By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Safe and reliable. That's the direction the USD 428 Great Bend Board of Education took at Monday's June meeting by moving forward on the purchase of several new vehicles, including two new buses. The bill comes in at $518,000 for the buses, but Director of Transportation Cody Schmidt said now is the time to buy.
"I recommend we move forward with both buses," Schmidt said. "One would be here by the start of the school year, one maybe two years out. But no money up front until we receive the buses."
Currently the district uses six buses in its rotation, but Schmidt has sidelined one of the vehicles due to unreliability. That same bus is set to be retired next year after reaching 25 years of service.
"It's just one of them buses, every time you go out to it there's something wrong with it," said Schmidt. "If we had to use it, I would use it in town but I'd never use it out over the road. I don't feel safe, and no driver should have to deal with a bus like that, in my opinion."
The district purchased two black Freightliner buses three years ago at the cost of $217,000 per bus. The 2022 model brings a bill of $259,000, and with the purchase of that bus, the district can lock in that same price on the purchase of a 2023 model. With two buses in the current fleet set to expire in coming years, the district would save if prices continue to rise.
USD 428 Superintendent Khris Thexton said the district is in good shape financially to make such a purchase at this time.
"We've been pretty fortunate on vehicles," he said. "They're just kind of catching up now. With COVID, we didn't travel as much so that kind of bought us some time as well. We're just trying to get ahead, and trying to get ahold of vehicles anymore is so difficult."
Both new Freightliners would be nearly identical to the last buses purchased, only instead of black they will be white in color. Both will seat 51 passengers, and Thexton said most drivers prefer the Freightliners over the flat-nosed Bluebirds also in rotation.
"We have some experienced drivers who drive the Bluebirds, and they can do that," Thexton said. "These Freightliners drive more like a truck. I think the drivers can see better, they're easier for the drivers to maneuver."
Even if the district commits to the purchase of both buses, Schmidt said the 2023 model would be part of a non-binding contract.