School District 60 is asking the Provincial government for funds to replace three aging, spare buses, as well as funds to purchase three additional new buses, as part of its Minor Capital Plan.
According to the board’s Secretary-Treasurer Angela Telford, the district is using its spares to cover previously contracted out routes and needs new spares. This means that should any bus break down, there is no other bus available.
The three replacements are for buses which were new in 2012-2014, and have in excess of 346,000km on each of them. The conditions of the roads in the North Peace take a toll on buses, and although the district has done its best to maintain the vehicles – replacing and reinforcing emergency doors, replacing shocks and sensors. One of the buses in question even had a new engine put in recently, but despite all the work, it still needs replacing. Another of these buses has broken down and stranded students on a number of occasions.
“The infrastructure of the buses usually wears out before the engine,” said Telford.
Board Chair Helen Gilbert added that the cost of parts for buses has gone up 35 per cent in the past year.
The funds requested to place all three of these buses is $610,724.
This need for replacement buses has been made all the more critical by the decision to move all busing in-house. The three new buses are to replace the contractor’s buses.
The cost for the new buses, is $183,983 for two, and $178,993 for the third, smaller bus. Total funds requested from the Ministry of Education for these six vehicles is $1.16 million.
Other Minor Capital Plan requests include $85,000 for exterior wall systems for Upper Halfway School, to tie the new gymnasium to the existing school building in a cohesive, eco-friendly fashion.
Another $1 million is requested for the complete HVAC retrofit of Hudson’s Hope School, including replacing the aging boilers with high-efficiency boilers, as well as new piping and HVAC controls. The existing system has been in place since 1994.
The final request is for $45,000 to replace the flooring in the North Peace Secondary School cafeteria and food storage area. This flooring has been in place since 1989 when the building opened. The district would also like to install new countertops to improve the food education area.
Total funding requested for these items is $1.13 million.
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