Walker County Schools is adding five new Blue Bird buses to its fleet soon.
Four 54-passenger school buses for special needs students will be purchased for a total of $418,000. One 87-passenger school bus will be purchased for $111,000.
“We were in dire need,” said Walker County Schools Facilities and Operations Director Chris Jones. “We tried to get buses for four or five years. A lot of buses are offline. They are safe, but it’s time to update.”
All the buses will be equipped with heating and air-conditioning. Purchased using bond money and Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax dollars, they will arrive in August or September.
“We can purchase up to 30 [buses] in ESPLOST,” Jones said.