Our bus fleet is an aging fleet that requires increasing and costly repairs to keep them safely on the road. School buses are expensive, approximately $100,000 per bus. The district has purchased one new bus annually for the past few years. However, the fleet still has an average age over 11 years with high mileage rates--an average of over 121,000 miles. From an operations standpoint, it costs significantly more to maintain older, high-mileage vehicles. Utilizing bond funds to purchase three buses eliminates a significant impact (approximately $300,000), thereby leaving those funds for instruction and the operations of the district. It is important to point out that state statute requires us to pay back enough principal on the bonds to more than cover the cost of buses within a standard useful-life period.
