Underwood School looks to trade in activity bus

Posted 3/09/11 (Wed)

By Michael Johnson, Editor

The issues and costs associated with the Underwood School activity bus continues to be a discussion item at the Underwood School Board meeting. Of the seven buses that the school has, the board hopes to trade in the activity bus on a grant opportunity to purchase another new bus. Whether the school will get another activity bus or a regular route bus is still in question. Several board members agreed that they would like to see the activity bus traded in in order to get a new route bus, if that is possible. The last route bus the school received they were not able to trade in the activity bus for, but superintendent Dale Ekstrom believes they can trade it in this time. A new route bus cost is about $85,000, while a new activity bus can cost from $95,000-$150,000. The bus grant provides a maximum of $40,000 toward the purchase of a new bus and is provided by the North Dakota Department of Health. The grant is used to replace older inefficient models.