SHERBURNE – Already considering next year’s budget, the Sherburne-Earlville Board of Education is mulling over a few options for the future, such as the replacement the school’s fleet of buses with new ones, and the purchase of 600 to 900 new iPads to take the place of aging laptops.

Last week, during a presentation given by the school’s head bus driver, Michael Sweeney, the board was informed of three options open to the school district to replace or overhaul its transportation fleet.

“New buses are safer and more fuel efficient,” said Sweeney, estimating that because the school’s current buses get an average of 8.4 miles per gallon and new buses can eke out 11 miles for every gallon of fuel, the school district would save $1,670 annually in fuel costs per new bus.

The school board has been presented with three options, to either trade in the buses and lease new ones for five years before buying them, to lease new buses without trading in the old ones, or to simply trade in the current fleet and purchase a new one.

By trading in the current buses and leasing new ones, it is estimated the school would save $400,000 in fuel costs over the five year lease period. At the end of the lease period, state aid equivalent to the money saved by the district could be used by the school as a down payment for the purchase of the buses.