CONWAY, SC (WBTW) – Some Horry County School Board members wanted to see age data of district school buses after ongoing conversations in Columbia about 20-year-old school buses throughout South Carolina.
Numbers released Monday afternoon show about 14% of state-owned buses used in Horry County are 30-years-old but 60% are 10-years-old or younger. You can see the full breakdown of ages below:
In January, state lawmakers restored millions in dollars in funding to revamp South Carolina’s aging school bus fleet.
Horry County Schools Superintendent Dr. Rick Maxey said he recently spoke with State Superintendent Molly Spearman about bus funding. Maxey said Spearman will get more buses for the upcoming year but it’s unclear if any will go to Horry County.
Breaking down the numbers
According to this document provided by staff, Horry County Schools has 315 state-owned buses covering all nine attendance areas. Of course 315:
- 45 buses are 30 years old
- 6 buses are 28 years old
- 15 buses are 15 years old or more
- 58 buses are 15 years old
- 95 buses are 10 years old
- 96 buses are under 10 years old
Horry County Schools current owns 81 of its own buses. Of those 81:
- 50 buses that are on daily routes are 3 years old or younger
- 10 spare buses which we use as needed when a route bus is in the shop; 8 of which are 21 years old and 2 are 24 years old or older
- 5 buses that are 18 years old or younger are used at the shop for miscellaneous purposes such as training
- 16 buses are 29 years old or older that are currently out of commission are used for parts to repair other buses. These buses will be placed on GovDeals.com at some point.