School district voters will likely vote on a separate proposition alongside next year’s proposed budget this May, which includes purchasing eight buses and a maintenance truck for nearly $1 million.
Danielle Poirier, transportation supervisor for the Guilderland Central School District, presented the proposed purchase of six 66-passenger buses for $694,000, a 66-passenger bus with chains for $120,000, a full-size wheelchair bus for $145,000 and a $36,000 maintenance truck to the Board of Education on Tuesday, March 4. State aid would cover about 50 percent of the $995,000 purchase, according to district officials.
The bond proposal would be placed on the 2014-15 school budget ballot as a separate proposition, and board members are scheduled to vote on purchases at its Tuesday, March 18, meeting.
Board Vice President Allan Simpson questioned if the bus purchases were the most economical choice given the fiscal stress facing the district. Simpson also asked if there was another, less expensive option.
Assistant Superintendent for Business Neil Sanders said the purchase is a “needs-based approach” for the aging district fleet. The district also attempts to follow its vehicle and equipment replacement schedule.
“We buy a few buses each year and those age out, so now we are at the 11-, 12-, 13-year mark of those buses within the fleet where reliability becomes a question,” Sanders said. “What we are talking about is phasing out buses that are at the end of their life and replacing them with new buses … so we always have an infusion of new equipment and updated safety requirements.”
Fleet Supervisor Mitch Carkner said the district has already fallen behind on replacing buses, and delaying the proposed purchase would be detrimental.
“We still have three buses that should have been surplused already, so I kept buses on the property for parts because, as the time went on, as we’ve been purchasing vehicles, we haven’t maintained the numbers of big vehicles,” Carkner said. “With this replacement tonight, we will still be short of the goal of our replacement cycle that was started years ago.”
Simpson also asked if there would be less demand for buses next year since the district is proposing to contract out five more bus runs. This year, the district saved money contracting out two bus routes for special needs students.
Poirier said eventually there would be less of a need, but she cautioned against not replacing buses this year since the district is still testing contracting out transportation services. She said the arrangement has worked well so far.
“I am not sure we are ready to reduce our fleet just yet until we determine that outsourcing is something that is going to go well,” she said. “We just want to make sure that this is the plan we want to continue on with in the future.”
If the district stopped contracting out routes, she said, then it would need the buses to accommodate children.
Sanders pointed out the district would only purchase full-size buses under the proposal and not any smaller buses.
The district owns a 2004 full-size wheelchair bus with 151,000 miles, which is nearing the end of its life cycle, and Poirier said she’d like to have two in the fleet. One would be used on a day-to-day basis for a route.
There is one child the district contracted out to transport because a wheelchair prevents that child from using the district’s wheelchair bus, Poirier said. The current bus only has one configuration with 24 seats and fits up to three wheelchairs.
The new wheelchair bus would have five different configurations and allow for the child to be transported. It is more expensive than a standard setup because there is a wheelchair lift, air conditioning and other requirements for special needs students.
Building and Grounds Supervisor Clifford Nooney said the district also must replace its existing salt truck, which is 21 years old. For the first 14 years, the district had used it as a maintenance truck before transitioning it to salt duties.
“I can honestly say we’ve squeezed every single penny out of this vehicle,” Nooney said. “It no longer makes sense to make any repairs on it, and it is going to become dangerous to operate.”
The new truck would take the place of the district’s 12-year-old utility truck, which would transition into “semi-retirement” and become the new salt truck. Purchasing the truck through state contract also reduces the costs around $10,000 to $15,000.