GUILDERLAND — School board members had plenty of questions Tuesday night about the district’s usual procedure for replacing school buses.

In recent years, the district has retired used buses on a regular schedule; each bus is replaced after a decade of use.

In keeping with this practice, Assistant Superintendent for Business Neil Sanders proposed for next year purchasing five 65-passenger buses for $461,800; three 30-passenger buses for $153,150; and three 24-passenger buses that can also hold wheelchairs for $175,050; along with a pickup truck with a plow for $45,000.

State aid would cover about half of the bus-purchase cost of $790,000 over the five-year life of the bond, Sanders said.

Guilderland has 91 operating buses and 24 spare buses; when new buses are purchased, the old ones become spares, Sanders said.
"I’m famous for old Volvos," said board member Hy Dubowsky, stating that they could go for hundreds of thousands of miles, and asking how that compared to school buses.
Sanders responded that inspection of school buses is more stringent than of passenger cars. "We can’t patch rust," he said, as an example. The standards, he said, are "much higher."

Sanders also said that a Guilderland bus typically makes runs to three different schools in a single day — at the elementary, middle-school, and high-school levels — putting on a lot of mileage. The fleet travels 1.5 million miles annually, he said.

Board member Denise Eisele asked several questions about the wheelchair buses.
They are "re-configurable" buses, said Sanders, explaining each bus can be set up to seat 24 students or to hold five wheelchair stations, or a combination of seats and wheelchair stations.
This offers "a great deal of flexibility," Sanders said.
Board President Richard Weisz expressed concern about the large number of spare buses, "particularly when we see a projection of fewer kids," he said.

According to Superintendent Gregory Aidala, 5,551 students were enrolled in Guilderland schools last year; 5,425 are enrolled this year; and 5,006 are projected in five years.

If the five-year plan is to shrink the district 10 percent, Weisz asked, shouldn’t the number of buses also shrink 10 percent.
Although enrollment is declining, said Sanders, "We continue to gain special-needs students." The district is required to transport special-needs students to various venues deemed appropriate for their education.
Of the 24 spares, 15 are 65-passenger buses, five are 24 passenger/wheelchair buses, one is a 30-passenger bus and three are Suburbans "to shuttle small numbers of students," Sanders said.

He then explained the need for 24 spare buses.
Typically five or six are held for state-required inspections by the Department of Transportation, he said. "They go over them with a fine-tooth comb," said Sanders.

Seven or eight buses at a time are being repaired, he said.

Two to eight buses are used for sports trips when the buses from the regular runs aren’t back in time, said Sanders.

And, sometimes buses are sent out for warrantee or body-shop work.
"Often times, we’re fairly depleted," he concluded.
Weisz asked to see a list of the daily use of spare buses to "see how deep we go in that 24" and how often; Sanders said he would get the list to board members.

Board member Peter Golden asked how long it takes to receive a bus, once it is ordered. Sanders replied that it can take 90 to 120 days to build a bus.
"Why does the larder have to be so full"" asked Golden. He suggested the money could be set aside and used to purchase buses later.
"Legally, we have some requirements," said Sanders. From the state’s point of view, said Sanders, "An emergency purchase is a bus catching on fire." Deciding to have an option to wait is not seen as an emergency, he said.

The board is slated to vote on the proposal at its next meeting, Feb. 6. If it passes, the proposition will be included with the May 15 budget vote.

Other business

In other business, the board:

— Heard an abbreviated state-of-the-district address from Superintendent Aidala. The full address, an annual event, will be broadcast on public-access channel 16; the times are posted on the district’s website — www.guilderlandschools.org;
— Established a Facilities Committee to "maximize the use of the district’s $1.778 million in state EXCEL aid," as discussed at the last meeting;

— Appointed volunteers to the Citizens’ Budget Advisory Committee — Linda Bakst, Anderson Bryan, James Denn, Daniel Jacobowitz, Karen Keane, David Langenbach, and Sean McGuire.

The board is still hoping for more members before the first of six sessions on March 1;

— Heard congratulations for the Farnsworth Middle School Future City Team from Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Nancy Andress. (See related story.) The team won first place in regional competition and will go on to the national finals in Washington, D.C.;

— Learned that the Guilderland athletic program was named overall winner for the fall season for the Sportsmanship Award.

Overall winners were the boys’ cross-country team, coached by Bob Oates, the girls’ cross-country team, coached by Dave Kosier; and the girls’ volleyball team, coached by Warren Bollinger.

Four Guilderland teams also got third-place honors — field hockey, coached by Kelly Vrooman; girls’ soccer, coached by Barb Newton; girls’ swimming, coached by Brenna Autrey; and boys’ volleyball, coached by Kim Buckley;

—Learned that three Farnsworth students were selected to participate in the New York State Middle School Honor Bands in March — Jonathan Bintz on trombone, Paul Travers on trumpet, and Matthew Walsh on clarinet;

— Heard that two middle school teachers — Deborah Escobar, an enrichment teacher, and Julie Long, a science teacher — and three high-school English teachers — Aaron Sicotte, Erin McNamara, and Dan McBride — have been inducted into the National Honor Roll’s Outstanding American Teachers;

— Learned that a presentation for parents and guardians of preschool children with special needs who will enter school in September of 2007 will be held on Jan. 30 at 6:30 p.m. at Lynnwood Elementary School;

— Heard that 65 students have their posters and writing featured at the annual Martin Luther King Art and Writing Series at Siena College. Their names are posted on the district’s website;
— Heard that senior Christine Ragone took first place in the Interfaith Poster Contest, "A Taste of Albany";

— Learned that senior Ben Zucker took first place in an art contest sponsored by Drexel Univeristy for a black and white photographic portrait;

— Learned that junior David Heaphy will have a three-dimensional piece displayed at the Annual CAAS Art in 3D Student Show at Niskayuna High School from Jan. 31 to Feb. 15;

— Accepted a stationary bike donated to Lynnwood Elementary School by Jitendra and Elizabeth Pradhan and accepted a trumpet from Carol Muztafago to be used at Farnsworth Middle School;

— Heard from board members who participated in coffee klatches with the public that they were a success and should be continued; and

— Met in executive session for a litigation update and to discuss administrative personnel performance reviews.