In an effort to become more energy friendly, the Boerne Independent School District is hoping to add an electric bus to its fleet, maybe as soon as this coming academic year.
During the June school board meeting, trustees approved the purchase of 16 new buses, not including the 71-passenger electric one, at a total cost of about $2 million. Through a bidding process, the district chose Longhorn Bus Sales.
“This is part of our effort to reduce emissions by removing older, diesel buses from service and replacing them with cleaner alternatives,” BISD Director of Transportation John Ramirez told The Star. “We consider and explore all emissions reducing options that work best for our district in the future. We started in 2020 with purchasing five propane school buses, which reduce emissions up to 60 percent, and will increase the size of our propane fleet with this bond purchase as well.”
The approved proposal includes five new 71-passenger propane buses, as well as five 54-passen ger special education buses with a lift, two regular 54-passenger buses and four regular 71-passenger buses.
The electric bus carries a price tag of at least $300,000, BISD Director of Communications Bryan Benway said, adding the district is working on getting rebates “which typically range from between 30 to 90 percent (of the cost) or sometimes more.”
The electric bus would be used the same way as a regular bus.
Ramirez said adding the buses will both replace some older units as well as expand the district’s fleet.
“We are able to apply for rebates for propane buses as well,” he said.
As far as the grants, Ramirez said BISD is applying for the maximum amount of state or federal rebate or grant programs in which it qualifies.
“We are still in the appli cation process, so we will not have a solid amount until the application review is completed,” he said.
“This is a work in progress,” Benway said. “As always, we will be fiscally responsible and make the best decision possible for our students as well as taxpayers. All projected costs were done during our bond planning process, so we feel we have planned ahead for this purchase quite well.”
The intent is to place the order for the buses as soon as possible, knowing there will be a delay in delivery because of supply chain issues.
Currently, BISD has 80 buses in its fleet. On any given school day, about 60 are used.
“Each school bus removes about 36 cars from driving to school each day,” Ramirez said. “That is a significant reduction in emissions alone. With zero emissions from the electric school bus, we can further improve our efforts to reduce our contribution to emissions in our community.”
He continued by saying, “Boerne ISD has been at the forefront of providing the best education for our students. The transportation department is excited and ready to contribute to that goal by operating school buses that have such a significant impact on improving air quality.”
“We are excited to purchase buses that we promised to buy during the bond process,” Benway said. “This is the first major purchase in the bond, and it is imperative that we fulfill the promises that we made to the taxpayers and voters during the bond election.”
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