Princeton school district officials are applying for a state grant to buy two battery-electric school buses to replace buses already in the school district’s fleet.
They deadline to apply for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s (NJDEP) Electric School Bus grant program is May 17. It is not known when officials will learn whether or not the application was approved.
The grant amounts range from $270,000 to $320,000, depending on the options chosen, according to the NJDEP Electric School Bus grant program.
The district would be eligible for up to $270,000 per bus plus a Level 2 charging station, and for up to $290,000 for one bus plus a DC fast-charging station.
It would be eligible for up to $320,000 for a bus plus a bi-directional option, which would allow electricity to flow from both ends of the electricity line.
Of the 21,700 school buses registered in New Jersey, more than 99% run on fossil fuels, according to the NJDEP Electric School Bus grant program.
The buses provide needed transportation services, but they negatively affect the health of students and residents of the communities in which they operate, the NJDEP said.
To address the issue, the NJDEP Electric School Bus grant program provides up to $15 million per year for three years to replace diesel school buses with battery-electric school buses.
This is not the first time that the Princeton Public Schools has applied for a grant to replace diesel and gasoline school buses with battery-electric buses.
The district applied to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus program in 2022, but the application was denied.
School district officials have said they would not give up on applying for a grant to replace school buses with battery-electric buses.