Noxubee School District gets 24 new buses for the upcoming school year

NOXUBEE COUNTY, Miss.(WCBI) – Noxubee County School District has made a big investment when it comes to transportation by replacing all the old buses.

The school district said it’s necessary to provide the best for their students.

And one of the ways their students get to school is the bus system.

More than 1,200 students in Noxubee County will have to learn a new bus number for the upcoming school year.

That’s because the Noxubee County School District received an entirely new fleet of buses.

Interim Superintendent Rodriguez Broadnax said the new buses provide students a better opportunity to get to classes on time.

“Transportation is a huge key to student achievement because without good transportation we can’t get them to school to get the instruction that they need,” said Broadnax.

Broadnax said most of the old buses broke down constantly and needed continuous maintenance.

The school district contracted with Ecco Ride for 24 new buses at a cost of $1 million dollars.

Broadnax said the cost is no object when it comes to the safety of his students.

“Not having to really worry about are my students or my kids going to get to school safe or is the bus going to break down or the bus going to break down on the side of the road,”said Broadnax.

Director of Transportation Tedrick Liddell said the buses come fully equipped with all the bells and whistles.

“It’ll have GPS on them so we’ll know exactly where the bus is at and all buses got cameras on them,” said Liddell.

Liddell said there’s also audio, along with an emergency radio.

“Anytime a bus driver has a problem on the bus, they will be calling me and I’m going to take care of the situation,” said Liddell.

“There is a safety issue on a bus we can go back and review the cameras and see exactly what happened. It would help with student accountability and provide parents with the actual story of what happened,” said Broadnax.

Broadnax said this is all a part of his strategic plan to improving Noxubee County School District.

“It tells the community we still have work to do but we’re working for our students at the highest level we can. The kids are excited about riding and looking forward to getting on our new buses. I think that even the community is excited about seeing buses,” said Broadnax.

All maintenance and upkeep is provided by Ecco Ride, meaning the school district is now only responsible for fuel.