office investigate one of the root causes of this issue."

JSC is owned by David H. Marcou Jr., a former Waltham councilor at-large, and Derek Marcou, according to the Waltham Times.

Anyone with information about efforts to manipulate prices or bidding for student transportation contracts can contact the AG's antitrust division at [email protected] or (617) 727-8400.