Board weighs selling 25-year-old ‘Reading Safari’ bus, orders bids for replacement buses and safety equipment

At the Cannon County Schools workshop on Nov. 13, transportation staff recommended surplusing a 25‑year‑old Reading Safari bus that staff say has not been used recently and is costly to insure and move. Staff recommended placing the vehicle out for bid; several community organizations had already expressed interest.

Transportation procurement and timeline: staff told the board they need to place early bus orders to have new buses by August 2026 because the district will be closing two routes this year and needs a replacement and a spare. A transportation staff member said the district budget could support purchasing two buses and recommended putting out bids now. "I do think two because we didn't need a spare," the staff member said when describing fleet needs.

Safety-grant purchases and bidding threshold: staff also requested permission to move several safety-grant purchases (bollards, poles and similar perimeter equipment) from quotes to formal bids after the items pushed an individual purchase over the $25,000 threshold. A board member moved to advertise formal bids instead of collecting quotes.

GPS-tracking pilot for driver education vehicles: during the workshop, a staff member identified as Lisa Black presented a proposal to install plug-in GPS tracking devices on two driver‑education/CTE vehicles to monitor speed, hard braking and incidents. Black said the vendor offered an annual plan and estimated the pilot would cost about $2,350 for the year for the devices and monitoring; staff characterized the program as a safety measure and a tool to document driver training compliance.

Quotes and rationale: transportation staff said of the Reading Safari bus, "I think it's served its purpose with us," and described recurring maintenance and insurance costs for an unused vehicle. Lisa Black described the GPS option as an additional safety net to monitor incidents and driver behavior.

Actions and next steps: board members moved to put safety-grant purchases out to bid and discussed putting out buses for bid now; staff were instructed to solicit bids and return recommendations, but the transcript does not record final purchase approvals during this workshop. The district will also accept bids for the Reading Safari bus and report back on sale proceeds for potential use toward new equipment.

Sources: workshop discussion and staff presentations at Cannon County Schools on Nov. 13.