Three school buses used by Boothbay Region High School and Elementary School have failed their inspections, cannot be repaired, and are no longer use-able.

While the school has been renting a bus from Bath to meet transportation requirements, the rental is expensive and not suitable for the long-term.

At the Sept. 10 Community School District meeting, Superintendent Eileen King said the school needs to replace all three buses as soon as possible to accommodate all runs including sports team trips.

“The Telstar field hockey game was pushed back to the end of the month,” Director of Student Activities Allan Crocker said. “We can't keep rescheduling, sometimes other schools can't and it's not fair to the team or parents.”

“Are we at a point we can accommodate all the athletic transportation?” Chairman Larry Colcord asked.

“No,” Transportation Director Dave Benner replied.

One bus is currently on its way to the school, so the committee had to come up with two more. King suggested the committee consider purchasing the used bus located in Wales, a 2007 model with 130,000 miles on it.

“They are asking $17,000,” King said. “A new bus costs $16,000 a year to lease.”

King also asked that the committee allow her to make an emergency plea to the Department of Education to get the third needed bus. Should the plea be granted, the state would reduce next year's subsidy to the school to offset the cost of the bus.

The committee voted in favor of both the bus purchase (to be negotiated by Benner) and the emergency plea. Should the plea be rejected, the committee also voted to allow King to lease-purchase a new bus.

The committee hopes the purchase can be made for less than the asking price, and that the bus will last around three years.

“Did this creep up on us?” asked committee member Brian Blethen. “Three buses going all of a sudden, is there a way we could have been more prepared?”

King said that bus purchases had been in the budget in the last few years, but were taken out every time. The committee discussed avoiding this problem in the future by not removing the buses from the budget.

“We are working on an undercoating to protect them from the winter roads, which will make them last longer,” Benner said. “I'm learning about more options for protection as I inquire with different people. But they don't last forever, and it's not something that can be pushed back every year.”

Benner also said a new bus should be purchased every three years to keep this issue from reoccurring.