Parent Teacher Magazine Union County Public Schools Nov/Dec 2016 | Page 5

Why is this bond needed? 80s-built transportation facility does not meet state standards

The year is 1980. Jimmy Carter
is the 39th president of the United
States. Star Wars Episode V: The
Empire Strikes Back is released in
theaters, while Pink Floyd, David
Bowie and KC and The Sunshine
Band are all the rage. Gas cost $1.19
a gallon, and the average cost of a
new home is $68,700. That’s okay
because the average yearly income in
1980 is only $19,500.
That same year, Union County has
five high schools, five middle schools
and 10 elementary schools, totaling
about 12,000 students.
This is also the year the then
Union County Schools built the
transportation garage.
Today, UCPS has 53 schools and
about 42,000 students. The transportation facility, however, remains
the same.
“We’ve tremendously outgrown this facility,” said Transportation
Director Marlon Watson. “With limited space, it’s hard to adequately
get in there and service the buses. ”
A new $12 million transportation facility is on the Nov. 8 bond
referendum, part of the total $54 million in school bonds being put
before voters.
If the bond passes, construction of the new 50,723 squarefootage transportation facility is slated to be built on Gold Mine Road,
on land currently owned by the school system. It is designed for 16
bays, has parts and storage areas, secure parking, and will have
office space and bathroom that are ADA compliant.
This isn’t the first time school officials have voiced a need for a
new transportation facility. Historically, however, that need has been
set aside to build and/or repair schools.
Now that need has become critical. There are currently 412
school buses being maintained by about 22 mechanics. The 36-yearold transportation garage has only six bays, less than half of what is
recommended by the Department of Public Instruction for a school
system the size of UCPS.
The limited space forces mechanics to work on the buses outside
on the gravel parking lot behind the building.
There are 14 additional mechanics who work in the field, assigned
to schools. When repairs merit bringing a bus into the garage, limited
space often forces the route mechanics to do the repairs in the
parking lots at their schools.
“A new transportation facility would give us more room to work on
things instead of working outside all the time,” said Kenny Stewart,
a route mechanic. “We can do the smaller stuff in the field, but the
major stuff, it would be nice to be able to bring it in the shop and
have room to do it instead of working outside in 100-degree weather.”
Inside the garage, the mechanics who are working on buses
have to maneuver around the clutter of tools placed on tables or the
ground between the buses due to lack of storage space.
Bus parts are stored in several locations around the
transportation facility, but none of the storage rooms are close to
each other. “It just reduces your productivity when you have to go
from one location to another to find the parts you’re looking for,”
Watson said.
When a bus’ transmission needs work, the low ceilings of the
garage prevent the mechanics from raising the buses, meaning they

have to work on their backs under the
bus. Dockery said this makes the job
much more difficult.
The facility also needs larger diesel
and fuel storage tanks. “We can’t buy
but so many gallons per week because
of the small size of the storage tanks
that we have,” Watson said. “We have
to order it more frequently because we
don’t have the space to store it.”
The problem