Humboldt OK's bus purchase

2/2009

By ANNE KAZMIERCZAK
Register Reporter
HUMBOLDT — Whether to purchase a new or used school bus to replace one totaled in an accident last month was the main topic of deliberation at the Humboldt School Board meeting Monday.
Superintendent Bob Heigele has been scouring used bus dealers and Bluebird Bus Company for deals on a bus comparable to the one hit last month by a D and D Propane truck.
The old bus, a 52-seater, was a model-year 2008 and had been in service since the latter half of the 2006-2007 school year. The closest Heigele found was a 59-passenger 2007 bus in Kansas City. It cost $57,000.
The board opted instead to purchase a new bus for $71,000. Insurance settlement with D and D was for $57,462.04.
“The blue book value of our bus was $52,700,” Heigele said. “But because of our low mileage we made a little more.” Of that, though, $350 is due for towing the disabled bus.
The board cited concerns with lack of a warranty on the used bus when opting to purchase new. Delivery of a new bus typically takes six months, so the board needed to act in haste to ensure a full fleet is in place for the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year. Until then, they will make due, using a new bus delivered on Feb. 2 and their spare bus usually reserved for extra-curricular activities.
“The spare has 100,000 miles on it,” Heigele said. “If we watch our extra-curricular schedule this spring and don’t have any breakdowns or repairs, we feel we could make it to the end of the school year.”
Heigele ordered the elementary school to schedule spring field trips on Wednesdays, so as not to conflict with athletic activities requiring transportation.
In other business, the board approved their authority to raise 8 mils for funding in coming years. “I would encourage you to do this,” Heigele told board members. “We don’t know where the economy is going, and if you don’t pass this resolution, your maximum will be four mils, which was approved four years ago.” Heigele stressed the resolution does not raise the current mil rate, it merely approves the board’s ability to ask for an increase in coming years. He said 8 mils is a standard level of taxation throughout the state.
The board accepted letters of resignation/retirement from two staff, Gayla Banz, a first grade teacher, and Heigele.
Banz, who has been at Humboldt 24 years, is leaving at the conclusion of the school year to spend more time with her grandchildren.
“I wish she wasn’t leaving,” said elementary principal Kay Bolt. “She will be missed.”
Heigele, who came to Humboldt from Missouri seven years ago, plans to depart at the conclusion of the 2009-2010 school year.

IN OTHER ACTION, the board approved Heigele’s authority to market the house being built by the high school building trades class. “There are several interested parties,” he said. “Some of these people are pushing to get in.”
Heigele anticipates marketing the house as soon as possible, allowing possible buyers the option of choosing their own wall colors, carpets, etc. “They get one chance at choosing colors,” he said. Students will install the selected products, but buyers will have to pay the difference in any materials they choose that exceed the school’s budget for completing the home.
In school reports, Bolt noted the elementary school is readying for fourth-grade state assessment tests in March, and will participate in a national assessment as well. “Students do not know what tests they will take until they sit down,” she said.
“We were hit hard by the flu,” Bolt said, making January’s attendance numbers low. However, “We have 12 new students since Jan. 5, and will have tow more coming on Feb. 23,” she said.
K.B. Criss, middle and high school principal, reported the middle school will receive a donation to build a memorial courtyard at the middle school/high school/technology building. The money will come form the family of the late long-time custodian and bus driver Pete Leonard. Picnic tables, benches and an engraved headstone are planned. Criss hopes to have the project completed before the end of the school year.
Heigele reported utility bills have increased 10 percent over last year. “During the winter it’s costing us more to run that field house than we anticipated,” he said. The January utility bill was $8,024.16, he said.
Heigele also noted the school board has not yet received word on per pupil funding reductions for the 2009-2010 school year. The legislature is “still forecasting a billion-dollar deficit for next year,” he said.