A public hearing for a new school bus for the Mid-Prairie School District will be held Monday.

At the recent school board meeting, Transportation Director Teresa Hartley gave a presentation to highlight the need for a new bus with a wheelchair lift. Mid-Prairie has one mini-bus with a lift and space for one wheelchair in their current fleet. Hartley informed the board that the district has five students who use wheelchairs. Hartley says in addition to the wear and tear the mini-bus receives from being used for the five students, it’s also created some scheduling conflicts, “We have a senior trip day, we also have the second grade field trip that needs to go out. And we had to choose what kid should get that bus, which is a really hard decision to make.”

The estimated cost is about $120,000. The board supported the proposal and wants to move forward with the purchase. The next step is to hold a public hearing to pass the specifications, which is scheduled for Monday’s school board meeting at 7:15 p.m. in the Central Office Community Room.