The Crawford County R-1 Board of Education approved on Oct. 16 to move forward with purchasing buses to add to the district’s fleet. 

“Several buses in our district are reaching the age of their service life,” said Witt. 

He mentioned buying the buses sooner rather than later would save the district a lot of money in the future. Witt added that purchasing the buses for a long-term lease would save money for the district because when they buy a bus, it gets reimbursed from the state. 

“We’re rolling six buses that were built before 2010,” said Board President Jason Gobin. 

Others in the fleet are from 2018 and 2019. This discussion led to the board being in agreement that, because of the aging bus fleet, a purchase needed to happen quickly. 

The board approved with a 6-0 vote to purchase four buses, not to exceed $645,000, from Midwest Transit Equipment. One bus is in stock from Midwest Transit Equipment and is available immediately. Member Stephen Waldron made the motion to pay for the buses on a deferred payment. 

In other business, a snow removal bid was approved for Boast Enterprises, LLC. The bid is for ice removal services at the high school, administrative sites, the elementary and middle schools, SOAR sites and the bus barn. 

The hourly equipment rental rate is $85 for winter weather removal. The cost of salt products used to treat ice is not included in the provided hourly rate. The additional cost to treat ice or freeze-related problems will be $28 per 100 pounds of spread.

The board approved the bid with a 6-0 vote.

The Missouri School Board Association (MSBA) provided an updated policy list to be reviewed.

The board approved the list with a 6-0 vote to update their MSBA policies to keep up with legislation.