The Wrangell School District will not purchase an electric school bus this year.
Business Manager Kristy Andrew informed the Environmental Protection Agency that the district would return the $370,000 federal grant it received in 2023. After the school board voted down the purchase on Sept. 9, the district had until Nov. 22 to inform the EPA of its decision, which it did ahead of the extended deadline.
This concludes a four-month long saga in which the school board initially expressed optimism about the bus purchase before flipping on the decision in its 3-2 September vote.
Part of the reason to turn down the EPA grant — which could only be used to purchase an electric bus — was because the funding would only cover a portion of the total expense.
The school district initially estimated that a bus would cost $423,000, meaning it would need to dip into its reserve fund to cover the $53,000 difference between the grant and the price tag.
Board members and community members expressed concerns about the bus’s ability (or inability) to handle Alaska winters and the potential out-of-state shipping expenses required if the bus battery ever needed maintenance.
Additionally, the district would have needed to construct a shelter to house the bus. Maintenance Director Kevin McCallister said this would cost anywhere between $58,000 and $93,000. Going through with the electric bus purchase would have forced the district to spend anywhere between $111,000 and $146,000 from its dwindling reserves. As the Sentinel reported on Nov. 27, the reserve fund is expected to run dry within two years if state and borough funding levels remain the same.
Unlike some grants which are structured as a reimbursement, the EPA had already sent the school district the funding. Superintendent Bill Burr said this was in case the schools needed to make a deposit to order a bus.
“That money was sitting in a separate account,” Burr said. “I sent Kristy (Andrew) a message saying that it should be sent back … and Kristy informed the EPA.”
The school district has a multi-year contract with Taylor Transportation to provide pupil transportation services. Taylor uses a traditional diesel-fuel bus.
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