Skip to content

Ava School Board To Hold Special Meeting Aug. 8

By Sue Curry Jones

On Monday, July 25, the Ava R-I School Board issued transportation contracts to 17 bus route owners who are striving to retain student busing responsibilities with the district for the 2016-17 school year.  Each route owner was given a contract agree-ment tailored to reflect details of their route or routes, with a breakdown of total mileage, mileage for paved and dirt rates, and other specifications.

The contracts were to be signed and returned to school administrators by Thursday, July 28, which was the deadline for accepting or rejecting the newly revised agreements. The new documents, written by Attorney Karen Bates Crouch, were approved by the board in a majority vote during the July 21 meeting.

According to Superintendent Dr. Nancy Lawler, 15 of the 17 contract agreements have been endorsed and returned to the board for acceptance.

On Wednesday, Lawler said the school board’s recent Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for bus drivers garnered only one applicant, but the administration has three additional candidates on file from a previous RFQ notice.

The school board meets again on Monday, August 8, at 6:30 p.m. to continue with this process, as well as review new applicants since two bus routes remain open and unfilled.