Ten old school buses surplussed

The Shelton School Board on Tuesday evening surplussed 10 school buses used by the Mason County Transportation Cooperative due to age and wear.

The request came from Don Hall, the director of the district's transportation department.

"The repairs required to maintain the buses for presentation to the Washington State Patrol for annual inspection have become labor intensive and cost prohibitive," Hall wrote in a report to the school board members.

Five of the surplussed buses are Bluebird models built in 1996, with mileage ranging from 165,452 to 250,346. A sixth Bluebird bus was made in 2000 and has 294,805 miles.

The other four buses are International models made in 2000, 2003 and 2009, with mileage ranging from 136,584 to 281,509 miles.

Last April, the district approved the surplus of eight school buses "that had become outdated and very costly to repair," the report states. They were sold for scrap for $600.

The Pioneer and Southside school districts also use the buses from the Mason County Transportation Cooperative, which is housed across the street from Shelton High School. At an "Education in Mason County" forum sponsored by the Shelton-Mason County Chamber of Commerce Jan. 18, both Shelton Superintendent Wyeth Jessee and Pioneer Superintendent Jeff Davis said their districts need bus drivers.

Davis said the shortage of bus drivers has forced the district to create "staggered starts" for schools.

"If you are interested, or know anybody, they can directly contact me," Jessee said. "I'll take the call at one a.m., literally. It's dire. It's not just here but across the United States. It's hard to get those entry level jobs, including food nutritionists, para-educators, all those jobs are just harder ones to (fill), with the turnover rate, because they can get a job that pays just a little bit more or better conditions."

The starting rate for bus drivers is $21.73 per hour.