School Board Approves Switch To “Clean” Buses

Hannah Heineman
Mirror staff writer

   The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District’s (SMMUSD) Board of Education voted 5 to 1 to support Rule 1195 which has been proposed for adoption by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) “requiring all school districts to purchase, lease or contract for only alternate fuel school buses instead of new diesel buses, provided that adequate funding is available to cover the incremental costs and capital outlay costs for installing and supporting infrastructure for fueling or the lack of availability from a private or public refueling station.”
   The Board simultaneously approved the District’s submission of a grant application to SCAQMD for an alternative fueled bus [(which would use either green diesel or Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)]. If the grant is approved, the cost to the District of the school bus would be $32,234.92 from its 2001-2002 District budget, with SCAQMD paying pay the balance, $110,394.90, of the purchase. 
   Dr. Arthur Cohen, Assistant Superintendent of Fiscal and Business Affairs, urged the Board to apply for the grant because the District would not only save some of the replacement costs for a bus it would have to replace anyway, but would buy a more environmentally compatible bus. The District applied for and received two Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses through a similar grant program three years ago.
   Prior to the vote, the Board heard from a medical expert, environmental activists and others who urged them to support rule 1195.
   Jonathan Parfree, Director of Physicians for Social Responsibility, said that “a child riding a diesel school bus is exposed to a cancer risk 23 to 46 times above the EPA threshold for significant concern,” adding that “diesel has also been linked to non-carcinogenic diseases including bronchitis, asthma and respiratory impairment.”

   Cost Is Questioned
   The principal concern of Board members and parent leaders, such as PTA Council President Rick Gates, were the costs of the infrastructure that would have to be built for fueling the alternative buses. 
   There is now a CNG fueling station in Santa Monica about a mile from the District’s bus depot and the Santa Monica Big Blue Bus will build a public access CNG station at Fifth Street and Olympic Boulevard within the year. 
   But, according to Cohen, “There are no fueling stations that can serve our 74 passenger buses which puts them too close to margin of running out of fuel” especially if buses have to take alternate routes in emergency conditions, which is why the District does not use CNG buses for Malibu routes, but could use a green diesel bus, because it has a greater driving range before requiring refueling.
   The only Board member who voted against the proposal was Jose Escarce. He felt the SCAQMD proposed rule was “not fuel neutral” and didn’t take into account that “it is very difficult to predict how technology will change” or that fuel prices can change dramatically. 

   Superintendent Candidates Visit District
   Earlier in the evening, the Board heard a brief report from Lee Pasquarelia, president of Cascade Consulting Group, which has conducted the search for the new District Superintendent. The board has narrowed the field of candidates from 12 to six people who have been invited to the visit the District today and tomorrow.
   The candidates met today with the central office staff for “an overview of the District, the state funding patterns and the District’s finances.” Tomorrow the candidates will meet with the two panels of the Citizens’ Advisory Committee, will have a final interview with the Board and will be taken on a tour of the schools and the community.

   Board Member Brady Receives Award
   In other business, School Board member Pam Brady was presented with a vase of roses by the vice-presidents of the PTA Council Community Concerns Committee because she has been chosen to receive the Los Angeles County of Education’s first annual “Parent Volunteer of the Year Award.” The award is based on input from administrators and parents from school sites throughout the District 
Brady’s volunteer activities include the Presidency of the YWCA, President of PAL (Police Activities League) and Commissioner of Little League. She also initiated the Adopt-a-School Program through the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce [in which a company adopts a school and supports it with financial contributions, equipment and manpower], has held various PTA officer positions and is currently the California State PTA Education Advocate.