Coachella Valley Unified could get 5 new electric school buses with federal grant

The Coachella Valley Unified School District will apply for a $1.5 million federal grant to buy five electric school buses.

If CVUSD receives the grant, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will fund the entire cost of the buses, except for special options such as lift chairs and upgraded air conditioning. The grant would award the district $285,000 per bus and another $20,000 per bus to cover electric infrastructure for charging them. It is unclear when the buses would arrive.

The district is in the process of upgrading its fleet of buses, over 40% of which don't have working air conditioning. It plans to replace 62 diesel buses with cleaner ones. The district has already ordered more than two dozen new buses, but they haven't arrived. Superintendent Luis Valentino said Thursday all buses running routes will have air conditioning by December.

CVUSD already has two electric buses purchased with a 2017 grant for $536,000 from the South Coast Air Quality Management District. They are used as spare buses because of their limited mileage range, said district spokesperson Lissette Santiago.

"The new ones we'll be buying the future will be a different brand with more mileage range," she added, without specifying the range of the old buses or the forthcoming ones.

Additionally, the district faces a shortage of drivers, and pick-up and drop-off times have been delayed regularly.

For months, parents have complained that the extreme heat poses unsafe conditions as students wait for and board buses without air conditioning.

The grant CVUSD is seeking is funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, one of President Joe Biden’s signature policy achievements. Over the next five years, the EPA will invest $5 billion to help school districts replace existing school buses with zero-emission and low-emission vehicles.

More: 'Inexcusable': CVUSD buses late to pick up students amid driver shortage; parents angry

More: Coachella Valley Unified upgrading school bus fleet, but its driver shortage continues

More: Late buses, no air-conditioning: Nationwide bus, labor shortages affect local students

CVUSD also recently won a $1.2 million grant from the air quality district to expand the school district’s compressed natural gas bus fueling station. Compared to conventional diesel and gasoline vehicles, natural gas vehicles offer reduced greenhouse gas emissions and other air quality benefits, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

CVUSD operates more than 25 compressed natural gas buses, and is in the process of adding 25 more, according to a report staff presented to the school board. The district has 108 total buses, 63 of which have functioning air conditioning.

The district said over the summer it has a multiyear, $15 million plan to invest in a cleaner, newer bus fleet.

Jonathan Horwitz covers education for The Desert Sun. Reach him at jonathan.horwitz@desertsun.com or @Writes_Jonathan.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Coachella Valley Unified seeks federal grant for electric school buses