Colchester, IL – One western Illinois school district took advantage of the federal government's cash for clunkers program. West Prairie Superintendent Jonathan Heerboth says the district traded in a "classic" 1987 Pontiac station wagon.
Heerboth says the district bought a new Ford Focus. "It will serve our needs very well for special ed transportation with very few students and maybe down the line a drivers ed car," Heerboth says.
"We had a school bus that came off a lease so we are one vehicle down, in terms of making payments, this year from last year," says Heerboth. "We also have a need for a vehicle to do a very long special education run each day. The most efficient way to do that is with an automobile."
Heerboth says the special ed route is 200 miles each day. He says the Ford Focus is a good vehicle for that route because it's more fuel efficient. "The miles add up fast," says Heerboth. "You want to have reliability and safety, but you also want to have economy."
Heerboth says the district paid roughly $11,000 for the new car. "We got another rebate and a discount on top of that," Heerboth says.