Westerville board approves bus purchase, roofing contract and routine personnel and procurement items

WESTERVILLE, Ohio — At its Dec. 15 meeting the Westerville City Schools Board of Education approved a set of routine actions and capital projects, voting unanimously on purchase orders, personnel items, transportation resolutions and contracts.

Major financial actions: - Bus purchase: The board approved a resolution to buy 16 school buses through the meta consortium bid from Cardinal Bus Sales at $148,940 per bus, for a total of $2,383,040. The buses will use propane engines and include integrated safety seats for students with special needs. Staff said the district applied for an Ohio Department of Education and Workforce grant of $108,960 (about $6,810 per bus) to offset permanent-improvement funds. - Roofing and masonry contract: The board authorized a contract with Garland DBS Incorporated for FY26 roofing and masonry work at Central, South and North high schools and at Hamby and Whittier elementary schools. The project is funded from the permanent improvement fund with a substantial-completion target of Aug. 7, 2026. - Payment in lieu of transportation: The board approved a resolution declaring it impractical to transport an additional 162 students from 31 private or community schools for FY26 under Ohio Revised Code provisions cited in the presentation; the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce sets the FY26 payment in lieu amount at $607.15 per student (up from $583.86 last year).

Personnel and routine business: - The board approved minutes from Nov. 24, 2025, in/out purchase orders (three items), and a personnel consent agenda that included seven classified hires and one new math teacher for Westerville North High School. Two retirements were named for approval: Mary Simmons (also known as Peggy Penny), retiring after 34 years, and Kate Mantanitz, retiring after 26 years of service. - The board moved and approved a short-term appointment naming Jennifer Altman president pro tem from Jan. 1, 2026 until the election of the next board president on Jan. 12, 2026. - The board approved eight out-of-state overnight trips, including five middle-school Washington, D.C. trips, two wrestling tournaments and a state thespian conference across the three high schools. Staff said transportation billing for trips is handled by the transportation department and billed to the trip sponsors.

Board members asked questions about rising bus prices and were told increased costs are driven by added vehicle technology, steel and labor inflation and other equipment changes. Staff said decommissioned buses are typically sold via govdeals or traded to local vendors and generate about $3,000 per bus in resale value.

What’s next: The attendance-policy changes driven by House Bill 96 were taken as a first reading and will return for a second reading in January; the capital and procurement approvals will proceed under the district’s procurement and permanent-improvement fund processes.

Votes at a glance: Minutes approved; three in/out purchase orders approved; personnel consent agenda 8.01–8.12 approved; old business 09/2001–09/2004 approved; president pro tem appointed; payment in lieu resolution approved (162 students); 16 buses purchased (total $2,383,040); Garland DBS contract authorized; eight overnight trips approved; meeting adjourned.