Board installs new member, approves bus contract

It was a night of new beginnings Monday for the Libby School Board as trustees were installed and the district approved a new five-year bus contract with Harlow School Bus Service, Inc., of Montana. 

Board member incumbents Bruce Sickler and Ellen Johnston resumed their postions on the board and the panel welcomed new member Melissa LaGoy into the fold.

LaGoy fills the position vacated by Lee Disney, who has not sought re-election.

The newly installed members will serve for three years.

The board also approved a five-year contract extension to Harlow’s, the agency with which the district contracts for bus service.

The contract resumes the agreement with Harlow’s with a six percent increase during the span of the contract.

Libby Superintendent K.W. Maki called the contract extension a good deal for the district.

“They’ve done an excellent job,” Maki said. “They follow the school rules for behavior problems, they’re forward thinking in combining or eliminating routes. We feel like it is a good agreement for us,” Maki said. “There are provisions for fuel costs. Fuels goes up we pay more. It comes down, we pay less.”

The superintendent said the district could not afford to manage buses on its own.

District 4 students travel to and from school on 16 buses for a total of 941 daily miles. Two other buses, Harlow owner Jeremy Hageness explained, are for activities.

Hageness, who has children in the Libby District, employs 27 people from the Libby office, which also serves 19 other locations.

Among those staffers there are 18 bus drivers, four mechanics and additional office and administrative staff.

The new contact begins with the start of the 2012-’13 school year and is worth $608,074 annually, or about $60,807.40 monthly.

The contact also allows for the purchase of new buses.

“We have purchased five new buses in the last three years,” Hageness said. “That’s two buses in 2012, two in 2011 and one in 2010. The actual lifespan of a bus is about 12 years.”

In other action, ...:

• The board agreed to let bids for the high school boilers;

• Agreed to consider requests to waive age requirement for three kindergarten students.