Boyceville buys school district’s first propane bus

By LeAnn R. Ralph

BOYCEVILLE  —  The Boyceville Board of Education has approved purchasing the school district’s first propane bus for $93,215 and has accepted a grant for $23,303 to offset the cost of the bus.

School district officials had considered buying a new bus last spring, but because of uncertainty about the state budget and education funding, had decided to put off the purchase, said Kevin Sipple, school superintendent, at the Boyceville Board of Education’s November 16 meeting.

The grant for $23,303 was awarded by the Wisconsin Clean Diesel Grant program through the state Department of Natural Resources.

Sipple said he had talked to Bill Yingst, superintendent in the Colfax school district, about the propane buses.

Yingst said Colfax had purchased three new propane buses several years ago, and if the school district had the money would purchase an additional eight propane buses.

The propane buses are exceptionally quiet, Sipple said.

The Boyceville Board of Education unanimously approved purchasing the 71-passenger 2017 Blue Bird Propane Vision bus.

The school district is expecting to take possession of the bus in February.

Pete Score, school board member, wondered why the bus would be a 2017 model when it is being purchased in 2015.

The answer is that the model year of buses are two years in advance. No one seemed to know why bus companies do the model years this way.

Other business 

In other business, the Boyceville Board of Education:

• Learned from Nick Kaiser, principal at Tiffany Creek elementary, that 62 chairs had been set up for the Veterans Day program on November 11 but that more veterans attended the program, prompting school district employees to find more chairs.

• Approved hiring Jordan Anderson as the middle school wrestling coach.

• Accepted the resignation of Joan Klassen as the head girls varsity track and field coach. Klassen has been coaching for more than 20 years. In her letter of resignation, Klassen said because of recent health concerns, she believes it is time for her to step down “This has not been an easy decision for me, since I am still very passionate about the sport and the athletes that I coach,” she wrote.

• Approved hiring Debbie Mittlestadt as a food service worker.

• Learned that there will be no work session in December and that the regular monthly Board of Education meeting will be on December 7.