The Knoxville School Board approved the purchase of a new SUV for the transportation department at their meeting on Monday.

The board approved the purchase of a 2024 Chevrolet Suburban from Deyarman Automotive of Knoxville for just under $57,000. School Business Manager Craig Mobley says they were overdue for an upgrade.

“The vehicle that we will be replacing is actually a 2007 suburban and when we purchased that we purchased it used. It’s just time to replace that. It’s getting harder and harder to pass our inspections due to the small areas of rust on that vehicle. It’s time to get that replaced. It’s on our five year schedule. It was planned so we will get a new suburban and get rolling with it.”

The district received two total bids.