Stockton School District Possibly Selling $2 Million In Unused School Buses
STOCKTON (CBS13) — The Stockton Unified School District is hoping to sell dozens of school buses it paid millions for, but never used.
The district spent $2 million on 31 new special education buses that have since sat idle. The district believed if they stopped contracting out the job, it could save nearly $700,000 a year. But now they're questioning that decision.
"We determined it would not be a savings," said district spokeswoman Dianne Barth. "In fact it would be a loss to the school district."
But Superintendent Steven Lowder says the district is still waiting on results of a study to determine if the bus buy was a waste.
"It's not a blame game this is about really being sure that the assumptions were correct in the fiscal proposal," he said.
While they wait, the district has taken the first step in possibly selling the buses.
Paul Barragan, the district's union representative, doesn't think the district will get its money back. Another concern, he says, is the district hired and started training drivers for the specific buses.
"The buses were brought with very clear intentions to increase workforce," he said. "It's not just a broken promise to workers, it's a broken promise to the community."
