Three new school buses now doing the rounds

Of the eight new school buses due the Public School System this month, three have been delivered and are in fact already ferrying students to and from their schools on Saipan.

PSS associate commissioner David M. Borja said the three 66-passenger capacity school buses are now operating on Saipan, servicing students from as far away as Kagman.

He also said that, since these school buses are new, they have more power to go up the winding road of Capitol Hill down to the Kagman area.

A total of six school buses would go to Saipan schools, while Rota and Tinian will get one each. Borja said the five other school buses will be arriving next week.

The suppliers for the new school buses are Triple J Motors and MidPac Micronesia. Triple J will be providing Blue Birds buses, while MidPac will be supplying Thomas Built buses.

Borja said he is satisfied that public school students are now following the new school bus rules and policies. He said he is also pleased that school bus drivers are now doing a better job in imposing these rules.

He, however, admitted that he is bracing himself for news of students tearing the interior of school buses once again.

When the school started this year, the PSS appealed directly to parents of schoolchildren to help keep school buses clean and orderly by impressing upon their children the need to respect public property.

Letters were given out to parents informing them of the PSS’ bus rider policy and rules. The letters, though not new to parents, were distributed through school principals. Borja earlier said it is a public law that mandates free education and transportation to schools for children between 6 and 16 year old, but when a child damages government property (such as school buses), the children and the parents or guardians would be held responsible for its repair.

The PSS also received new 22 10-passenger capacity vans this school year. Of the passenger vans bidded out since last year, 21 have been delivered to Saipan in August.

Four vans were assigned to schools on Saipan, while two were delivered to Rota and one van to Tinian. All 14 vans from the second bidding were delivered to PSS. Borja said 12 of them were assigned to Saipan schools, while Rota and Tinian received one van each. The purchases of the buses all came from last school year’s Federal funding allocation.