Too many buses in Dist. 158? Depends on who you ask
Have your children had problems getting to school or back home on time?
If so, don't blame it on a shortage of buses in Huntley Unit District 158.
The district recently bought 29 full-size buses and five smaller buses.
But when you add those buses to the fleet the district already owns or is leasing, how many extra buses does the district have?
It depends on who you ask.
District 158 board member Larry Snow says the district has 25 buses that are not in use. Snow says the district shouldn't have bought 34 buses if 25 of them are just going to sit there.
"What they should have done is not buy as many buses, keep the money in the bank and let it earn interest," Snow said. "You're just trying to pad the budget with a whole lot of extra money."
Each bus the district bought cost about $75,000.
Superintendent John Burkey says the district has just as many buses as it needs.
"We don't have extra buses," Burkey said. "The only extra buses we have are the 12 that are going back in December."
The 12 he's referring to are buses the district is leasing. The lease is up in December, and officials say the district would lose about $18,000 in state reimbursements if it returned the buses early.
"If you send those back now, you're not only going to lose state money, but you've already paid for the lease," Transportation Director Rick Rossi said.
Chief Operations Officer Glen Stewart says the district has extra buses, but that it's not that simple.
"Is it fair to say we have 25 extra buses? Yeah. Is it fair to say we have 25 buses without putting that in context? No," Stewart said.
The 25 buses include the 12 on lease that will soon be returned. They also include six buses that are being used in new routes, Rossi said.
That leaves seven buses, and administrators say the district needs at least some of these in case buses break down or need to be serviced.
Whichever figure you believe, it's not going to get smaller anytime soon. The district plans to buy four more buses in December.