Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Nevada School scrapping buses after Florida wreck shows problems

Problems with a bus manufacturer have resulted in the Nevada School District being forced to retire two buses from its fleet.

Rick McAfee, Nevada superintendent, told the Nevada School Board, at its July meeting, the district had received notice of a problem with buses made by the Carpenter bus company.

There was a wreck in Florida involving a bus made by Carpenter, he said. The bus overturned with the roof collapsing to seat level. The problem is, the roofs are supposed to be able to hold three times their weight. When the bus was inspected, it was found the bow didn't come all the way down to the body of the bus as it should. In addition, it was improperly welded.

The National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB), McAfee said, has recommended districts with this type bus to remove them from their fleets. In Arkansas, there are about 170 of these buses.

What makes matters worse for districts with Carpenter buses is the company went bankrupt.

McAfee said the district has two of these buses, but can't sell them. "We don't want to put kids on them. They'll be sold for scrap."

Before the buses are sold, the engines and transmissions will be removed as they are still in good shape and can be used.

By removing the two buses, Nevada is having to adjust its routes. McAfee said once the routes are changed, the district will be short one bus and need to purchase one.

The board passed a resolution allowing the district to contact Stephens, Inc., to help with a post-dated warrant.

According to McAfee, the district could go through the revolving loan program to buy a bus, but the interest rate is 4.9 percent. By trying to do a post-dated warrant, the district may be able to get an interest rate below 4 percent and have five years to pay the bus off.

The warrant approved will allow the district to seek a post-dated warrant not to exceed $60,000 and give McAfee permission to bid for the bus.

The district has priced buses with two companies, Thomas and Ward. Most of Nevada's buses are from Ward.

Jim Cross, the district's transportation and maintenance supervisor, said the two buses involved are 1992 models. One will hold 65 passengers, while the other holds 53.

"There's no way we could repair them," he said.

The NTSB, Cross said, can't mandate the buses be taken out of the fleet or off the road, but does recommend they not be used.

Because the recommendation had just came down, McAfee said, the district has not had time to find out its liability should the buses be used.

News for the board didn't improve when McAfee began discussing the budget for the 2003-2004 year. He said the district will receive $67,529 less than it did for 2002-2003, with an anticipated loss of about $4,000 in the Title I program.

The bright spot was the federal government is looking to do away with the free and reduced lunch program, opting for a free lunch program instead. This, he said, would provide more money for the district.

The other good news he had was for the bond issue. Duncan-Williams and Associates, he said, had the low bid of 3.9534 percent.

McAfee recommended the board accept this offer, saying anytime a bond issue is sold for less than 4 percent it's good.

This company, based in Memphis, Tenn., but working in Little Rock as well, had its deposit in the bank two hours after learning it was the low bidder. Companies have 48 hours to make this good-faith deposit.

McAfee also informed the board of the results of the adequacy study and the governor's response.

The state spent $400,000 hiring an out-of-state company to study the state's education system and recommend how to make it more adequate. The firm found the 38 credits districts across the state now offer are adequate to provide an equitable education for all students, but these courses need to be better taught.

The company, he said, stated rising the credit level to 60 is absurd, because students need to be taught the basic core curriculum better. It also found a rich curriculum of 60 or more credits wouldn't necessarily improve standardized test scores.

Gov. Mike Huckabee, though, disagrees, wants to scrap the findings and have districts offer a rich curriculum.

"I hope the governor and legislature can put their differences aside and work together for what's best for the children of Arkansas," McAfee said. "Percy Malone has introduced a bill of rights for students and has 35 senators sign off on it."

This bill of rights contains 10 items of expectations for students and what their parents should expect.

"This could be the start of a discussion for the legislature to do more if a session is called in Sept.," he said.

The state, McAfee continued, is afraid lawyers will be lined up on Jan. 2, 2004, to file suit and force it to pay for teachers to teach one or two students in a course if the students want it.

Education is not just an Arkansas problem, McAfee said, but a national one. Part of the problem students aren't accountable for their standardized test scores and may not put forth their best effort.

He also disagreed with Pres. George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind' program, saying all children can't perform above average.

"Some children can work hard and over achieve, and still not be above average," he said. "If everyone become above average, we'll have to change average."