DeKalb school officials approve $9.4M purchase of electric school buses
DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - The DeKalb County School Board approved the purchase of more than two dozen brand-new electric school buses. District transportation officials say the $9.4 million budget item could save the district thousands of dollars a year.
"The major purpose of this grant is to reduce the emissions, the fuel exhaust that we put out in our community," Executive Director of Transportation Raymond Stanley told FOX 5. "We’re excited about this opportunity to bring to our community here in DeKalb."
DeKalb district officials gave the green light to expanding its school bus fleet at Monday night’s board meeting.
It was funded through the EPA’s Clean Bus Program under President Joe Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure law.
"Day to day we’re putting about 700 buses on the road," Stanley said. "That award will allow us…to replace some of our diesel buses."
It’s a move toward sustainability he believes will not only cut costs to the environment but to the district as a whole.
"Our current diesel buses and gasoline buses and propane buses we have normal wear and tear…transmissions, sometimes engine parts go out…we anticipate it not being as costly as our diesel buses," Stanley explained.
The grant requires assigning those buses to routes that run through some of the district’s most underserved zip codes.
"Tucker, Stone Mountain, Decatur, Redan, Lithonia, those are some of the ones that come to the top of my head in which the buses have to be operated in," he stated.
Stanley says they’re now looking at infrastructure for the buses and where they could place potential charging stations.
The vote Monday night was to approve funding for the first 25 buses. The full grant amount was for 75 buses. Stanley says they hope the buses will be operating this time next year.
The Source: This article is based on original reporting by FOX 5's Joi Dukes.