JAY – The School Committee voted 4-1 to buy a new school bus in a five-year lease-purchase agreement.

Judy Diaz opposed the move, saying the committee should vote on whether to go to a one-bus run system next year before making a decision on buying a new bus.

The board postponed taking action Thursday on the latter for students in grades kindergarten through grade 12 until the March 5 meeting.

Superintendent Robert Wall gave a presentation, which is included in the budget package for fiscal 2009-10, to run transportation services more efficiently.

Committee members voted against the idea in 2005 and withdrew it from cost savings in a proposed 2007 budget package.

Currently, seven buses do a combined 28 regular runs per day. There is also one bus each on vocational and special education runs.

If the system went to a single-run, there would be nine buses on 18 regular runs per day, Wall said, and two small buses for vocational and special education runs.

The existing fleet consists of buses ranging in age from 1998 to 2009 with 3,839 miles to 158,080 miles on them.

Two smaller ones are a 2004 and a 2002 , with 46,188 miles and 67,668 miles.

Two spares, a 1994 and 1993, have 177,711 miles and 187,450 miles.

School officials have done what they could to maximize efficiency, Wall said, and that has resulted in fewer runs and miles traveled since 2005.

From July 2, 2007, to June 30, 2008, buses traveled 107,697 miles, which is 25,539 miles less than 2005, he said.

There are also more students riding buses to school, Wall said. Sixty-six percent of students rode buses in 2004-2005, and 85 percent are riding this year, he said.

If a one-bus run system was implemented, he projected significant fuel savings.

Other considerations are having a uniform start and end for the school day at all levels and restructuring of staff, he said.

The high and middle school buses are pretty full, Wall said, but the elementary school buses are not.

It is projected that student numbers on buses will be at or below the numbers with two runs.

“We have to assign a seat to everyone whether they’re on the bus or not,” Wall said.

Other items that need to be taken into account, he said, are what to do about a late bus and prekindergarten student transportation.

Jay received permission from the state to buy two buses this year but has only bought one, he said. A lease-purchase agreement would be for five years with the first payment already included in the current year’s budget at $15,500. But fuel cost savings this year will cover that payment, he said. The payment for the bus would decrease in subsequent years.

Concerns raised included early morning programs for elementary students, needing another bus when enrollment is declining and the possibility of using the lease money to save an educational program.

Buying the new bus now would allow school officials to put a foundation for cost savings in place for the future, Wall said.