By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The Hays USD 489 school board discussed the purchase of four new vehicles at its meeting Monday night.
The transportation purchasing schedule calls for the replacement of a gas bus, an activity bus, a car and a suburban.
The bid for the gas bus is $87,669. District staff requested a bid that was about $400 over the low bid, because it had the engine the district wanted.
The bid for the activity bus is $143,975, which was the low bid. Both bids were from Kansas Truck.
The district is also considering a purchase of an Impala for $38,952 and a Suburban for $21,194.
The total would be $291,790, which is less than the $304,000 that was budgeted for the purchases.
Board President Mandy Fox said since the vehicle replacement plan has been put in place, the transportation budget has been fairly consistent.
Russ Henningsen, transportation director, recommended a gas bus, because other districts have been having problems with the emission systems with their diesel buses. Those repairs can cost $5,000 to $10,000 for each bus. Henningsen said a repair such as that could wipe out the district’s transportation maintenance budget for the year. The gas buses are cheaper, gas is cheaper and the vehicles require less oil.
Board member Greg Schwartz questioned the move to a gas engine. He noted diesel engines generally get better gas mileage. Although they require more oil, they generally can go longer between oil changes. A diesel engine also generally can be driven more miles than a gas engine.
Schwartz also asked how many bus routes the district is running.
The district is running eight regular routes, three special needs routes and two Head Start routes, Henningsen said. Four years ago the district limited its bus routes to students living two and half miles or more from their schools. The district is required by law to bus these students and is reimbursed by the state for transporting them.
Special needs and homeless students are an exception, and Henningsen said the district has made exceptions for handful of other students. A computer program determines which students are eligible for busing and draws the routes.
The district also transports about 20 to 30 Holy Family and Thomas More Prep-Marian students. This is required by law if there is room on the buses. The district is not reimbursed for this service.
“It is a good shared resource for the community,” board member Paul Adams said.
Henningsen said it is common to have all of the vehicles out. Teachers use Suburban and cars for activities, such as golf and tennis, for teacher in-service trips, to transport students for work study, and to move small groups of students from school to school.
The district tries to keep at least one spare bus in case a bus breaks down, which has happened in the past.
By rotating out older vehicles, Henningsen said the district is trying to prevent breakdowns.
“That is always at the back of my mind — is the safety of students, especially during winter time being on the road and breaking down. We try everything we can to upgrade the fleet for the safety of everybody,” Henningsen said.
Schwartz asked if the district could use fewer Suburbans and more cars to reduce cost.
Henningsen said he teachers are required to car pool. The Suburbans are sent out full. The Suburbans are being used in lieu of buses, which are more expensive to operate and require paid bus drivers.
The older vehicles that are being phased out of the district fleet will be sold.
The board is set to vote on the vehicle purchases during its next meeting on Monday, Oct. 8.
The board also finalized its new goals.
At its last meeting, it narrowed goals to the following:
• Design a stable financial structure that allows the district to accomplish its educational mission.
• Create an educational improvement guide utilizing the Kansas Educational Systems Accreditation process.
• Develop a plan to prepare the district for the future.
The board also accepted the resignation of Tracy Kaiser, executive director of finance and support services, as part of its consent agenda.
The board met in executive session to discuss non-elected personnel, preliminary discussion on the purchase of property and teacher negotiations. No action was taken after the executive sessions.