The Okaloosa County School Board needs money. Aside from money, the bus fleet is aging giving the district yet another need. While the fleet maintenance team does a great job at keeping those buses running, the fact is that many are really old with no seatbelts or air conditioning.

We have been getting buses from Escambia County as they continue to replace their buses. So what we have basically been doing is replacing our old-old buses with their old-er buses.

Escambia School Board recently agreed to donate 30 of their old buses to Okaloosa County. This is the second time that Escambia has donated buses.

With the addition of the “newer” buses, our oldest bus will now be a 2001 model and all buses will have seatbelts. 8 of the donated buses will have air conditioning. Three of those buses are the regular fleet and five buses are for special needs.

The school district hopes to get the buses over to Okaloosa County during the December timeframe, possibly after the Holidays when they have a chance to get them cleaned up and outfitted with cameras and radios.

Image via Okaloosa School Board