District seeks grant to help buy buses

Board approves filing of application to secure money from Ohio EPA

Perry Schools will apply for an Ohio Environmental Protection Agency grant to help purchase two new school buses that run on cleaner fuel.

The district School Board approved legislation at its Aug. 8 meeting to seek grant money from Ohio EPA’s Diesel Mitigation Trust Fund. These funds are allocated to Ohio from a federal settlement that the U.S. Justice Department reached with Volkswagen over the automaker’s diesel emissions cheating scheme. Volkswagen admitted in 2017 to installing software in diesel vehicles that cheated on emissions tests, then lying about it to regulators.

Lake County is a designated priority county under Ohio’s Beneficiary Mitigation Plan, paving the way for Perry Schools to apply for the grant.

Perry Schools would use the grant funding to purchase two new buses that run on nondiesel fuel. It’s estimated that the buses would cost about $90,000 each based on prior purchases, said Perry Schools CFO Lew Galante.

T he g rants require matching funds from school districts that are awarded money, Galante said.

“The minimum matching contribution is 25 percent, or $22,500 (for a $90,000 bus),” Galante said. “Our application called for a 30 to 35 percent local contribution, which should increase our chances of be-

ing awarded.”

Another requirement of the grant is that the buses being replaced must be permanently disabled and scrapped, helping to reduce diesel emissions produced by older buses.

Ohio EPA expects to award $15 million annually in competitive grants for fleet and equipment projects throughout the state in the first three years of program, spanning from 20182020.

The state received a total of $75.3 million from the VW settlement, and will continue to award funding every year under the Beneficiary Mitigation Plan until all money is spent.

Ga la nte sa id Per r y Schools hopes to receive funding in 2019 from its current grant application.