LTUSD to replace 2 buses in its fleet

With the wheels on the bus going round and round, Lake Tahoe Unified School District needs more of those yellow contraptions.

At the Aug. 23 meeting the board agreed to buy two buses to help transport the nearly 1,800 students who twice a day ride the buses.

Two buses used to transport students to athletic events will be put into the home-to-school fleet. They have about 150,000 miles on them. The new ones will be used for the longer trips.

The cost for the two is $327,000. With an interest rate of about 2 percent, it will take the district seven years to pay the debt.

During the school year there are 16 full routes and one part-time route, in addition to buses used for field trips and going off the hill.

Steve Morales, LTUSD facilities director, told the board Tuesday the home school fleet on average is 14 years old. With a more robust replacement program, the average age would be closer to 10.5 years, he said. Funding, though, is drying up. In years past there has been funding available to help defray the costs.

The buses being used to transport athletes to games are not all doing well, with one bus last year with track students on in breaking down en route to an event. This necessitated parents coming to the rescue to get the runners to their meet on time.

–Kathryn Reed