Perrysburg schools getting clean school buses through federal funding

Perrysburg school district is expanding its fleet of school buses, but they won’t be fueled by diesel.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently awarded the school district $400,000 toward the purchase of 16 propane buses. These buses emit fewer emissions than the typical diesel-fueled school bus.

“With the recent purchase of these buses, we will become a mostly propane bus district,” Perrysburg Superintendent Tom Hosler said.

The school district was previously awarded funding in 2019 to purchase 12 propane buses and has added four more since. James Mapus, the executive director of operations for Perrysburg, said they are adding even more because of the impact on the community.

“We really like them. It’s safer for the students who are inhaling the diesel fumes every day and safer for the community,” Mr. Mapus said.

Mr. Mapus said with the addition of the new buses, the district will have 32 propane buses, bringing their total fleet to 52 buses. The other buses in the district’s fleet are diesel buses, which Mr. Hosler said are “tried and true,” but he added that the propane buses have benefits such as the price of gas and maintenance.

Mr. Mapus said the district spends 98 cents per gallon on propane and $3.50 per gallon on diesel. He added that the propane buses get one mile per gallon less than diesel buses, and they need to be filled up about every other day, which is similar to other diesel alternatives. In terms of appearance, Mr. Hosler said students and parents wouldn’t know the difference, and Mr. Mapus said it’s the same for drivers as well.

Mr. Hosler said he could see the district move to be an all propane busing district, but Mr. Mapus said there is one setback.

“The only problem is the availability of propane when traveling on longer trips,” Mr. Mapus said. “Sometimes we have students going on field trips to Columbus or Cincinnati, and there is nowhere for drivers to fill up.”

Propane availability is an issue that Eric Smola, the superintendent of Evergreen Local Schools, said his district has experienced as well. Mr. Smola said the district’s fleet is about half propane and half diesel, but they need to keep the diesel buses on hand for longer trips.

“I can’t see us moving to all propane,” Mr. Smola said. “We need to keep some diesel buses for longer field trips and sporting events.”

Evergreen Local School District received $50,000 from the EPA to purchase two propane buses, bringing the total to 15 clean air buses in a fleet of 31.

In addition to Perrysburg and Evergreen, 25 school districts in Ohio have received funding for the purchase of electric, propane, and natural gas buses. This funding is available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Clean School Bus program.

Earlier this year, Toledo City Schools received funding for 25 propane buses, bringing its fleet to about 80 percent propane. In total, the program has awarded 1,290 school districts across the U.S.

Meredith Pedde, an assistant research scientist at the University of Michigan, has found through her research with colleague Sara Adar, an associate professor of epidemiology at Michigan, that clean air buses do have an impact on students.

Their study, which was conducted from 2012 to 2017, found that attendance was higher in school districts where older, diesel buses were replaced. Ms. Pedde believes this creates less health issues for students inhaling the fumes, which might have previously made them sick and cause them to miss class. They also found that standardized scores improved, specifically in language arts and math.

“I think what comes out of our research is loud and clear,” said Ms. Pedde, who previously worked at the EPA. “It’s important that we get these older buses off the road.”

The age of the buses is a question asked on the EPA’s application, and Mr. Mapus said when Perrysburg first applied, they were still operating buses from the late 1990s and early 2000s.

While Ms. Pedde said she would like to see many school districts using clean school buses, she acknowledged that it isn’t practical to make a full switch yet, noting necessary infrastructure like charging stations for electric buses and accessible propane for buses making longer trips.

“I don’t think the switch for clean buses is ready for the prime time just yet,” Ms. Pedde said. “There definitely is a need to make those resources more widely available.”

To apply for the program, school districts can visit epa.gov/cleanschoolbus .