Education board divided on acquiring new bus for NPS school district

NORFOLK, Neb. -- The Norfolk Public Schools' Board of Education couldn't come to a majority decision Monday night, leading the decision to purchase a new bus to be discussed at a later meeting.

The potential purchase of a new bus for the school district drew public discussion at Monday's meeting.

The Board was considering two options to help transport students to events across the state.

The board received three bids on school buses, a Class A style bus priced at more than $600,000, a Class C style bus with a lavatory for $359,900, and a Class C bus without a lavatory for $344,900.

The Board was also considering a "pilot" program that would contract with a local motor coach company to provide transportation on priority trips.

Before the discussion got underway, Kay Francavilla spoke during the public comments portion saying that with her background as a financial adviser, making a purchase would be unwise due to the economic state of the world. 

"I am very concerned about what is happening right now...personally, I think we're in a recession," Francavilla said. "Personally, I just think, as a financial person, that makes more sense in the present time to take a look and see attitude as to what is going to be happening in the next few months before you make a purchase of this amount." 

A motion was put forth to purchase the Class C bus without the lavatory, which failed with three votes in favor, two against, and one abstaining.

The abstaining voter, Cindy Booth, said she felt she could not vote as she was unable to see the buses in person and couldn't properly grasp what she would be voting for.

A second motion was put forth to delay the decision to a later date.

Dr. William Robinson warned that the bids on the buses were time-sensitive, and may need rebidding if they took too long.

The motion to delay discussion passed in a 4-2 vote.