BY THE NUMBERSMany Georgia school systems were given new school buses through a state bond effort to replace money taken from the past two years’ state budgets.In Northwest Georgia:County / Number of buses allottedCatoosa: 4Chickamauga: 0*Dade: 2Dalton: 0**Murray: 3Walker: 5Whitfield: 6* Does not provide bus service** Did not participateSource: Georgia Department of Education, Pupil Transportation
“Free” school buses in tough economic times are a pleasant surprise for local schools, even if the state’s just playing catch-up, one local official said.
“These buses will replace our four oldest route buses,” said Damon Raines, Catoosa County Public Schools’ operations director.
“There is no impact on the transportation budget at this point,” Raines noted. “Although taking the four older buses off the route and using them in more limited capacity may result in fewer service calls and repairs on those particular buses.”
Catoosa’s four buses come from part of $50 million in general obligation bonds provided by the state General Assembly to buy up to 657 buses across the state, state Pupil Transportation Director Carlton Allen said.
Many Georgia school systems will get buses through the allotment because bus replacement funding has been cut from the state budget for the past two fiscal years, Allen said. The General Assembly approved the reimbursement plan to help school systems catch up, he said.
Catoosa got four buses, Dade County got two, Murray County got three, Walker County got five and Whitfield County got six, records show. Dalton Public Schools did not participate and the Chickamauga City Schools system has no school bus service.
“What happened is, in fiscal year 2009-2010, there was a little over $25 million for bus replacement,” Allen said. “When the economy went so bad, that money was pulled back from the school systems and wasn’t given to them.”
When members of the General Assembly saw the same cut looming in fiscal year 2010-11, lawmakers decided to put together $50 million in bonds to be sold by the state, he said.
After the bonds were sold in late October, the buses were allotted to systems based on school systems’ enrollment and the number of daily bus riders, he said.
Raines said systems must pay $76,292 each for the buses up front, then get reimbursed by the state.
“These buses are ‘spec buses’ and contain everything required by Georgia transportation law; the only items not included are bus radios, camera systems and air conditioning,” he said.
Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.