Appoquinimink approves six buses after contractor returns routes; district weighs storage and maintenance needs

District transportation leaders told the board that Advanced Student Transportation returned six contracts because it had no drivers available, forcing the district to reassign routes and prompting the request to add six buses.

Amanda Conley, director of safety, security and operations, and Stacy McIntosh, supervisor of school transportation, said the district now owns a 65‑bus fleet with 54 drivers and that the returned contracts represented two triple routes and four double routes. Conley explained the Department of Education covers the cost of the buses and reimburses driver salary at a rate the DOE sets; the district covers optional add‑ons and funds a local supplement of $1.56 per hour to retain competitiveness with neighboring districts.

The board approved a motion to add six buses to the fleet (motion by Mr. Abrams, second by Mr. Higgins). Board members raised storage and maintenance capacity questions: staff said the Fairview campus will temporarily hold the additional units but acknowledged the site is nearing capacity and that a longer‑term plan for storage and district‑run maintenance would be developed if fleet growth continues. Board members suggested monitoring state policy in case the DOE free‑bus program changes and to anticipate budget implications if the district must cover a larger share of bus costs in the future.

What this means: The six buses provide immediate operational relief for routes returned by the contractor and are expected to arrive within weeks if approved; district staff will plan add‑on specifications, queue deliveries, set short‑term storage, and return with a plan for long‑term fleet storage and in‑house maintenance to reduce out‑sourced repair costs.

At the meeting: The board voted to approve adding six buses; administration will coordinate delivery and report back with implementation details at the next finance workshop and at subsequent board meetings.