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State Buys 73 Used School Buses

Posted on: Wednesday, 6 July 2005, 21:00 CDT

Jul. 6--Aging school buses break down daily in Berkeley County, a fact of life in a district where some of the buses are at least 18 years old.

"It's a maintenance nightmare," said Mac Flood, director of transportation for Berkeley County schools. "I don't know how many people drive an 18-year-old car. I'd imagine not too many."

In an effort to replace the oldest buses in use, the South Carolina Department of Education on Tuesday announced it has bought 73 used school buses from a Kentucky school district. School officials statewide routinely struggle with old buses and their mounting mileage and maintenance problems.

The Education Department bought the 13-year-old buses from the Jefferson County School Board in Louisville, Ky., which is buying new ones. It was the first time the Education Department has bought used buses, said Inez Tenenbaum, state superintendent of education.

"It's frustrating, but we're making the most of the hand that's been dealt to us," she said.

The Kentucky buses have logged an average of 217,000 miles. The South Carolina buses they will replace have an average of 270,000 miles. A larger problem than mileage is that replacement parts for the state's oldest buses are no longer manufactured, said Jim Foster, spokesman for the Education Department.

Thirty-one of the Kentucky buses will replace the South Carolina's 22- and 23-year-old buses; 42 will replace some of the state's 21-year-old buses. The remaining 1984-model buses will become the oldest in South Carolina's bus fleet. The oldest buses in Charleston County School District are 21 years old. The average age of a bus in Charleston County schools' 366-bus fleet is 15 years.

"It does seem kind of crazy" to use 21-year-old buses, said school district spokeswoman Mary Girault.

On average, South Carolina buses are about 14 years old and have logged about 170,000 miles, according to the Education Department. Ten years ago, South Carolina ordered 2,000 buses for $104 million. Since then, 816 new buses have been bought. The state has about 5,000 buses.

State education officials have not decided where the Kentucky buses will go. Most of South Carolina's 22- and 23-year-old buses are in Richland and Fairfield counties.

South Carolina is the only state to own and maintain a bus fleet for its public schools. Charleston County is one of two districts statewide to contract out most of its bus operations, which includes hiring drivers, but the state still provides and repairs its regular route buses.

The state does not have a system in place to replace its buses. Every year during Tenenbaum's last seven as superintendent, she has asked the Legislature to set aside money for an annual replacement cycle, she said.

She wants to retire school buses after they are 15 years old or have 250,000 miles. Such a plan would require 380 new buses each year, costing about $22.8 million.

Tenenbaum plans to meet with key legislators next session to talk about the bus situation, she said.

The Legislature gives the Education Department money to buy new buses, but that money more often goes to maintaining buses in use, she said.

The state can stretch its money further by buying used buses, she said. State officials could buy about 15 used Kentucky buses for the price of one new bus. The used buses cost about $3,600 each; a new bus costs about $54,000.

A combination of factors, including more breakdowns, higher diesel fuel costs and low salaries for bus mechanics and drivers, will continue to cause problems statewide, Tenenbaum said.

In Dorchester District 2 schools, the oldest buses date to 1986. Most were bought between the late 1980s and the early 1990s, said Randy Strickland, director of transportation for the schools.

The school district not only needs newer buses but additional buses to handle its growing student population, he said.

"I'd love nothing more than to have new buses," Strickland said. "(But) if this is the best we can do, the Band-Aid does stop the bleeding a little bit. What is the alternative? There's no money to buy 73 brand-new buses."

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Source: The Post and Courier

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