Kenton County Schools will be getting eight new 84-passenger school buses following the approval of a roughly $1.5 million contract on Monday.
Approved during the Kenton County Schools Board of Education meeting this week, the contract calls for a 10-year lease-to-own agreement with the Kentucky Interlocal School Transportation Association, or KISTA, a state program that purchases school buses in bulk directly from manufacturers before leasing them out to participating school districts. The $1,561,456 in the contract will be spread out evenly every year in the lease period, at which point the district will own the buses.
Superintendent Henry Webb stated that purchasing buses this way allows the district to keep the fleet updated. Buses tend to depreciate in value after 10 years, so older buses are often sold as surplus vehicles before the district enters a new lease agreement to purchase more up-to-date buses.
“We’ve continued to go towards 84-passenger buses to reduce our number of routes,” Webb said. “It really helps us with drivers as well.”
“The other advantage of maintaining a newer fleet is that we also reduce the cost for repairs that come with those buses because by keeping the new modernized fleet on the backside, we reduce costs on equipment and repairs,” said the district’s Assistant Superintendent of Operations Brian Vanover.
The new buses will also increase the number of buses with air-conditioning and driver PA systems.
The board cast unanimous votes in favor of the lease agreement.
“We believe this will continue to ensure that our kids and staff have access to a world class fleet,” said Webb.