The wheels on this bus go round and round — safely

Rogers school says owning bus improves safety and convenience

Published: January 29, 2013

By Alesia Schaefer
Rogers Correspondent

Alesia Schaefer

Second graders at St. Vincent de Paul School in Rogers board their newly acquired school bus Dec. 13 for a field trip to the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville. This was the first trip taken on the “repurposed” bus.

Alesia Schaefer

ROGERS — Keeping children safe is priority number one. So, to that end, the acquisition of a big, yellow school bus Nov. 5 for St. Vincent de Paul School in Rogers became an early Christmas gift.

The parish school had previously owned a bus, donated by parents, from 1996-2009, but some high-dollar maintenance issues on the aging behemoth relegated it to the parking lot for several years until it was sold.

“We remember how convenient and easy it was to plan an outing with the students when we had a bus,” said Ann Morrison, interim principal of St. Vincent de Paul School. “Without a bus, you have to solicit parents for driving, organize your departure time for as many as 10 adults, plan where vehicles will be parked and where the students and chaperones will all meet upon their different arrival times.”

“With a bus,” added Morrison, “the students can leave, ride and arrive together with their teachers and other chaperones, if needed, and exit safely at the destination. We feel this is a much safer alternative for transporting the students.”

Acquiring another bus has always been on the list of needs for the school, said Morrison, but the timing, opportunity and work of a few key parents and parishioners moved it up as a priority.

Jim Tull, parishioner and school board member, said the question of renting or borrowing a bus for field trips had been posed to the Rogers School District last fall. Tulllearned that the district sells 10 to 12 buses a year.

“These buses go on sale on a website with a minimum bid being set,” said Tull. “Our advantage was proximity, we are close enough so that we could actually go and look at the buses on the lot.”

Another parent and car expert, Steve Perry, agreed to look at the buses that were for sale.

“The Rogers School District was terrific,” he said. “This bus had low miles, the maintenance was well documented, it was in excellent condition and looked as good as any bus in the yard.”

Morrison said the priority of the bus is to transport the school’s 325 students for field trips or science fairs in northwest Arkansas. The bus will have limited use, traveling to destinations no further than Fort Smith.

Various reasons contributed to the need for a bus, according to Morrison.

“In order to take children on a field trip, we have to have parents that are qualified drivers, Virtus compliant and insured and possibly willing to miss work in order to drive,” she said. “If we take two classes, or as many as 40 children, it entailed paperwork for a lot of drivers. But keeping the students safe is really the main reason for purchasing the bus.”

Families have been supportive of the purchase of the bus as well.

“One family came forth and donated funds to be used for gas, maintenance and the payment of drivers for the bus,” said Morrison, adding that two Rogers School District bus drivers have applied to drive the bus when needed.

Click for the Catholic Schools Week 2013 index