New school buses arrived Tuesday
By LORETTA SWORD
The Pueblo West View
The Pueblo West View
Principal Martha Nogare said Tuesday morning that the long-awaited buses had arrived in Pueblo and were set to make their first run that afternoon.
"It's a huge relief," Nogare said.
At least for a few days, she said, the buses will transport only high school students. If time permits, they may begin picking up middle school students who live north of the highway at some point.
Since the school year began, high school students who live north of U.S. 50 have been waiting nearly two hours after school lets out to board a bus home.
The problem was caused by changes in the high school schedule and an increase in enrollment, Nogare has said.
After trying several changes to bus routes, School District 70 officials decided last month to buy two new buses.
The purchases were have been made using part of $125,000 the the Colorado Public Utilities Commission has ordered Excel Energy to give to the school district to equip old buses to meet new state emissions standards.
That plan was scrapped two weeks ago after a group of taxpayers protested, Superintendent Dan Lere said at the school board's regular meeting last week.
He said he was puzzled by the objections because the plan called for only part of the money to be used to buy new low-emissions buses, and the rest would have gone for retrofitting older buses with new emissions equipment.
"We are unclear as to their reason for making that decision, but it does put the district in an awkward position," Lere said. "Fortunately, we do have a Plan B.”
That plan, approved last week by the school board, allowed the district to buy two 2007 buses on a four-year financing plan.
The first payment of $43,000 would be due in October 2007, according to Glen Bradshaw, director of business services.
Bradshaw said that money would come from the district's capital reserve fund. The rest of the payments will be budgeted as part of the district's future bus purchases.
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