BRICK – Members of the Brick Township Board of Education are anticipated to make a decision on a $7.8 million grant to buy electric buses at its February meeting.
At the December 12 school board meeting, the grant provided by the State Department of Environmental Protection was announced. The district was considering buying 25 electric school buses through a grant from the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
According to Brick Township Schools business administrator James Edwards, the grant would cover the buses and their respective electric charging stations.
After the board’s finance committee met on January 14 and January 17, Edwards was asked to supply additional cost analyses on the break-even point on the cost of buses to the district. The specifics are slated to be discussed at the next board meeting on February 20, Edwards said.
In response to questions asked by residents during the public comment portion of the meeting, board vice president Mike Mesmer said the delayed decision is due to the fact that the $7.8 million grant was only recently presented in December. Additionally, having two new board members sworn in led to the board committee assignments being changed.
“What we wanted to do is to understand, based on how many buses we were to order, where is our break-even point? Where are we making money? Where are we losing money? We decided as a committee and as a board that we were going to table this into the February meeting, when we have all the information we felt comfortable,” he said.
Mesmer also explained how some board members were uncomfortable with buying so many buses. According to the district, 25 54-passenger buses would be about 40% of the district’s fleet of busses that size.
Discussion regarding the purchase of electric buses has been ongoing since May 2024, after the district was initially awarded a $5.1 million grant from the federal EPA. Subsequently, there has been lengthy conversation circling the topic.
After learning about the $7.8 million grant at the December meeting, Superintendent Thomas Farrell informed the community that the state grant for the electric buses would save the district money due to cost difference with maintenance and fuel.
“If we do nothing next year, we’re budgeting five diesel new busses. The approximate cost would be $140,000. So, about $700,00 we have to budget next year for the diesel busses. If we do the electric busses, we save over $500,000 in next year’s budget. Which would help us reduce class sizes, add teachers, etc.,” Farrell said.
Some board members and residents raised concerns regarding the safety of the electric buses. Apprehension was mainly around the buses’ lithium-ion battery as well as the buses performing during snowy/icy conditions.
However, the district responded with a detailed cost analysis report which includes FAQs. Those interested in viewing the full report can find it on the district’s website: brickschools.org.
The next board meeting will be on February 20 at 7 p.m.
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