School board meets in special session, approves purchase of three buses

Breckenridge ISD met in a special session Tuesday to deliberate on one item, which was the purchase of three buses. The total comes out to $204,000. Two of the busses will be used for school purposes, such as busing kids to and from school. The other will be used for extracurricular activities.

Two of the buses are 2014 Thomas C2, which can hold 77 passengers, each cost $70,000 total. The buses itself each cost $66,000, along with a 36-month extended warranty costing $4,000 each. This will be used to bus kids to and from school. The third bus, the 2017 Blue Bird Vision, which holds 44 passengers, costs $64,000. It will act as the activity bus. There was no warranty to purchase on the Blue Bird since it is still covered by its original five-year factory warranty.

The school board had budgeted $200,000 for the buses, going $4,000 over. But Superintendent Tim Seymore said BISD and Wylie ISD have an agreement where Wylie will purchase one of their old special education buses for $12,000, which will cover any additional costs. Typically, when the time comes to sell buses, Seymore said they take them to auction and get little to nothing for them.

Seymore said the buses are about the same size, but the difference is in purchasing a school bus and an activity bus, saying school buses are typically much more expensive than activity buses. While the buses are similar in size, the 77-passenger buses will have three in a seat, and the 44-passenger activity bus will have two to a seat.

The school board meets on the first Monday of each month. Their next meeting has been rescheduled for Oct. 15 to avoid any conflicts with Columbus Day.