The CAMDENTON R‑III School Board voted Nov. 10 to approve the purchase of a used 2020 Midwest Transit minibus to serve special‑education transportation needs.

Treasurer/business officer (S11) told the board that several nearby state schools that currently serve severely disabled students are closing in May, and one parent had requested that the student transition to the district. S11 described the logistics challenge: many lake‑area roads cannot accommodate a full-size bus or allow for safe turnarounds, creating a need for a smaller, more maneuverable vehicle. "A hundred days at $640 a day, that's $64,000 just to pay a company to transport this kid," S11 said when contrasting short‑term contracting costs with purchasing a vehicle the district would own.

S11 recommended purchasing a 2020 Midwest Transit vehicle (listed with about 54,000 miles), subject to mechanic inspection prior to final purchase. The board was told there were budget amendments and proceeds from the sale of bus equipment available to cover the cost without increasing the district budget. Board members asked about state high‑needs reimbursement; S11 said the district would receive some high‑needs funds the following fiscal year but would absorb costs this year if it contracted externally.

A motion to purchase the bus was made and seconded (transcript motion lines attributed to S10) and carried by voice vote. After the vote, staff said the vehicle would be inspected before completing the purchase and that the district will consider adding similar vehicles to future fleet rotations to increase flexibility for students living on lake roads and other locations inaccessible to larger buses.

The decision authorizes staff to proceed with inspection and purchase as described; the district did not publish a final purchase price in the meeting packet, though staff cited comparable new-vehicle fitted costs of roughly $115,000–$120,000 in discussion of fleet planning.