PEORIA, Ill. – Peoria Public Schools have freed up $1.25 million to help pay for new school buses.
The school board Monday night voted unanimously to transfer the funds from working cash into the transportation fund, which is currently running in a deficit, according to the district’s chief financial officer.
Initially, PPS planned to transfer $3 million, but the school board tabled the idea back in January, and administrators came back with a more streamlined plan.
Next school year, PPS faces having to add eight new bus routes to accommodate the use of two buildings at the shuttered Quest Charter Academy.
On any given day, PPS will be short six to 14 buses, according to a district transportation staffer. “We really need those vehicles,” he told 25 News.
PPS Board President Paris McConell and board member Christina Rose each said they take very seriously the removal of money from the district’s savings.
The resolution adopted by the school board requires the working cash fund to be reimbursed if the transportation fund becomes solvent again.
The PPS CFO Mick Willis said underfunding by the state is one of the reasons that the district’s transportation fund is running in the red.
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