The fleet is in — the new fleet of Northampton Area School District buses, that is.

Brand-new school buses will be put into service on district roads, streets and highways for the Aug. 26 opening day of the 2024-25 academic year. The sides of each bus are emblazoned, for the first time in 50 years, with “Northampton Area School District.”

“I believe it’s the first time since the 1960s that the school buses have the Northampton Area School District lettering on them,” NASD Superintendent of Schools Joseph S. Kovalchik said during an Aug. 19 visit to the Beersville, Moore Township, bus facility.

The bus terminal is at West Beersville Road and Route 248, just east of Hokendauqua Creek, in the 97.3-square-mile school district.

“Beersville is the geographical center of the school district,” Kovalchik said.

On a typical school day, 4,200 NASD students are transported to and from schools in the district and 475 students outside the district. There are approximately 5,200 students enrolled in NASD.

The NASD Board of Education voted 8-0 at the May 13 meeting to approve a contract with Krise Transportation Inc., Punxsutawney, to provide transportation services for NASD, effective July 1-June 30, 2031.

Krise is providing approximately 56 full-size buses, 30 minibuses and vans and six minivans for use by NASD.

The contract with Krise is for $8.3 million for the first year. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation provides approximately 50% of the funding.

The full-size buses provide public transportation from bus stops to district schools and back, to and from away-game sports contests, for band performances and student field trips. Short buses, vans and minivans provide nonpublic transportation to and from charter schools, parochial schools and for students with special needs.

The full-size buses, powered by Cummins diesel engines, are manufactured by Navistar Inc., in Tulsa, Okla. The short buses are Chevrolets. The vans are Fords. The minivans are Chryslers.

In addition to the Beersville terminal, NASD buses are at a lot in Cherryville, Lehigh Township, and the NASD maintenance building, Northampton.

“Krise has terminals throughout Pennsylvania,” Wayne Prutzman, Krise operations manager, said.

Krise provides bus service to 41 school districts in the state.

Prutzman, a member of the Northampton Area High School Class of 1979, has been involved in district transportation for 48 years, including working for Leibensperger Transportation, Laidlaw Transportation and FirstStudent, the previous NASD school bus provider.

Full-size buses have two-way radios to district school buildings and the district office, four internal cameras and GPS.

“The company is using Transversa, a computer routing system,” Prutzman said.

The NASD supervisor of transportation is Sally Fredericks.

Make sure you stop when the bus red stop arm is extended for students to get on and off, as each vehicle is equipped with BusPatrol. BusPatrol uses cameras, cloud connectivity and a web platform to generate evidence for law enforcement. The penalty for a motorist who fails to stop for a school bus can result in a $300 fine.

Pennsylvania law, updated by Act 19 in 2023, allows school districts to install and operate automated camera systems to enforce Pennsylvania’s School Bus Stopping Law.

The National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services released data from its annual school bus driver stop-arm survey in July, stating there are an estimated 45.2 million illegal school bus passes each school year.

“The district collaborates with local law enforcement,” Kovalchik said.