In a discussion about transportation by Newcastle Board of Education members during their Tuesday, April 11 meeting, board member Tiffany Elcyzyn said, “I don’t think our parents knew what type of predicament we were in with buses before the bond issue.”
As part of the bond package approved by voters late last year, $2,725,000 went to buses and transportation equipment.
The comment was made as Assistant Superintendent Kristi Ferguson provided board members with a plan outlined on a spread sheet explaining the Newcastle Schools’ bus fleet and how the school plans to utilize the fleet and replace buses.
Ferguson said the five-year plan shows where the schools’ buses are in the next five years and when they will need to expire into the surplus market. She said the amounts needed are guesstimates based on what the school has been paying, but with the state of increased expenses and costs, the school may have to pay more.
Ferguson said the bond issue should just cover the district’s needs, but she added that “as you can see we’ve pretty much used all of our bond money in five years.”
She said at the end of the five-year period, the school will likely have to go back to patrons for another transportation bond issue.
As the school moves forward with the plan, Elcyzyn asked patrons to please understand that it’s not because the school doesn’t want to update the fleet, but at this time there are delivery issues. She said she wants patrons to know the school has a plan. Ferguson said large buses are about six months out.
As new buses come in they will be fitted with cameras and converted over to run on compressed natural gas.
