Board approves restoration work after acquiring used special-needs bus

The Murray County School Board on March 1 heard staff report that the district acquired a surplus 2016 special-education bus and approved a purchase order to restore an additional special-needs vehicle.

Superintendent (S2) told the board that Randall learned of a surplus site that had a 2016 special-education bus available. Transportation staff (S3) said the vehicle had about 162,000 miles and was acquired for under $14,000; S3 added, “We picked that bus up today.”

Finance and operations staff described restoration work already under way for a different special-needs bus. S6 told the board the purchase order presented at the meeting covered $38,000 of restoration costs and that the total restoration was split across several purchase orders because many components did not require full board approval. S6 said the transmission replacement with Peterbilt was the biggest line-item in the work. “This is restoring one of those special needs buses,” S6 said.

Board members and staff said the pair of moves — buying the surplus vehicle and restoring the other bus — should resolve an immediate shortage. S3 said the purchases will get the district back to a safe operating level after an earlier crash left them with no spare: “We were 2 buses short and didn’t have a spare, so that puts us where we need to be.”

The board moved and seconded the relevant purchase-order approvals, and the motion passed. The district will complete the mechanical work before returning the restored vehicle to regular service; the board saw the breakdown of costs but was presented only the $38,000 PO requiring its sign-off.

Next steps: staff will complete the parts of the restoration scope not requiring board approval, return the restored bus to service, and report back if additional work or funding is required.