Mustang School Board members failed to approve Monday night city officials' request to lease buses, putting field trips for summer campers in jeopardy.
Mustang City Parks Director Justin Battles called Western Heights Schools Tuesday, and the neighboring district came to the campers' aid.
Western Heights will charge $1.50 per mile for use of the buses, which is less than the $2 per mile in the Mustang proposal. Western Heights bus drivers will operate the buses at a cost of $15 per hour, which is the same amount Battles said he expected to pay for a Mustang driver.
“We got really concerned,” Battles said. “I tell you, Western Heights was the first we called ... they were very receptive.”
Battles said Mustang city has leased local school district buses in the past for the summer camp field trips, and he didn't realize there was a conflict until earlier this month.
District Academic Officer Charles Bradley told school board members city staff turned in a request to use the buses in April, but school officials didn't process it until June.
“When I was told they were not going to use one of the elementaries for the summer program, then we received this thing in the mail, to me I thought it was null and void,” he said. “I mean, why would they be using transportation and not use the facility? Then they called, 'Are we still on for the buses?'”
Battles said city staff decided to hold this year's summer camp at Town Center instead of Mustang Elementary's gymnasium because the district raised its fees for facility use last year. The city charges $90 per child per week and $160 for families with two children in the program. He said they faced increasing fees if they kept the program at Mustang Elementary.
So they moved the summer campers to Town Center, but Battles said they still needed to rent two buses to transport the 70 children to weekly field trips.
Lightfoot said she approved the request on a one-time basis last week so children were able to attend a Redhawks game on June 8. Battles said there are eight excursions planned including the Oklahoma City Zoo and the 45th Infantry Museum, as well as other educational trips. He said he was concerned that the city had promised these trips to children and their families as part of the summer camp.
“They (the students) would sure be bummed if we told them the field trips were canceled,” Battles said.
School Board Vice President Jeff Johnson said the situation came down to the district's liability and past practice of making an exception for the city camp program. Lightfoot said school officials had turned down 10 other requests to rent buses this year from outside groups, including churches and seniors groups.
“If we want to open it up to the city, we open it up to the churches and everybody else,” Johnson said. “The senior citizens want to use our buses, you get into that. You open the door up. I say keep the door closed.”
Lightfoot said the district's new insurance carrier raised a red flag about the bus rental and the schools' liability.
“I don't see that there is an increased risk,” Board member Jim Davis said. “If we go to a basketball game, and the bus crashes, those families of those students can sue the school.”
“They are going to a school-sponsored event,” Board President Dona Zanotti answered. “This is not school sponsored, this is city.”
If the city planned to spend $2,100 for the bus rental, Zanotti asked if officials would rather buy one of six school buses the district declared as surplus. The buses range in age from a 1996 model to a 2000 model.
Director of Operations Ron Martin said the district's used buses usually sell for between $1,200 and $2,000 at auction.
“Almost all of those buses when they are bought they are shipped south of the border,” he said.
For the price of the rental, Zanotti said the city could buy a bus. Battles said the suggestion was made to him on Tuesday, but city officials are not prepared to buy and maintain an older, high-mileage vehicle.
Johnson made a motion to decline the city's request, but it failed for lack of a second. Board member Chad Fulton made a motion to approve the request, with a second from Davis. Both Fulton and Davis voted in approval, and Johnson voted “nay,” leaving Zanotti to make the deciding vote. Board Clerk Amanda Strassle was absent.
“This is not a Mustang Public School event,” Zanotti said. “Certainly, there are children in the district ... This stinks that I have to make the deciding vote. That is not right. You know, I am going to vote 'nay.' So then we are at a standstill.”
With a tied vote, the motion fell to the wayside.
“We will work with them and visit with them and talk with them and see what we can do to help them,” Lightfoot told the board.