Mondovi district makes tweaks to bus replacement plan

by Beth Kraft

Following a review of the bus fleet currently in service in the Mondovi district, school leaders are working on a shift in past practices that called for replacing the oldest school buses first.

At its regular monthly meeting on Monday, Oct. 26, a new plan was shared with the Mondovi School Board that would effectively allow the district to obtain three new buses on this year’s books at a significant savings.

One new bus is included in this year’s budget, but a bus that the district intended to purchase with 2014-15 budget dollars didn’t arrive until the start of the 2015-16 fiscal year, so it will count on this year’s books.

Mondovi Superintendent Greg Corning also said the district also intends to sell two of its buses that have been problematic. The money from the sale of those buses coupled with high cost transportation program dollars the district can get should more than pay for a third new bus, he said.

The district should be eligible for about $40,000 in reimbursements by applying for high cost transportation aid—about half the cost of a new school bus, Corning said.

An additional change under the new plan seeks to equalize the mileage across the Mondovi bus fleet. Buses can put on an average of 5,000 - 14,000 miles per year depending on their daily route, Corning said.

“It’s not always the oldest bus that gets the most miles,” he explained.

Drivers will now monitor bus mileage and operate different buses on district routes to help even things out, avoiding the situation of a few buses racking up more miles at a faster rate than others.

The new system should help the district manage its bus fleet more efficiently by factoring mileage in with the age of the vehicle.

Also related to district transportation, the Board voted to create an incentive for bus drivers to take on longer trips for extracurricular groups, which often involves driving in metropolitan areas such as the Twin Cities, Madison and Milwaukee.

Bus drivers who take groups on trips in excess of 120 miles will now be paid at the regular rate instead of the extracurricular rate, which is currently $13.60 per hour.

The district’s 2015-16 support staff handbook was amended to reflect the change in extracurricular route pay.

Also discussed that night was the process for superintendent evaluations, which are conducted by the Board at regular intervals.

Corning said the Board will use the year one entry plan he drew up to evaluate his performance, a change from its traditional evaluation method.

In other business that night, the Board approved the following:

• resignation for Brendan McCabe, assistant wrestling coach

• individual contracts for Sarah Snyder, Destination Imagination coach; Brent Steinke for middle school boys basketball coach (a third coaching position due to high student-athlete numbers); Haley Froelich for C-Team girls basketball coach; Dan Kirking for assistant wrestling coach; Scott Sabelko for part-time pool operator, effectively making him a full-time employee