District awarded grant to add electric school bus to fleet

Earlier this month the Snoqualmie Valley School District announced it had applied for and was awarded a grant to purchase a new, electric school bus and charging station. This is one of the 40 new zero-emission electric buses purchased for Washington State school districts. 

The district will receive $300,000 to buy one electric bus and up to $25,000 for infrastructure costs related to installing the charging station. 

In an April 29th news release, Governor Inslee and the Washington State Department of Ecology announced the large investment, saying it is one of the biggest investments in zero-emission school buses in the country. 

The electric bus grant funding comes from the state’s $112.7 million share of the nationwide Volkswagen settlement.

SVSD said the grants will help accelerate replacing older diesel school buses, covering the additional costs of purchasing an electric bus compared to a conventional diesel bus.

The Snoqualmie Valley School District is one of 22 districts across the state receiving the grant aimed at reducing air pollution from transportation.

“We are excited to receive this grant and be a part of an initiative that’s working to build an infrastructure aimed at improving school bus transportation options,” said Snoqualmie Valley Assistant Superintendent Ryan Stokes. 

Stokes anticipates the new bus and charging station will be available for use sometime in 2021.

Example of electric school bus built by Blue Bird

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