There’s a lot of wear and tear on the fleet of buses for USD 428 much like any other school district. Cody Schmidt serves as the Transportation Director for the Great Bend school district and said the buses racked up nearly 100,000 miles in 2017.

Like with any vehicle with an engine, there are bound to be problems eventually.

Bus 992 is a 2000 Bluebird with 179,000 miles with a recently blown engine.

Cody Schmidt Audio

The bus has been sitting at Murphy Truck Repair in Great Bend since early September as the district decided on the best option for repairs. Buying a new bus of similar build could cost between $106,000 and $136,000 according to Schmidt. The USD 428 Board of Education voted in favor of replacing the engine for $22,896 from Foley Equipment.

Other than the engine, Schmidt felt the bus is in a great shape and there was no need to replace it with a new bus.

Cody Schmidt Audio

The engine from Foley will come with a two-year warranty and is expected to be repaired by the end of the year.

USD 428 is still looking into purchasing new Coach Line buses and Superintendent Khris Thexton says the district will probably ask for bids on the Coach Line buses in December.