School district wants $10 mil. for buses

Teresa Hinds

Wednesday, Feb. 12, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Growth in the Clark County School District isn't restricted to classrooms.

School Board members will vote Thursday on a proposal to take out a $10 million loan to shore up the school district's bus inventory.

Transportation director Ron Despenza said nearly all of the 12,000 new students that started school in the fall ride a school bus. Projections show there will be at least that many new riders next year. About 62,000 students ride school buses daily.

Despenza said that only 30 new buses were purchased for the 1996-97 school year because of the new computerized routing and scheduling system that enabled the school district to use the bus inventory more efficiently.

If the School Board approves the loan, Despenza said, close to 100 buses will be purchased to supplement the district's fleet of 830 buses, 90 of which are not in service.

Mike Alastuey, assistant superintendent for business and finance, said the buses not in service "either need to be repaired, are obsolete or are flat-out worn out."

Of the 100 new buses, Despenza said 13 are replacements for regular education buses built in 1980. The average life of a school bus, he said, is nine years or 150,000 miles.

An additional 18 buses will be reserved for transporting special-education students.

Depending on the size of the bus and the extra equipment that is needed -- such as lifts and ramps for special-education buses -- the cost for one bus can range from $50,000 to $80,000, Alastuey said.

He added the school district will continue to purchase new buses "every year between now and when the district stops growing."

If the School Board does not approve the loan, Despenza predicted "serious problems accommodating students for the 1997-98 school year."

"We would possibly look at going to an emergency lease situation, which is not always possible," he said. "It's not like bus dealers have buses sitting around available for lease."

The School Board will meet at 5:30 p.m. in the Education Center, 2832 E. Flamingo Road.