School board member asks: Does WCPS need so many cars
By Steve Herring
Published in News on March 9, 2015 1:46 PM
A member of the Wayne County Board of Education is questioning why the school district has so many cars in its lot -- and school officials are going to take a look to see why.
The "sheer volume" of cars parked at the Wayne County Public Schools Central Office is a good sign that employees aren't out just riding the roads, but at the same time it raises concerns that the system has too many vehicles, School Board Chairman Chris West said.
West brought up the issue during a recently called meeting on another matter.
Some of the vehicles are driver's education cars, Interim Superintendent Dr. Sandra McCullen said.
"We did look at it and did ask Mr. Robert Lee (transportation director) to get an inventory together," she said. "The (school's) department of transportation will be organizing those now and maintaining all of the fleet."
West asked how many driver's education cars are kept at the Central Office building.
"At any given time you can come by here and count six, seven, eight, nine cars with permanent tags on them," West said.
Six of the cars are part of the contracts that the system has with some of its employees to provide vehicles, Mrs. McCullen said.
"I have heard from some of you that you drive your own personal car and don't take the car that is assigned to you," West said.
Dr. Marvin McCoy, assistant superintendent for human resources, said that it was a "mixed bag," since sometimes it makes more sense to drive to a location straight from home instead of driving to the Central Office to get a car and then backtracking.
McCoy said in those cases that he does not charge mileage even though he agreed with West that he could.
West remained concerned about the cars just "sitting out there."
"If you are using the vehicle fine," West said. "But if the car is just sitting out there -- this is all about trying to save the school system and taxpayers money."
West said some people had told him they did not "feel safe" driving the cars assigned to them because of the vehicle's poor mechanical condition.
"So if it is just sitting out there and is on our books, and you are driving your personal car and getting mileage, do we need the expense of that car just sitting over there?" he asked.
The curriculum and instructions department has only one car, said Allison Pridgen, executive director for administrative services. In some cases, people in that department use her assigned car, she said.
Also, other employees use the cars to attend conferences, and sometimes they car pool so that only one car is used, Mrs. McCullen said.
"So they are used for a variety of reasons, the ones that are here," she said.
"They may be a necessity," West said. "I don't know. I just know that I come by here, like everybody else does, and there's always four or five at least, and sometimes more than that, of county vehicles sitting over here.
"If we don't use them, I guess that is a good indication we just don't ride the roads, which is good. But if we have a car out there that is in bad repair, and you are afraid to get in it and go to Bojangles, then we don't need that car. If you don't feel safe driving them, we don't need that expense on our books."
Those cars are "slowly" being put on sale based on recommendations from mechanics in the transportation department, Mrs. McCullen said.
The system has a procedure for eliminating those vehicles from the fleet, she said.
Board member Arnold Flowers said he had suggested in the past that the cars be sold on govdeals.com. The county has done that in the past, but the results had not been very successful, Mrs. McCullen said.
"I look at govdeals pretty often, and since I have been on the board of education, I have never seen anything from Wayne County Public Schools sold on govdeals," Flowers said.
It is a good way to sell items because it provides a broader base than a local auction, he said.
"You need to investigate that," he said.
West asked if driver's education cars are assigned to Central Office staff when they are no longer used for that program.
The county can purchase those cars after a certain period of time, finance officer Beverly Boltinhouse said. She said she could not recall the specific timetable.
"For it to come out of driver's ed funding that is a big expense to come out of there," West said. "Those cars get assigned to the Central Office, but does that money ever go back to driver's ed at some minimal amount or fair market value?
"We are transferring the cars to the Central Office, does central office pay back driver's ed for them?"
Mrs. Boltinhouse said she believes that by the time the vehicles are transferred that their value is minimal.
The cars are purchased for the district, not transferred to the Central Office, McCoy said.
However, McCoy said he is unfamiliar with the money transfer process, but that the money goes back to the driver's education program.