The North Dickinson County School Board has authorized purchasing two new school buses for $172,674.

Zaremba Equipment Inc. of Gaylord, Mich., was selected to supply the 2022 model year, 77-passenger capacity IC buses at a cost of $86,337 each, to be delivered within 70 to 90 days.

Holland Bus Company of Holland, Mich., had bid $85,362 each for two Blue Bird Vision buses, but support services scored the IC models higher, especially on local service and previous warranty and quality experiences.

They will replace district buses that date back to 2007 and 2009, said Michael Roell, North Dickinson County’s finance and athletic director. They also give the district four gas-engine buses that run better in cold weather than diesel-fueled models.

The buses will be paid with revenue from a 1 mill levy, or $1 per $1,000 in taxable property value, that district voters renewed Aug. 4. The levy, first approved in 2016, generates about $300,000 over its three-year span.

The district, at just under 450 square miles among the largest in Michigan, now has eight buses to transport students over four routes plus handle athletic events. This should give the district four spares, Roell said.

North Dickinson County last added two buses in 2016.

The board Monday also designated a 2005 bus as surplus property and will have Darrell Oman, director of support services, dispose of it in whatever way best benefits the district. The bus has been used for salvage parts over the past year.

In other business, the board:

— Finalized terms for selling $300,000 in bonds, financed by the three-year, 1-mill levy that passed Aug. 4 for two new buses and technology upgrades. The bond sale is expected in early November, after bids are received on interest rates, Roell said.

— Heard the state cut $175 per pupil from the last aid payment in August, for a total deduction of $44,423.75, even though Michigan officials earlier had said the school districts would be funded as usual through the COVID-19 shutdown. “This is going to be a direct hit to our general fund that was not accounted for” in the final budget set in June, Roell said.

— Updated the North Dickinson County High School 2020-2021 course catalog to reflect that all courses can be taught in-person and virtually. The district added a creative writing class as well.

— Set a finance committee meeting on expenditure reductions for 6 p.m. Oct. 21, to stay on top of any further state funding cuts the district might face.