Dear Parents,
Van Picture (above) Activity Bus Picture (below)
We NEED your help! Last year, due to ongoing mechanical issues and the age of a route bus and with excessive mechanical issues with the activity charter bus, the school board decided to replace both of those school vehicles with new or slightly used buses. Recently it was discovered that someone cut a hole in the back of one of the seats on the new activity bus. (See attached photo). We have also been dealing with a wide variety of vandalism and destruction with the school vans. (See attached photo)
The estimated cost to fix both vans exceeds $12,000! This includes replacing or repairing all seats, vents, seat belts and the interior of the roof. No cost estimate has been given yet to repair the cut in the bus seat. These expenses are completely unnecessary and create an undue burden on the district’s finances.
The school administration has been working with the coaches and various sponsors to be more vigilant in checking the vehicles before and after each use. However, ensuring that school property is used appropriately and taken care of needs to be a joint effort from everyone. We are now asking for your help. Please have a conversation with your son/daughter about respect for school property, having school and community pride, and in general, just being a good citizen. The administration is considering a handful of actions that would eliminate or at least reduce these acts of vandalism and keep students accountable for their actions. One possible solution would be requiring assigned seating to every student on every bus or van. Each seat would be checked before and after the student rides in the vehicle. Another option would be to place multiple cameras on each bus and van. We do not want to resort to these types of measures, but these destructive actions cannot continue.
In the next few days the school administration will be addressing the student body to discuss this issue with them directly as well.