YULEE, Fla. – A Florida school district is hoping to recoup money spent on five large passenger buses it bought for after school activities after state officials pointed out they don’t meet safety laws.

“It should have been caught by me but it wasn’t,” Nassau County School District transportation director David Buchanan told First Coast News.

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“As soon as they brought it to our attention we took them out of service for our students’ safety,” Superintendent John Ruis said.

District officials purchased the 12-seat passenger vans for $26,000 each to usher students to after-school activities, but the Florida Department of Education sent officials a letter Oct. 27 pointing out that they’re illegal.

In bold, underlined text, state officials wrote that the buses purchased by the district are prohibited from transporting “more than ten persons, including the driver … There are no exceptions,” Action News Jax reports.

“On Tuesday, an Action News Jax viewer sent us a picture he said was taken Sunday, showing the four vans parked in front of the transportation office for the district. But after our requests for information from the district Wednesday, we showed up and the buses were no longer parked in the front. They were moved all the way to the back,” according to the news site.

“We, I, was under the impression, mistakenly evidently, that the threshold was 15 passengers,” Buchanan said in an email to Action News Jax.

“Buchanan is also the mayor of Hilliard and didn’t return our calls or answer his door Wednesday. None of the school leaders wanted to comment about the mix up. The superintendent declined and only one school board member answered our calls, saying no comment,” the site reports.

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Buchanan told First Coast News the district purchased the vehicles through a sheriff’s vehicle bid process. Four of them are now up for auction, with bids starting at $20,000, while the fifth was sold to the district’s food service department.

“We expect to recoup most of our money, if not all of it,” Ruis said.

Several online commenters questioned why district officials don’t instead opt for the more obvious solution.

“Um, why not just limit ridership to 10, or take out a row of seats?” John Lyndon posted. “Problem solved. Buchanan should pay for his mistake … bet he won’t make another.”

“Take out the last seat,” Frank Dimorier concurred. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out how to fix it.”

Others simply made light of the districts haphazard spending.

“That awkward moment you forgot to check the rules before wasting money,” Andrew McDonald wrote on Facebook.