Clouds of diesel that have blanketed school bus drivers and students for a century are becoming a thing of the past in school districts across the U.S. and throughout 15 school districts in Georgia, including two that neighbor Muscogee County.
This month, Meriwether and Chattahoochee County received 12 electric school buses from the EPA Clean School Bus Grant Program .
Despite the popularity and financial incentives of the program and health burdens from diesel and propane, the Muscogee County School District (MCSD) did not apply for the electric school buses and has not signaled interest in applying in the future.
When asked why MCSD did not apply for the buses, Kimberly Wright, the spokesperson for the district responded on behalf of the Chief Operations Officer, Travis Anderson via email:
“The mileage range and required charge time for a typical electric bus does not align with the driving pattern for MCSD. We continue to monitor improvements in the technology and hope to one day be able to incorporate electric buses into our fleet. We do not intend to seek funding for electric buses. I t would be impractical and cause significant delays with getting students to school and back home each day . ”