School Board Weighing Options on Buses

For the last couple of months, the LaSalle Parish School Board has been discussing the possibility of getting back into the practice of purchasing school buses and getting away from leasing buses as they have done for many years now.

The topic has been addressed during at least two Finance Committee meetings and one Board meeting during the past two months. At issue is the rising cost of leasing that continues to increase every year.

At the regular October Board meeting last week, the Board voted to enter into a lease agreement with Ross Bus & Equipment Sales of Alexandria for three 2024, 71-passenger Blue Bird school buses with air conditioning and cameras for a price tag of $27,000.00 per year per bus. The lease agreement is for a three-year term.

All of the Board members were astonished that the lease price has increased to what it is, noting at the Finance Committee meeting the week prior that lease agreements entered into last year was $7,000.00 less per year per bus. The 2023 price indicates a 35% increase from a year ago.

LaSalle Parish Transportation and Maintenance Supervisor Glen “Slick” Joiner noted that the increases are not just with Ross Sales, but across the nation. During lease contract negotiations recently, he checked with other suppliers and found similar pricing.

“Everything has gone up,” Joiner said. “The reason is because the price of a new bus has increased significantly. Right now, the price of a brand-new bus is $148,000.00. Just five years ago the price of a new bus was $88,000.00.”

He also noted that eight years ago, it only cost $14,000.00 per year to lease a bus, which is a 92% increase from the price tag of this year’s lease.

The Board has continually reviewed the pros and cons of leasing versus owning.

For many years, the school system owned buses and allowed individuals to operator their own buses on school system routes.

Several years ago, the School Board enacted a policy to go to leasing buses to make sure a new bus was on a route every three years, keeping the fleet with the very best buses each school year. It also saved the system thousands of dollars in maintenance and repair bills.

A school bus cannot be older than 15 years to transport students and this year, the final bus of original owner-operator buses has reached that limit and has been taken out of service.

This bus is one of the three buses that the lease agreement entered into last week will replace.

Although using leased buses was a wise financial move by the Board years ago, the new higher prices have some on the Board reconsidering the Board’s policy of leasing.

Ward 8 Board Member Dolan Pendarvis, Vice-President and Chairman of the Finance Committee, originally introduced the idea of getting back into the bus owning business after learning of the new, high leasing prices.

“I just think this is something that we need to consider and seriously look at,” he said.

Joiner noted that the new four-day school week has also presented problems with having enough buses to accommodate extracurricular activities after school.

“The problem is the school day is running longer because of the four-day week, which means it is later when buses are finished with their routes and available to transport students for other activities,” he said. “This is really going to be a problem during spring sports where you will have baseball and softball teams leaving the schools at 2:30 or 3 o’clock to get to games. The first available bus from the routes doesn’t get through until 4:30 (p.m.).”

He noted that when football games are away, it takes three or four buses to carry athletes and students. He also pointed out that when Jena and LaSalle both have away games on the same day, the need for additional buses is greater.

One idea that was circulated was to purchase one additional bus that could help alleviate the problem of buses for extracurricular activities. Currently, the school system owns four buses that are used for those activities.

Joiner pointed out that when the leased buses complete their lease agreement, they are still in great condition and could be purchased by the school system.

Such is the case with one of the buses whose lease ended this year and is being replaced as part of the lease agreement for three new buses last week. It is a 2019 Blue Bird, 71- passenger bus with air conditioning and cameras.

“The bus we are talking about is a 71-passenger bus that is in good condition that would be a great bus to own and use as an extra bus,” Joiner said. “And, purchase of this bus will get us out of a bind (regarding needing extra buses for school activities).”

The item was added to the Board’s October 3 meeting agenda, due to a time restraint, as Ross Sales will only hold the bus for a limited time before they sell it to another buyer.

Due to the state bid law, the Board is required to advertise for such a large purchase, so the Board voted unanimous to advertise and proceed with the possible eventual purchase.

The topic of leasing versus owning will continue to be discussed by the Board as they weigh all of their options.