By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
USD 428 found a deal too good to pass on. Monday night, the board of education approved the purchase of a large passenger van to be used by the district's maintenance and grounds department. Superintendent Khris Thexton explained to the board how the acquisition was made possible.
"We were approached by a trustee from one of the local churches in town," he said. "They have a 15-passenger, 2001 GMC Savana 3500 van. They found out that this van was not insured because you cannot transport children in a 15-passenger van legally. Because they can't have it insured, they did not see a need to have it anymore."
Skeptical at first of a 23-year-old van, Thexton reached out to Cody Schmidt, director of grounds and transportation, to see if the purchase would benefit the district.
"Being on a full-ton frame, he said this would be perfect for his mowing crew because he can pull any trailer he has loaded with any amount of mowers he has, and he can also remove seats toward the back end so he can have his weedeaters, tools, and things like that in the back," Thexton said.
The board agreed to purchase the van, which has 63,000 miles, for $10,000. The purchase should reduce the number of vehicles needed for mowing jobs around the district and will not impact the district's fleet management arrangement.