Hillsboro purchases new bus
Staff writer
Hillsboro school district will have a new member of its fleet of buses come fall after approval of a 2021 Bluebird bus at Monday’s board of education meeting.
The new 65-passenger bus includes air conditioning and will cost $107,325.
“It’s a nice thing when you think about kids who are on there an hour going home or coming to school,” superintendent Max Heinrichs said. “It’s a nice thing when you think about our field trips or that we’re going on activities.”
The district received a donation of more than $1,300 from Families and Communities Together to help pay unpaid student meal charges. Of the district’s 550 students, 128 have unpaid meal charges totaling $1,331.05.
The district will begin a contract with Opaa! Food Management in the fall. Opaa! also works with Marion, Peabody-Burns, and Centre districts.
Going forward, Hillsboro will set aside $300 for its middle and high school principles to use in case a student’s meal account runs out of money. The district will send notices when families’ balances reach $20 or less so they have more time to react, instead of waiting until balances reach zero.
“Some of our families have four or five kids,” Heinrichs said. “In one time that could be about $20.”