A new, 84-passenger school bus will soon be joining the fleet at Webster City Schools, following action taken by the school board Monday night.

Superintendent Mike Sherwood said just one bus bid was received from School Bus Sales of Waterloo. The cost for the bus is $98, 373. Sherwood said it has been three years without a bus purchase for the district.

“We’ll have the 84-passenger bus this year and then next year, we’ll need a mini bus,” he said. “That should get us back in the rotation.”

The new bus will become part of the fleet as an activity bus and will be worked into the system as route bus as new vehicles are added to the fleet.

“Can we check on the WiFi option?” asked Board member Juli Jaycox. The option of having wireless internet on buses was broached at meetings in past years.

“Especially for those long trips to sporting events,” she said. “That would be a nice feature depending on the cost.”

The board members present reviewed the Legislative priorities and selected their choices from the 30-some items provided. The board agreed upon the following five: School funding policy, state penny sales tax, supplemental state aid, special education and sharing and reorganization. The priorities will be forwarded on to the Iowa Association of School Boards.

The board also discussed possible work sessions for the coming school year. Topics selected included an overview of facilities, school finance refresher, the teacher leadership compensation program, technology and student achievement. The board members also requested presentations on the regional academy, the Student Voices teams as well as programs on each of the district’s buildings.

Sherwood reported that there are a few summer projects underway at school buildings. He said abatement of asbestos tiles in the high school band room the art room and hallway are scheduled for the end of the month. He added that Room 109 at the high school, which was used as a computer lab, is being divided into two special education rooms. He added that there are a couple drainage tile projects near the soccer field and at Pleasant View.

“This is kind of a catchup summer for us,” he said.

In other business, the board approved the annual 28E agreement with Iowa Central Community College for all of the dual courses offered through the high school and the regional academy.

The board also requested that Sherwood set up a presentation with Matt Gillespie of Piper Jaffrey on possible refinancing of bonds. Sherwood said Gillespie could probably also talk about the state penny tax.