Schoolchildren in Genesee and Pomeroy could soon be catching electric buses to whisk them to and from daily classes.
The school districts serving the two rural farming towns learned recently they landed federal rebates for the purchase of zero-emission vehicles.
Genesee will receive $1.18 million to acquire three electric buses and install charging stations at its bus depot. Pomeroy School District is getting $395,000 to purchase one bus and install charging infrastructure. The districts are tapping money available under the Clean Bus Program administered by the EPA and funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The rebates were announced Wednesday.
“As many as 25 million children rely on the bus to get to school each day. Thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration, we are making an unprecedented investment in our children’s health, especially those in communities overburdened by air pollution,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regen in an agency news release. “This is just the beginning of our work to build a healthier future, reduce climate pollution, and ensure the clean, breathable air that all our children deserve.”
Elsewhere in the Idaho and Washington, the McCall-Donnelly School District in central Idaho received $3.95 million to purchase 10 buses. The Easton School District in central Washington is slated to get $790,000 for two buses, South Whidbey School District in the Puget Sound Region will get $395,000 for one bus and the Toppenish School District landed $1.18 million for three buses.
Under the rules of the program, each new bus must replace a diesel bus that first hit the road in 2010 or earlier. Wendy Moore, superintendent of Genesee Joint School District 282, said she and the district’s transportation director have been talking about replacing some of its aging buses and moving to electric for a couple of years.
“We are hoping by next spring, we should have the charging stations in,” she said. “I’m hoping by next summer, we will be able to station them and put them in our fleet.”
The district has a single K-12 building with about 300 students and operates a fleet of six buses. Four of those are used on a daily basis and two are held in reserve or used for longer journeys, such as trips to athletic events. For example, the girls volleyball team is traveling to Boise this weekend and will use a conventional bus for the nearly 300-mile trip.
“We know we won’t be able to use the (electric) buses for long trips, as far as where charging stations are located, but they should work great for our everyday routes.”
Representatives of the Pomeroy School District were invited to participate in a ceremony attended by Vice President Kamala Harris and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee at Seattle on Wednesday announcing the rebates. But superintendent Rachel Gwinn said the cross-state trip would have taken too much time. She and district transportation director Jay Franks are researching electric vehicles to see if they will perform well in the rural district with a fleet of six buses. They have two years to purchase a new bus or opt out of the program.
“It’s not just highway driving. We drive hills of gravel and mud. That is going to drain the buses pretty good,” she said. “There is a lot to look at and what is truly going to be the best fit for Pomeroy School District.
The program awarded nearly $1 billion in rebates to school districts across the country. During the first round of funding, low-income, rural and tribal school districts were prioritized. The program will award a total of $5 billion to school districts by 2026. School districts in Moscow, Pullman and Lapwai also applied and were placed on a waiting list for 2022 rebates. They could receive funding if some of the selected districts opt out of the program or there is money left over.
Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2273. Follow him on Twitter @ezebarker.
