In addition to its own efforts under the The School Bus Replacement Program, 47 school districts in California are receiving additional support from the federal government. As stewards of the students served in California and across the nation, districts are moving toward a more holistic view of what providing educational services must entail. In furtherance of protecting students’ health and wellness, a move toward transportation with cleaner emissions shows that education and its related services are both reactive and proactive. Budgeting priorities must always be weighed in favor of those actions that provide the greatest benefit for the greatest number of students and while there is no one size fits all model, electric buses are a nod to both student and environmental health.
The Biden Administration has awarded 47 California school districts more than $91 million in rebate funding to help purchase new electric or low-emission school buses.
The rebates will help school districts across the state purchase up to 380 clean air buses, officials from the Environmental Protection Agency said.
The EPA says the program is a “crucial step” in California’s journey toward improving children’s health by addressing harmful pollution. The clean air buses — primarily electric but including propane or natural gas — will replace the older, diesel-fueled buses that have been previously linked to community health issues, officials said.
