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Mar 24, 2009 11:04 pm US/Central
Some ISDs Ignoring Funds To Buy 'Greener' Buses
Reporting
Jack Fink
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
There are thousands of old school buses in North Texas that contribute to polluting our air.
But CBS 11 News has learned a recent program to help area school districts replace those buses hasn't generated much interest at all.
Clean air makes the difference between life and death for 6-year-old Nicolaas Wooters.
He has asthma.
Wooter's mother Rebecca said, "He had an event - an asthma attack - that almost took his life. It was very scary."
Studies have shown children on school buses face increased exposure to diesel pollution, which is bad for the health of children like Wooters.
So his parents support a recent program by the North Central Texas Council of Governments (COG) to replace dirty, old school buses with new, cleaner ones.
North Texas must comply with federal air quality standards by the end of the year.
Right now, TXDOT says there are nearly 2,300 school buses in the 16-county area that are from 1993 or older.
Amanda Brimmer, a senior transportation planner at COG says, "It's definitely a huge problem. We're going after any old, dirty vehicles, large vehicles, small vehicles, you name it. We're trying to get cleaner vehicles on the road."
Taking a 1989 bus or an older one off the street and replacing it with one that meets air quality standards reduces tailpipe emissions by nearly 100 percent.
Since 2007, COG has offered North Texas school districts hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to either buy new buses, replace engines or make existing buses cleaner.
But since then, only two of the 200 North Texas school districts applied -- and that was in 2007. None applied last year.
Brimmer oversees the school bus grant program. "It's been disappointing," she said.
Mansfield ISD received $300,000 in 2007 from COG to buy four new buses and six new engines.
Dallas County Schools transports 70,000 students daily on 1,650 buses for Dallas ISD and other districts. It received nearly $600,000 in grants from COG two years ago so it could replace 28 of its most polluting buses with new vehicles.
By the end of the year, 130 of their buses will still be 1993 models or older... and most will be used as spares.
Larry Duncan, Board President of Dallas County Schools, says his district will apply for more grants this year. "We've got to take care of our kids. We've got to look out for their safety… not just in transporting them, but also the air they breathe."
But some districts like Arlington ISD, the third largest school district in North Texas, say they haven't applied because the grants cover only 40 percent of the cost.
That district has a $17-million deficit, and so they are trying to look for fully-funded grants instead of partial grants such as the one from COG.
Other districts such as Fort Worth ISD, have received state grants and others to make their school buses cleaner.
COG says more than a dozen school districts have expressed an interest in applying for the grants this year, but none have applied yet.
As for Rebecca Wooter, she hopes more districts apply for these grants to help clean the air for everyone, especially those who have asthma like her son Nicolaas.
Wooter joined the American Lung Association. She says they have two upcoming events to promote clean air.
A 5K Breathe Walk will be held on April 18 at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. A Stair Climb will be held at the Renaissance Tower Hotel off Stemmons Freeway in Dallas on May 16.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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