Student, father fix training bus, save district up to $9K
Zach D’Souza, 15, and his father, Henry D’Souza, repair Buster the School Bus for Poway (Calif.) Unified School District. The bus is more than a dozen years old and has not been used for the last several years because it was broken.
POWAY, Calif. — Pomerado News reports that Zach D’Souza, 15, and his father, Henry D’Souza, potentially saved the Poway Unified School District approximately $8,000 to $9,000 by volunteering their time to repair Buster the School Bus.
Brad Kirby, a driver instructor in Poway Unified’s transportation safety and training department, told the paper that next school year, the district will be able to use Buster when conducting evacuation drills with students from elementary through high school as required by the state.
District officials looked into having the robotic bus fixed, but it was too expensive, as was buying a new bus that costs $8,000 to $9,000.
Poway's Buster the School Bus is more than a dozen years old and has not been used for the last several years because it was broken. It was originally owned by the California Association of School Transportation Officials Chapter 13, which serves San Diego and Imperial counties. It was used throughout the area for school and community events, such as the county fair.
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