Cedar Hill Independent School District will get nearly $2 million in federal funding to help the district pay for 10 new electric, emission-free school buses, three months after voters approved a bond for additional transportation improvements in the district.
Cedar Hill ISD applied for the funding through the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Rebate Competition, which allows the EPA to offer rebates to replace diesel-operated school buses with zero-emission buses. The Clean School Bus program is funded by the Biden-Harris administration's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
“We can't wait to get those buses in and put in the order and to be able to show them off throughout our community so that they know that we are partnering with our city to make sure that Cedar Hill continues to be a beautiful place to live and work,” Tierney Tinnin, a spokesperson for Cedar Hill ISD, told KERA News in an interview Monday.
In addition to generating less pollution and noise, the new buses will give students an opportunity to learn firsthand about ways to reduce air pollution, Tinnin said. Electric buses also provide a smoother ride, according to the EPA.
In May, voters approved an almost $300 million bond, the majority of which is allocated to purchasing new buses and other facilities and infrastructure improvements. The bond will also help repurpose the district’s transportation facility and move bus services to a new location, Tinnin said.
Cedar Hill and other selected districts must send the EPA documentation that they’ve put in orders for the electric buses, and the EPA will pay the districts back within 60 days.
Dallas ISD and Fort Worth ISD have also received funding through the EPA’s Clean School Bus initiative.
“Replacing diesel buses with zero-emission buses will greatly improve the air quality around schools, making air cleaner for students, faculty, and nearby communities,” EPA Region 6 Administrator Earthea Nance said in a press release.
Dallas-area U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, whose district includes Cedar Hill, said she worked with the EPA’s Dallas representatives to help secure the funding for the district, which Crockett said was an ideal recipient as a smaller school district.
“We know that there is a direct correlation with diesel pollution and people suffering from asthma and other ailments,” Crockett told KERA News. "And so, if there's one group of people that we should be looking out to make sure that they are as healthy as possible, it's our babies."
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