Photo: Indiana Public Media News
A bill before the Indiana Senate says school districts will get more financial flexibility if they maintain buses longer.
The same bill which seeks to end the debate over school bus fees also includes an incentive to schools to keep buses maintained. Rep. Mike Speedy (R-Indianapolis) maintains schools could save money by conducting fluid analysis of their bus fleets.
“You don‘t really need to change your oil until your oil says it‘s ready to change,” he says. “If you change it before then, you‘re just wasting oil. That savings will pay for the program, but the bulk of the savings come at the back end by keeping buses longer until they‘re ready to be disposed of.”
Speedy‘s proposal would try to coax schools to sign on to the plan by letting them use any savings in their bus replacement funds for general expenses. Speedy says the Fort Wayne and Plainfield school districts already do fluid analysis. The proposal has passed the Senate Education Committee but must win approval from the Appropriations Committee before going to the full Senate.
