New buses are possible through Bay Area Air Quality Management
District grant
Morgan Hill – Nine new school buses will roll into Morgan Hill this year, replacing buses that are more than 30 years old, but at no cost to the Morgan Hill Unified School District.
The additions to the transportation fleet are possible thanks to a grant from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District which gives the district $1.2 million to purchase them. Each new bus alone will cost approximately $140,000.
“We’re just thrilled, of course,” said Director of Transportation Linda Evaro. “Before this grant, our district ranked second in the state for the number of pre-1977 buses for the size of our fleet. This puts us in much better shape, however.”
Students will first use the new buses probably in December, Evaro added, when the first three will likely be delivered to the district.
The new buses are clean fuel-burning buses and have over-the-shoulder seatbelts for students. Each bus will seat 62 passengers.
This isn’t the first time the district has received buses with the help of the BAAQMD; in the 2004-05 school year, the district received eight lower-emission buses at a cost of $10,000 each, a 72 percent discount.
Deputy Superintendent Bonnie Tognazzini told School Board trustees during their meeting Tuesday that Evaro and her staff have worked hard to make it possible for the district to receive the new buses.
Tognazzini also told trustees that, in the past, the district would donate the buses it was replacing to Mexico, but the BAAQMD is requiring that the old buses be dismantled.
Evaro said that because students still need to be transported, the buses won’t be destroyed all at once.
“We’ll be doing them three-by-three-by-three, that way we can keep them in service, we still need those buses, and it does take some time to dismantle them, to blow the engines, to scrap them out,” she said.
Police and fire officials have expressed an interest in setting up a training exercise with the old buses, perhaps training with the “Jaws of Life” or other rescue equipment when the buses are ready to be scrapped.
The district’s boundaries cover 296 miles; it is one of the largest districts in the state in terms of area. During the 2005-06 school year, buses traveled 297,318 miles taking students on regular home-to-school routes and 471,856 miles for special education routes. This year, Evaro estimates the district buses will travel 307,318 miles on home-to-school and 481,856 on special education routes.
There are 44 employees in the transportation department, 35 of them drivers and three of them mechanics.
This school year, the transportation department will serve approximately 2,048 students, with 722 in elementary schools, 527 middle school students, 582 high schoolers and 217 special education students. During the 2005-06 school year, 2,449 students used district transportation.
Evaro told trustees Tuesday night that the drop in the number of students is misleading, because the department is still receiving applications for bus passes.
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106 ext. 202 or at md****@mo*************.com.
