Young children heading to school next year will find their ride a little more enjoyable after the St. Charles Parish School Board’s Transportation Committee went ahead with plans to air-condition nine Head Start buses.
The committee was also in agreement that they should look into only purchasing air-conditioned buses whenever they go out for bids to add to their fleet.
The proposal first came to light three-weeks ago after committee members were able to view a report from the administration that showed that temperatures inside the buses reached up to 92 degrees in May. Superintendent Rodney Lafon had asked for the report after he attended a School Transportation Achievement Team meeting and heard concerns over high temperatures.
At the time, the committee had some options to lower the heat. They could either decide to paint white roofs, which reflect heat, on the tops of the buses that don’t have this device, or they could add air-conditioning to nine Head Start buses. When a report showed that adding white roofs only knocked a couple of degrees off the buses’ inside temperature, the committee seemed in agreement that that was not worth the cost.
However, board President John Smith said the committee should instead look into air-conditioning the entire fleet.
Two weeks ago, representatives from the transportation department showed board members that air-conditioning the fleet this summer was not possible. Patrick O’Malley, who is the school system administrator for ancillary services, said that the board would have to advertise for bids for the work, which would only allow one company to retrofit the buses. Since only two buses a week can be retrofitted at a time, it would take too long for all the 142 buses to be completed.
“To have all the buses done prior to the school year does not seem doable at this point,” O’Malley said.
Board member Mary Bergeron said that because it would be too cumbersome a task to try to retrofit the entire fleet, the committee should focus on the Head Start buses.
“It seems like the next logical step would be the Head Start buses because the children are young and they are traveling a long time because they are going to a central location,” she said.
Bergeron also suggested that when the schools go out for bid for new buses, they have the option to purchase those with air conditioning. Fellow board member John “Jay” Robichaux said that that might cause the board to worry about exactly what students would get those air-conditioned buses.
“My opinion on that has always been the longest route,” Bergeron said. “The route where the children are on the bus the longest should, I believe, be given first preference. Eventually, they would all have it.”
Lafon said that air-conditioning the Head Start buses would not only be beneficial for the young children that take them to school, but also for other students.
“Once those kids are home you can use those buses for extracurricular stuff,” he said.
The cost of retrofitting each Head Start bus would be around $11,800. That cost includes not only adding air-conditioning, but tinting windows and installing new equipment.
“$7,800 will put two air-conditioners in the bus, but you are also talking about heat coming off the road,” Gary Martin, transportation operations coordinator, said. “One suggestion that was made is that we put a third evaporator in there, which is cheaper than putting in plywood flooring. That would take care of the heat coming off through the floor.”
Smith still felt that the board should decide whether they were going to retrofit the entire fleet before they begin adding air-condition to part of it.
“I guess I’m just a little bit confused,” Smith said. “What are we trying to accomplish here? What’s the goal?
“The reason I asked for a full plan is, No. 1, I didn’t see the reason for a pilot. I’m just trying to find out where we’re going.”
Bergeron said this is not a pilot at all and removed the word from her motion.
“I’m not ready to say $1.5 million to retrofit all the buses,” she said. “That is why I favor this plan, whether we call it a pilot or whatever we call it. That’s my preference.”
All nine buses should be retrofitted by January.
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