chanical and make any additional work requests. Te program is so popular that by mid-April, the facility was booked through the end of the summer. Fritz Klabunde, a shop foreman at Eanes
ISD, was an employee of a San Antonio- area school district in the 1990s, when more than 100 Carpenter schools buses had to be removed from the fleet. Ellis Bus
converted two older-model, 53-passenger size lift buses into tow trucks. Te work was primarily cosmetic, as the insides and outsides were repainted and the flooring and all of the seat covers were replaced. Klabunde said the cost was “in the neigh- borhood of $5,000 to $5,500 to have that type of refurb performed.” Additionally, some older standard transmission buses
were converted to automatic. “As I remember, we were pleased with
the work that was performed on these vehicles,” he said. “Our director at the time, Mike McClung, and the school board, saw it as a way to extend the useful life of the school bus, given the budget issues of the time.” Weisinger, who chairs the Texas State
School Bus Specification Committee and will make a presentation at the STN EXPO next month in Reno on refurbishing school buses, said Spring ISD hasn’t needed the service in about eight years because the district has a strong replacement cycle. But for districts unable to implement such a plan, refurbishing should be considered. For example, he said districts can get brand-new flooring installed for around $1,600 because labor is free of charge. “It’s a great idea, if you have a bus that
is, for example, eight to 10 years and you don’t have a replacement cycle, (for a vehicle) that’s starting to fade, has some dents and scratches, the seats all need to be repaired…you can send the bus to the prison, have it painted inside and out and get fire-resistant seat covers for $5,000.” Humble ISD is located about 13 miles
to the southeast of Weisinger’s opera- tions. Te district used Ellis Bus Repair to refurbish many of its auxiliary fleet buses for use as substitute, field trip or coach buses, said Allan L. Griffin, assistant direc- tor of transportation. Ellis Bus Repair also completely gutted six of Humble’s buses to transform them into equipment buses. “Tis included modifying the rear door
and adding a pull-out ramp for loading,” added Griffin. “We have been very pleased with their work, although the schedule is dependent on prison events.” Echoing Goff’s opinion in Maine, Weis-
inger noted another reason to look into refurbishing is for the benefit of taxpayers. “Most of the public, they don’t have kids
in school but still pay school taxes. Tey’re going to see two things: the grounds and how it looks from the outside when they drive by the school, and they’re going to see the buses,” said Weisinger. “Tat’s going to be their opinion of the school district. “One way to improve your public im-
pression is to have buses that have good paint, are in good repair, look good, and you keep them clean.” n
56 School Transportation News Magazine June 2012
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