The North Sanpete School District’s bus fleet is growing faster than its infrastructure can handle. With ridership climbing and a 30-year-old maintenance facility struggling to keep pace, district leaders face significant investments to keep students safe on the road.

Approximately 1,300 to 1,400 students (about 51 percent of the district’s roughly 2,700 students) ride district buses daily. That’s up from just last year, with about 55 additional students boarding buses each year as families move into the county outside walking distance of schools.

“We keep getting new buses, but they end up being used for new routes,” Superintendent O’Dee Hansen explains.

The fleet now includes 21 regular routes, four activity buses, and three spares: 28 buses total, soon to be 30 when two new vehicles arrive this month.

But six of the existing buses have logged over 200,000 miles, with three expected to exceed 250,000 miles by year’s end. Last year alone, school district buses covered nearly 333,000 miles.

Replacing aging buses is expensive. A new bus now costs approximately $164,000, and the district’s current replacement cycle of one bus one year and two the next isn’t keeping pace with the aging fleet and increased transportation demand.

“We’re probably going to have to step that up a little bit because we’re not keeping up,” Hansen acknowledges.

Over the years, the North Sanpete district has saved a lot of money by hiring its own mechanics to maintain and repair buses and other district vehicles rather than jobbing out the work. But now, that fact poses an even bigger challenge than keeping up with bus purchases.

Built roughly 30 years ago when the district operated 10 to 15 buses, the maintenance garage has the same square footage and the same lift it started with, even as the fleet has nearly doubled.

The lift, used to elevate buses for maintenance, has become a safety concern so district mechanics have stopped using it.
“It’s time to get it replaced,” Hansen says. A new heavy-duty lift capable of servicing buses costs approximately $301,000 and would require running special power to the building.

Currently, mechanics use mobile lifts that require raising vehicles, setting them on stilts, then removing the lift equipment before work can begin. The process takes roughly three times longer than using a proper in-ground system.

The district is eyeing a longer-term solution: a new four-bay maintenance facility with offices and modern equipment.

A preliminary estimate puts just the metal building and insulation at $360,000, but that’s before foundation work, utilities, tools or additional lifts. “You’re well over a million for the whole project,” Hansen estimated.

The district saved approximately $360,000 on capital projects last year and may be able to amend its budget to purchase a new lift in 2026.
But the timeline for the full facility remains uncertain. The district is starting to identify a site and gather estimates but doesn’t yet have a funding plan.

School buses and maintenance of school buses are not optional expenses. When residents get their property tax bills and note that the highest item on the bill is their school district, they would do well to remember the North Sanpete school bus predicament.

We support the North Sanpete District in its quest to meet its school bus and bus maintenance needs. It all boils down to something more fundamental, such as getting students to school and home again safely.