5 New Buses Part Of Centennial Capital Plan

WARMINSTER, PA —Five new buses.

It's what the Centennial School District administration has recommended should be purchased for the upcoming 2023-2024 school year.

At its recent meeting, the school board adopted a capital reserve fund budget that calls for upgrades to some facilities, the purchase of school buses, and some technology tweaks.

The costs tally up to about $2.5 million with $500,000 allocated toward buying five new school buses. The budget was approved 8-1.

"We bought no buses last year," said Tom Greenwood, the district's chief financial officer, who presented the capital reserve fund plan to the school board at its May 8 meeting.

Before the vote, School Board President Jane Lynch asked whether the board had to approve adding five buses and would the capital reserve fund be less if three buses were approved, she said as an example.

"The money is already there, it's really just how you use it," Schools Superintendent Dana Bedden told Lynch. "If don't buy any buses, the money will stay there. It's already there."

Greenwood said that capital items would first come to the board.

"As projects are developed and pricing is secured, they will be presented individually to the board for approval," he said. "The list could change as needs arise throughout the year."

Projects include the paving of the William Tennent High School student lot and the transportation lot at $605,000 and a "refresh" of a classroom and the library for $306,000.

Under technology, $100,000 is allocated for an auditorium projector and screens and $50,000 for a new projector at William Tennent High School.

During his presentation, Greenwood said that the operations committee reviewed multiple projects for consideration over the past few months. He said that while not many have been endorsed by all members, the committee did vote in favor of bringing forward the capital plan for approval by the board in a 2-1 vote.

He said that the plan was moved forward due to delays experienced in ordering equipment and scheduling work to ensure that the projects approved for the summer could be completed.

The school board is expected to vote on the final 2023-2024 school budget at its June 27 meeting.

The proposed final budget was approved by the school board on April 25, one day before the state's deadline.