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Saint Charles Parish School Board approves seven new 65‑passenger buses; member urges electric‑bus pilot
Summary
The board unanimously approved purchasing seven 65‑passenger school buses under state contract and asked administration to prepare a plan to study a small electric‑bus pilot; the transcript lists an apparent transcription error in the purchase cost.
The Saint Charles Parish School Board on March 26 approved the transportation department's request to purchase seven 65‑passenger school buses under a state contract.
Mister Alexander moved to approve the purchase; the motion was adopted unanimously. The motion included the vendor name (Kent Mitchell Bus Sales and Services LLC) and a cost figure read during the meeting that appears to be a transcription or typographical error: the meeting transcript records the cost as "$100,000,616,127.35." The board did not pause the meeting to correct the figure on the record; administration and board members treated the item procedurally and recorded the motion as passing.
During discussion, a board member asked that the district consider an electric‑bus option. The member said the district should not implement a full conversion immediately but suggested buying one or two smaller electric buses on a pilot basis to evaluate performance and implementation needs. The superintendent replied the administration would "put something together for this summer" and bring recommendations back to the board.
Board members confirmed the bus‑replacement cycle is approximately seven buses per year and noted an additional replacement this year for a bus lost in an earlier accident, which will make the rotation eight buses for the current year.
The board approved the purchase and the administration agreed to prepare options and a timeline for evaluating electric buses. The transcript indicates interest in a pilot study; no formal motion to fund a pilot was recorded at this meeting.
