Tumwater School District will auction three of its buses

Beginning Thursday, the Tumwater School District is holding an auction for three of its retiring school buses.

But don’t get your hopes up too high for that dream, homemade RV or ultimate tailgating rig: Holes were drilled into the engine blocks for two of the vehicles, as part of an agreement with the state Department of Ecology.

“We got a little incentive to take those buses off the road, and we have to show that they won’t be driven anymore,” said Allen Jones, director of financial resources for Tumwater School District.

The district received a $25,000 Clean Diesel Grant from the state, and the money was already put toward the purchase of newer, more efficient school buses, he said.

Two of the buses are 1989, 71-passenger Blue Bird buses; one has about 322,000 miles, the other has about 218,000 miles. The third bus is a 66-passenger, 1995 Blue Bird with about 215,000 miles. One of the older buses is still drivable.

Proceeds of the sale, which will take place online at www.publicsurplus.com, will go toward the district’s transportation vehicle fund, Jones said. Past operating surplus buses have sold for between $2,000 and $5,000, he added.

Jones said he doesn’t know how much the decommissioned school buses might go for, and noted that the buyer will need to sign an agreement that the vehicles will remain off the road, due to pollution concerns.

“They still have residual value as scrap,” he said.