Lake County Schools purchased 24 regular transportation buses at $107,550 per bus, and three buses for special-needs students at $113,993 per bus for a total of $2.9 million for all 27. The buses will be placed into service once they have been outfitted with two-way radios, tagged and titled. They will replace 27 older models, mostly from 2004 and 2005.
The district normally keeps a bus on a route for about 12 years, then rotates it into the spare fleet for about three years after that, Transportation Director Scott Pfender explained. When buses are removed from the active fleet roster, they are sold at auction, he said.
The new buses come equipped with electronic stability control, a safety feature that helps drivers maintain control of the vehicle during extreme steering maneuvers that can happen when avoiding a crash or misjudging a curve. They also have front and rear air conditioning, high definition DVR camera systems and active GPS for the safety of our students and staff.
The new buses will be assigned to lots based on need and assigned to drivers and routes based on driver seniority.
