Two more Gila County school districts are slated to get new buses in the third and fourth round of Arizona’s Lower-Emission School Bus Program awards.

In his Feb. 11 statement, Governor Doug Ducey announced that 35 school districts and charter schools across Arizona were approved to buy 67 diesel and alternative fuel buses, totaling $7.5 million.

It is the third and fourth wave of funding awarded as part of the $38 million plan to provide low-income schools with new school buses, he said.

During the third wave, Gila County had one recipient among the 19 — the Hayden-Winkelman Unified School District, which received $110,000 for one bus.

Tonto Basin Elementary School is the Gila County recipient during the fourth wave, while Pinal County’s recipients are the Oracle Elementary and Red Rock Elementary School Districts.

All three school districts are set to receive $110,000 each for one bus each.

“This is a big help to us,” said Superintendent Chad Rogers, with the Tonto Basin Elementary School, which saw its allocation of forest service fees cut from $70,000 to $12,000 with no indication when it might get the funds back, if ever.

“Any little bit helps,” he told the Silver Belt.

The new bus will replace a 2003, high-mileage bus for the school with 85 students, including Pre-K, said Rogers, who is in his third year with Tonto Basin Elementary.

As to when the school will receive its new bus, Rogers said, “It will either be this year or next year.”

In his Feb. 11 press release, Ducey said, “These new buses will have a big impact across the state, especially in rural communities. These funds will directly benefit low-income schools while helping ensure the safe transportation of our students to and from school. Arizona will continue to prioritize new investments in our K-12 public schools.”

During the program’s second wave in January, Ducey announced that 22 Arizona school districts and charter schools were approved to buy 76 diesel and alternative fuel buses, totaling $8.4 million.

One of them was Gila County’s San Carlos Unified School District which received $110,000 for the purchase of one bus.

During the first wave in December 2018, Ducey announced that 55 school districts and charter schools were approved to buy 142 diesel and alternative fuel buses, totaling $15.9 million.

Among them were the Miami Unified and the Young Elementary School Districts, both in Gila County, which were awarded $110,000 each to buy a new school bus.

Pinal County school districts on the list to receive new buses were the Casa Grande Elementary District and Mary C. O’Brien Accommodation District, both in Casa Grande, and the Eloy Elementary School District.

The Mary C. O’Brien and Eloy Elementary districts received $110,000 to buy one new school bus each, while Casa Grande Elementary got $660,000 to buy six buses.

In June 2018, Ducey had announced a $38 million plan to buy an estimated 280 school buses using settlement funds from the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust, the statement said.

The state’s Lower-Emissions School Bus Program gives money to 60 percent free and reduced lunch school districts and charter schools, as well as the Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind, to replace aging and high-mileage school buses.

Diesel school buses proposed for replacement must be owned by the school system, be at least 15 years old and have more than 100,000 miles.

As of Dec. 6, 2018, the state had received 118 applications from school districts and charter schools, resulting in requests for 362 buses at a total cost of $40.4 million.

Representing about 47 percent of total applications submitted, 55 completed and verified applications totaling $15.9 million were approved, the statement said.

In January 2016, the U.S. Department of Justice filed suit against Volkswagen for Clean Air Act violations, after it had modified its vehicles to cheat emissions tests.

The resulting settlement agreement required Volkswagen to spend $10 billion to either buy back the vehicles or compensate the owners, as well as $4.7 billion to offset pollution from the modified cars, the statement said.

Arizona is slated to receive $57 million over the next two years.

The plan also includes money for other mission critical projects, such as supporting wildland fire crews and equipment for the Arizona Department of Transportation.

For previous coverage, see the Dec. 18, 2018 and Jan. 30, 2019 editions of the Arizona Silver Belt.