Enid Public Schools transportation director reports bus purchases, grant award and start-of-year logistics

Enid Public Schools runs about 112 bus routes and serves roughly 3,349 eligible students each day, Transportation Director Rick Moulton told the board.

Moulton said buses travel roughly 1,750 miles per day across routes (not including activity trips) and described a rough start to the school year when routes ran about 45 minutes late on the first day before returning to schedule. The director said construction at Prairie View required consolidated stop points for some students, noting Mount Vernon was used as a safe pickup/drop-off because it had a crossing guard.

To manage fleet costs, the district negotiated to buy three lightly used 2022 buses for $71,000 each (totaling $213,000), a price Moulton said compared favorably with a new bus cost of about $150,000. He said the purchased buses included air conditioning and onboard cameras and are still under warranty.

Moulton also reported the district was awarded a Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) grant for $37,568 to help replace an older wheelchair lift bus (the bus being replaced was a 2004 model). He said there is $87,000 in leftover bond funds available toward the purchase and estimated the district's out-of-pocket portion could be approximately $25,432 after the grant, though final numbers remained pending.

The director said his biggest persistent challenge is reliable air conditioning on buses and that AC problems are industry-wide. He said the district plans to continue buying and maintaining buses with AC and cameras to improve student comfort and safety.