City Schools of Decatur Gets New Bus Fleet

City Schools of Decatur

Students in the City Schools of Decatur headed back to school Thursday. Some made the trip in the district’s brand new school buses.

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Before this year, the district contracted with the DeKalb County schools to lease their buses.  But this year, district spokesperson Courtney Burnett says the City Schools of Decatur has a fleet of 19 buses of their own.

“We had a transportation committee, where parents were on the committee along with staff members, our transportation director, and other staff members,” Burnett says. “So, this actually came out of that committee.”

Burnett says the cost was about the same as contracting, so the move made sense. She says for the first time, the district also employs its own bus drivers.

“We’re just really excited,” she says. “It’s been really cool to see our buses drive down the streets with ‘City Schools of Decatur’ on the side and to see everybody, the excitement around it and to have our bus drivers as our own now.”

Burnett says about ¼ of the district’s students ride the new buses to school. Most of the other kids live close enough to walk.