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Board approves purchase of three special-education vans, staff say purchase comes in under budget
Summary
The board approved buying three 2025 Chrysler Pacifica Select vans for special education, budgeted at $150,000; staff recommended trading in the old vans (estimated trade-in $15,000) and recommended Miller Motors as the vendor.
The Wilmot UHS School District board voted to approve replacing three special-education vans after staff presented bids and a funding plan.
Staff told the board three of the district’s vans are more than 10 years old and recommended purchasing three 2025 Chrysler Pacifica Select models, selected for their all-wheel-drive capability to improve winter driving safety. The district budgeted $150,000 for the purchase; staff said the purchases are running about $4,000 under budget per van before trade-in and recommended a trade-in offer of about $15,000 for the three older vehicles rather than posting them to auction.
"We want to make sure that we have safe, reliable vehicles," the presenter said, describing vehicle age and safety considerations and noting the state contract discounts available now are smaller than in prior years due to supply constraints.
The board made and seconded a motion to purchase the vehicles through Miller Motors and include the trade-in of the three existing vans; the motion passed on a voice vote with no recorded opposition.
Why it matters: The vans provide specialized transportation for students with special needs; replacing aging vehicles addresses reliability and safety concerns and the board approved the purchase as a budgeted item.
Follow-up: staff will finalize the trade-in and procurement paperwork and apply the trade-in credit to the final invoice.
