Bus-riding students in the Lower Kuskokwim School District will have to find new ways to get to school for August and most of September. LKSD parted ways with Golden Eagle, a Bethel-based company which owned the bus fleet and serviced the school district for years. The school district has decided to buy its own school buses.
“It’s really just a business decision that the LKSD board made,” said Daniel Walker, LKSD’s Superintendent.
Walker said that the board couldn’t come to terms on a new contract with the company.
“Like everybody else in the state with tight budgets, we need to find ways to save money,” Walker said.
Walker wouldn’t give more details about the contract dispute, but he said the cost of the new fleet is roughly $600,000, or about $100,000 per 65-passenger bus. Ed Pekar, the former principal of Bethel Regional High School, will oversee the bus fleet in his position as LKSD’s Director of Operations.
Walker said that parents will have options to help get their kids to school. Those options include cab vouchers or money to offset the cost of driving them to school. Walker did not give more details about additional options, including whether or not the cab vouchers would be for all taxi companies within the school district or just one.
Walker says that the district should have more details for parents by this week. In the meantime, he advises parents to call their local schools to discuss ways to get the kids to school on time.