Re: Free School Bus?
Blaine S Nay (b.nay.scouts-l@JUNO.COM)
Thu, 29 Apr 1999 13:26:20 -0700
On Mon, 26 Apr 1999 11:26:49 -0500 The Watkins Family <watkins@MTCO.COM>
writes:
>Our troop has been offered a free school bus (as a charitable
>contribution to our
>sponsoring organization, of course), along with a promise of free
>maintenance (labor only, I am sure). The bus has til now been used as
>a "loaner" for school buses being repaired by the local business making
>the offer. We would tear out about half the seats storing/transporting
>gear. While this sounds tempting, I would very much appreciate the
>wisdom and experience of the list in the form of pros and cons of a
>school bus as troop transportation.
>
There's no such thing as a free lunch.
1 - The cost of ownership (maintenance, insurance, storage, etc) will far
exceed the budget of most scout units.
2 - I believe the driver(s) will need a commercial driver's license. You
better check with BSA guidelines.
3 - It removes the obligation for parents to be involved in
transportation. Parents need to be there. The boys need them there, The
unit needs them there. The loss of parental support on activities will
be your biggest expense.
My opinion: the gift isn't worth the paper it's written on. Avoid it
altogether or sell the bus to build up the unit bank account.
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Blaine Nay, NL7EL, Silverdale, WA, USA
http://nay.cjb.net/scouting.htm
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