Clean School Bus Grant Stories
The following are testimonials submitted by schools that participated in the 2005 cycle for the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean School Bus USA grant program.
Boulder Valley School District, CO
Grant requested: $186,669.00. Grant given: $0.
"Boulder Valley School District RE-2 is comprised of 500 square miles which encompasses a major portion of Boulder County and a small portion of Gilpin County, Colorado. The District's Transportation Department maintains a fleet of 229 buses which are operated from three separate bus terminals.
In the summer of 2003, the District's Transportation Department applied for a Clean School Bus USA grant in the amount of $440,000 to fund the incremental cost of purchasing Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) powered school buses. The District instigated a CNG bus program in 2000 through purchase of eight CNG buses. The incremental cost of the purchase of these CNG buses was funded through a grant from the State of Colorado. The District has not been able to continue the CNG program due to lack of funding for the additional cost of CNG buses. The use of district funds to continue the CNG program would impact the amount of funds directly applicable to the education of the students. The District was unsuccessful in it's application for this 2003 Clean School Bus Grant, however, the District did participate in a group application at this same time for a Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) grant through the Regional Air Quality Council (RAQC) of Denver and was successful in receiving over $90,000 for retrofits of Diesel Oxygen Catalysts and Engine Pre-Heaters.
During the summer of 2005, the District's Transportation Department applied for two Clean School Bus USA grants. One grant in the amount of $365,832.00 for incremental funding of CNG buses and another grant in the amount of $186,669.00 for incremental funding for purchase of Bio Diesel for the District's diesel fleet. Both of these applications failed.
Boulder Valley School District remains committed to reducing vehicle exhaust emissions but must weigh the additional cost of doing so with the educational benefits provided for our students. Only through additional funding, such as the Clean School Bus USA program, can the District reach our air quality goals without having an adverse impact on the education of our students."
Submitted by Bob Young, Director of Transportation
Boulder Valley School District RE-2
Great Valley School District, PA
Grant requested: $364,000.00. Grant given: $200,000.
"I have always been concerned about our environment and the environmental legacy that we will leave to our children. Our district contractor, Krapf Bus Companies, made me aware that there was federal grant money available for the retrofitting of school buses with particulate filters. We immediately agreed to work together and go after the grant money. Krapf is possibly one of the few school bus contractors in the country that have made retrofitting their buses with particulate filters a priority.
Knowing that every day some 440,000 school buses transport more than 24 million children to and from school and school related activities and that diesel-powered school buses have health implications for everyone, especially children, we must work together to clean up our school bus emissions and help clean up our environment. This current grant cycle will help fund the cleanup of more than 4000 school buses nation wide, but with over 440,000 buses on the road daily this is only a drop in the bucket and we need much more funding. We must be more aggressive in cleaning up our environment. Great Valley School District is committed to ensuring our students' safety and we are very excited to be recipients of this grant. The funds will allow us to reduce our students' exposure to harmful exhaust from their school buses, but we all must look to do more!"
Submitted by Michael F. Detwiler Sr.
Supervisor of Transportation / Child Accounting
Great Valley School District
Killeen Independent School District, TX
Grant requested: $904,000.00. Grant given: $0.
"Killeen Independent School District (KISD), located in Killeen, Texas, applied for a grant under the 2005 Clean School Bus Assistance Agreement program but our program went unfunded. The grant application focused primarily on retrofitting late-model, existing diesel buses with clean air technologies. Our district school bus fleet consists of two hundred forty-six school buses ranging in age from 1987 to 2006 year-models, the vast majority of which is diesel fueled. A retrofit program is our most cost effective way to maximize the positive effect on local air quality and our students. Killeen ISD encompasses over four hundred square miles and includes fifty campuses in four municipalities: Killeen, Harker Heights, Nolanville, and Fort Hood; current student enrollment exceeds 34,000. Due to the proximity of near non-attainment locations (Austin and San Antonio) to the Killeen area, there are concerns that local air quality may reach a non-attainment status in the near future unless programs are initiated to reduce local emissions before this occurs.
This Clean School Bus program must be expanded to allow for more retrofit possibilities or for the development of a cleaner technology. We have a limited chance to do the right thing before other areas fall into the non-attainment category. Killeen ISD is willing to help, but our immediate priorities must be to the education of our youth; an expansion of this grant assistance program would allow us to do so and would substantially enhance local air quality for the future."
Submitted by Joe Hart
Killeen Independent School District
Morgan County Board of Education, WV
Grant requested: $32,226.60. Grant given: $0.
Morgan County, located in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia between Hampshire and Berkeley Counties is home to three elementary schools, one intermediate school, one middle school, one high school, and one k-12 combined school. Morgan County Board of Education owns and operates thirty-four buses and transported 1,755 students (approximately 69% of our total student population) this past school year. A total of 404,556 miles were traveled during the 2004-05 school year for both curricular and extra-curricular activities.
The transportation department, in its commitment to our environment, has adopted a policy to use only low sulfur fuel to power all its diesel engines. The department is also following the guidelines set forth in the West Virginia School Bus Transportation Policy and Procedures Manual regarding the idling of school buses… "In normal weather, a school bus operator shall not idle the bus while waiting for or loading students. School bus operators are prohibited from idling the buses for more than ten minutes unless defrosting of windows is needed, in this case idling shall be limited to thirty minutes."
The problem, therefore, is with some of the older buses in our fleet that are not equipped with pollution preventative devices. We identified twenty-five buses in need of retrofitting. These buses were targeted because of their remaining useful life and the benefits that will be derived from installing a device that will reduce hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and soluble organic fractions. The results of this bus retrofit project would provide benefits to our students and community far into the future. As these retrofitted buses travel throughout their lifetime with the school system our children will be exposed to healthier air, when these buses are retired and sold to individuals in the community the steps taken now will continue to benefit.
Morgan County Board of Education was disappointed to have not received a federal grant in the 2005 cycle, but understand that there was only $7.5 million available for $50 million in grant requests. We will continue our efforts to help our students breathe easier, and sincerely hope that more will be done in Washington, D.C. to help our school system and all those seeking to get their kids on clean buses the help that we need.
Submitted by Nancy White
Treasurer
Morgan County Schools
