School Board approves purchase of four school buses from Hoekstra

The Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education unanimously approved purchase of four new school buses at its regular meeting Monday, Dec. 12.
Financial Director Shareen Barker presented the request for three 65-passenger conventional buses at a cost of $80,581 each, totaling $241,743, and one special education lift bus for a cost of $83,931, for a total cost of $325,674.
The purchase was by bid through the MSBO/MAPT Bus Purchasing Program. Hoekstra was the low bidder without the corrosion and structural warranty and the high bidder once the 10-year warranty was added.
But, Barker pointed out, the warranty was not provided by the other vendors. She said the district has a very good history with Hoekstra.
The approved 2016-17 budget included funds for the purchase of the four buses and the total cost was actually $19,401 under budget.
Barker said over half of the buses in the district’s fleet are over eight years old. She said eight years is the recommended life of a bus.
“We are currently reviewing our bus inventory to determine a new bus replacement schedule,” Barker said.
She said the current MSBO Bus Purchasing Program window closes in January. Purchasing the buses at this time enables the district to participate in the purchasing program and permits enough time for the vendor to build and deliver the buses before the fiscal year end.
The old buses will go to auction and whatever funds they bring will go into the general fund.
In other business at its Dec. 12 meeting, the board:
• Approved setting the school board’s annual organizational meeting for 7 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 9, at the Belleville High School Commons. The board policy states the organizational meeting must be set no later than the third Monday in January. Because of the district holiday break, the district is not back in session on Jan. 2, the first Monday, and the board has traditionally held this meeting on the second Monday in January. The third Monday is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day;
• Approved the Belleville High School trip for 20 current or past 10th and 11th-grade AP Government students to Washington, D.C. on June 4-9 with the Close-Up Foundation that offers an in-depth experience in government. Travel is by airplane and motor coach. Cost to each student is $1,730 and there will be fund raisers and family payments for the cost. Trustee Sherry Frazier endorsed the Close-Up Foundation and said when she worked for the Plymouth-Canton Schools they sent thousands of students to Washington with Close-Up. Frazier said she made a video of one of the trips to help with fund-raising because it is a costly trip. She urged local people to help support this trip;
• Approved hiring English teacher Adam Howard of Dearborn Heights for BHS as of Dec. 7 and science teacher Andrew Goins of Taylor for McBride Middle School as of Dec. 12. Both were present at the meeting to be personally welcomed by the board;
• Approved hiring Stephanie Battle as a special education paraprofessional at Edgemont starting Nov. 28 and Janice Eaton as a Class II Secretary at McBride as of Dec. 19. Eaton was present to be welcomed by the board; and
• Went into closed-door session to consider a student reinstatement. When the board came into regular session, it voted to reinstate the student conditionally. He had been a senior when expelled and he has since completed his credits online. The board agreed to issue his diploma, but he will not walk with the 2016 seniors since he was part of the 2015 class.