MEDINA, Ohio — The Medina-Gazette reports that Medina City School District officials parked a bus outside Medina High School before a city school board meeting took place on Monday so board members and the public could see the corrosion that has rendered many of the district’s buses irreparable.

Although the 14-year-old bus appeared intact from the outside, rust has eaten all the way through parts of the floor, leaving gaping holes. Transportation department workers had removed most of the seats and the upper wooden and rubber layers of the floor of Bus #12, a 2001 model, so that the damage was visible, Sun News reports.

Rob Travis, manager of the district’s transportation department, attributed most of the damage to brine and salt from the roads during the winter, according to The Medina-Gazette.

The Medina-Gazette also reports that the board approved spending $1,188,785 to buy 15 new school buses from Cardinal Bus Sales Inc., and approved soliciting bids for the purchase of two additional school buses equipped to transport district students with special needs.

The district normally replaces buses on a 12-year cycle, but there are currently a number of older vehicles in the fleet because of cuts to the bus transportation program after past levy failures, according to Sun News. After voters approved a 5.9-mill, five-year emergency levy in November, full bus service will be restored for the coming school year.

To read the full story in The Medina-Gazette, click here.

To read the full story in Sun News, click here.