Many local school districts have older buses that often travel hundreds of thousands of miles over the course of a school year, adding wear and tear to the buses and maintenance costs to a district’s budget.

Districts with tight budgets may have to develop long-term plans to purchase school buses.

Buses in Northeast Michigan cover larger geographical distances than buses owned by districts in more urban areas. Alcona Community Schools buses, for example, transport students across a 400-square-mile district.

Covering larger geography means Northeast Michigan schools pay more in fuel. Jesse Smith, Alcona’s mechanic, said fuel is by far the transportation department’s biggest expense, as the district’s buses use 17,000 gallons of fuel each year.

News Photo by Crystal Nelson Dean Transportation bus driver Randy Potts on April 5 inspects the wheelchair arm on a bus before he heads out to pick up Alpena-Montmorency-Alcona Educational Service District students.

Smith said he recently spoke with officials of a district in Ann Arbor where drivers fuel up buses every other week. Drivers in Alcona fill up two times a week.

“I don’t have a bus route short enough that I could fathom doing that on,” he said. “For student safety, we want to make sure that the bus doesn’t go below a half tank of fuel, especially in the winter time. If a bus got stuck or if there was an accident that caused the bus to sit in traffic for a long time, the last thing you need is a concern that you’re going to run out of fuel.”

Patrick Dean, vice president of the Lansing-based Dean Transportation, said in an email to The News the Alpena-Montmorency-Alcona Educational Service District fleet travels about 250,000 miles per year. Dean Transportation owns and operates the AMA ESD buses.

Dean said the company evaluates vehicles throughout the fleet to properly balance age, miles traveled, and overall wear and tear, which can also be impacted by road conditions.

Because of Michigan’s harsh winters and use of road salts and other deicing agents, the ESD expects its buses to last 10 to 14 years, Dean said. The AMA ESD’s oldest bus is eight years old.

He estimates a new school bus can cost between $75,000 and $100,000.

David Martell, executive director of the Michigan School Business Officials, which represents school finance directors, said districts can pay for buses a number of ways, including from their budget, by taking out a loan, or by asking voters to support a property tax for bus purchases.

“These days, operating costs are really tight, and, so, they try to find other ways to pay for them, because they need the money they have to pay teachers, to run the school, and things like that, instead of just the buses,” Martell said.

Alpena Public Schools Superintendent Dave Rabbideau said his district looks at replacing one or two buses each year, and administrators look for grants.

The oldest bus in the district’s fleet is from 2003.

Carl Seiter, superintendent of Hillman Community Schools and Atlanta Community Schools, said the district purchases buses as they’re needed. He said district officials save a little money each year for bus purchases, so cash is available when a new purchase is required.

Districts with tighter budgets have a harder time replacing buses, Martell said.

“It’s always a balancing act for schools, and, if it’s a really tough year, they might try to make their buses last longer,” he said.

Alcona Community Schools Superintendent Dan O’Connor said the district had a stretch from about 2008 to 2012 when district officials could not buy buses. He said district officials struggled to find funds for new buses at the same time enrollment decreased. Most of a school’s income is based on per-student payments from the state.

“The district was not able to buy new buses during that stretch, and so we got out of rotation, I guess you could say, or out of cycle,” he said. “We worked to correct that, but we’ve bought five new buses and have a new one on the way, so we’ll have six buses over the last four years we’ve purchased new.”

Many school districts in Northeast Michigan still have older buses in their fleet. Alcona schools still use a bus from 1999, used as a spare.

“Once it is determined that a vehicle should be retired, any components of the vehicle that may still have useful life are salvaged and saved for future use,” Dean said. “The vehicle is then properly disposed of, most commonly by arranging disposal with a scrap yard or metal recycler.”

Northeast Michigan school buses by the numbers

Here’s a look at some of the statistics on Northeast Michigan’s school bus fleet.

∫ 500,000: The number of miles Alpena Public School buses travel each year

∫ 17,000: The number of gallons of fuel Alcona Community Schools uses each year

∫ $75,000 to $100,000: The average cost of a school bus for Dean Transportation

∫ 1999: The year of the oldest bus Alcona has in use (used as a spare)

∫ 10 to 14: The number of years Dean Transportation expects a bus for the Alpena-Montmorency-Alcona Educational Service District to last

Source: Local superintendents, business leaeders, and

mechanics