School board approves purchase of new activity bus

As it carried a full load of students from a career fair in Devils Lake to New Rockford on Thursday, Sept. 14, the school district’s troublesome activity bus stalled on the road several times.

On each occasion, the bus would pull over and remain stopped on the side of the road for up to 5 minutes before getting restarted, only to stall again minutes later, according to student reports.

For the NR-S School Board, it was the last straw for a bus that has cost the district thousands in repairs since it was purchased several years ago.

On Friday, Sept. 22, the board held a special meeting to discuss the activity bus situation and a potential solution.

School Board Vice President Mike Schaefer told the board that, at least for now, the stalling problem appears to have been fixed thanks to a new part.

Recently, the activity bus – often referred to as the Rocket Bus – successfully carried the NR-S/M Rockets to and from McVille for a game against Nelson County on Sept. 22, and Schaefer assured that the bus is currently safe for travel.

However, none were under the illusion this fix would last longer than previous fixes, and board members expressed little confidence the bus could last through winter.

“I don’t want to say we’re backed into a corner, but the Rocket bus is a nightmare, a headache,” said Avolt Baumbach, who oversees the district’s transportation. “It might run all winter perfectly, but it might also break down tomorrow.”

“More than likely it’s going to break down,” quipped board member Mike Jacobson.

Friday’s special meeting was hardly the first time board members had acknowledged the many problems suffered by the district’s only activity bus, and the need to do something about it.

Back in October of last year, the school board approved the purchase of a nearly $200,000 activity bus, and anticipated its arrival by summer of 2023. That bus still hasn’t arrived, however, much to the dissatisfaction of board members and administration.

Schaefer told the Transcript on Monday they’re not expecting the bus to arrive until next May.

Board members on Friday said they simply couldn’t risk using the Rocket Bus for another winter, fearing the possibility of a breakdown which could leave a bus full of students trapped in dangerous conditions.

With winter fast approaching, Schaefer presented a more immediate solution: purchasing a used activity bus currently in Tulsa, Okla. for $56,900, and then reselling it once the new activity bus arrives.

The bus in Oklahoma is similar in appearance to a typical yellow school bus, but isn’t painted yellow and has individual seats just like the Rocket Bus.

The bus is a 2013 model with about 60,000 miles on it – a slightly deceiving number as the bus was likely used within a city previously, and would have accrued more hours of operation than miles traveled, explained Schaefer.

The bus is painted white and doesn’t have the lights or signage to double as a route bus, and being a large activity bus, it is also not designed to run on rural bus routes.

Much of Friday’s discussion was about whether the district should purchase an activity bus capable of doubling as a route bus. However, the board ultimately decided against doing so, noting that a bus large enough to be an activity bus shouldn’t be operated on rural bus routes.

Board member Patti Larson did express some skepticism due to cost, noting that the district is currently looking for several teachers and that this bus would cost as much as a teacher’s salary.

But board member Mike Jacobson said this activity bus issue is a far more immediate concern.

“That’s a completely different situation,” he said in response to Larson. “What happens when you have 40 kids sitting on the side of the road when it’s -15 degrees [Fahrenheit], when we all have had a school board meeting now ... talking about how we know this is a liability, and then we didn’t do anything about it. That is flat out irresponsible in my opinion.”

With that, Jacobson made a motion to purchase the bus and to hire the company to drive it to New Rockford for $2.50 per mile.

Larson was the lone dissenting vote, and the motion carried.

Schaefer said the company that owns the bus will now take several steps to prepare it for use by the district, such as recovering the seats, repainting, checking the batteries, brakes and tires, etc.

The bus is due to arrive in six weeks, and won’t be the district’s responsibility until it appears at their doorstep. If it breaks down on the journey to New Rockford, it would be the company’s responsibility to fix it, explained Schaefer. The bus also comes with a 30-day warranty.

Schaefer said he expects the resale value of the bus to be good, though several board members as well as Baumbach suggested keeping it, believing the district could make good use of a second activity bus.