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Board approves pursuing Enterprise lease for staff vehicles; will request Article 46 funds from county
Summary
Swain County Schools approved pursuing a five-year Enterprise lease for two Toyota Camrys and a Toyota Sienna hybrid to replace older staff vehicles and directed staff to request Article 46 funding from the county commissioners.
The Swain County Board of Education approved staff's request to pursue a five-year vehicle-lease program through Enterprise to replace aging staff vehicles used for out-of-county travel and occasional student transport. The board also authorized staff to ask the county commissioners to release funds from Article 46 to cover the district's share.
District staff presented a plan to lease two Toyota Camrys (one silver, one white) and one Toyota Sienna hybrid (eight-passenger) as a way to spread replacement costs over five years rather than purchase all vehicles in a single fiscal year. Staff reported an annual lease cost of $21,106 and noted end-of-term unpaid principal estimates (Sienna $7,300; each Camry $5,300) that the district could use to purchase vehicles at lease-end or sell to apply equity toward replacements.
Staff noted the fleet targeted for replacement were mainly used for professional development travel (often to Asheville) and occasional student transport when a bus was not required. The vehicles proposed for lease would add a hybrid eight-passenger option for trips where a mini-bus would not be appropriate and where 15-passenger vans are no longer used.
Board members asked about lead times, mileage caps and insurance. Staff said the vehicles would be acquired on state-contract pricing by Enterprise and that the district's insurance carrier would remain the North Carolina School Board Trust; legal counsel and the trust had reviewed the arrangement. Lead times were described as roughly four months for Camrys and 26'to'70 weeks for the Sienna if not available on dealer lots.
Why it matters The district faces an aging pool of staff vehicles (examples cited: model years 2012, 2014 and 2015, many with over 100,000 miles). The lease plan aims to improve safety, add an eight-passenger hybrid vehicle, provide telematics and diagnostics, and create a predictable five-year replacement cycle.
