Utica Community Schools OKs $841,960 for New Wheels

The newest additions to Utica Community Schools’ fleet of school buses will ring in at roughly $84,196 a piece.

The board of education approved a total of $845,806.90 Monday for the purchase of 10 buses and 10 mobile radios ($3,846.90) to replace older models currently in use.

Whereas many of the older buses seat only 65 or 66 people, the newer models have a 77-person seating capacity, which has helped the district reduce its fleet in the last three years from 252 buses to 245 today.

All buses are purchased through the MSBO/MAPT Bus Purchase Program, which provides a significant discount on the overall cost. The purchase is being funded by the 2009 bond issue.

There are currently 66 77-passenger buses, 123 65-passenger buses, 29 47-passenger buses with wheelchair lifts, 19 47-passenger buses, two 23-passenger buses, two 18-passenger buses and four 16-passenger buses in the Utica fleet.