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Sheldon ISD plans digital radio upgrade for transportation fleet; cost covered by bond savings
Summary
District staff proposed replacing a 2006 analog UHF radio system that uses a single channel for all buses with a digital system featuring repeaters, multiple channels and new handhelds; the replacement is estimated at about $330,000–$340,000 and would be paid from bond savings.
District transportation staff told the board the current analog radio system—installed in 2006—uses a single UHF channel for roughly 100 buses and multiple support vehicles, creating safety and communication constraints. The system also has spotty coverage in low-lying areas around some campuses.
Administration proposed a full replacement: four dispatch units, repeaters to extend coverage to remote areas, multiple channels (so field trips and different bus groups do not interrupt one another) and new handheld radios for drivers. The materials shown to the board listed an estimated replacement cost "about 330, $340,000." Speaker 3 said the district expects roughly 15 years of service on the new radios and that the radios would be Motorola units; installation and training would occur before school starts, with driver and operations training included.
Board members asked about training and implementation risks; administration said training would be provided and that the purchase would come from bond savings identified in the 2022 bond program rather than the operating budget. The board flagged the need for careful rollout to avoid service disruption at the start of the school year.
