A section of the U.S.-Mexico border wall near El Paso, Texas, on June 6, 2024. (Photo by Ariana Figueroa/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader John Thune, joined at the U.S.-Mexico border Friday by a handful of other Republican senators, highlighted the president’s signature tax cuts and spending package passed last year that provided billions for immigration enforcement.

The press conference in McAllen, Texas, came after a federal immigration officer shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis on Wednesday, and two people were shot by Border Patrol agents late Thursday in Portland, Oregon.

Thune, a South Dakota Republican, touted how the tax cuts and spending package signed into law last summer also provided “for additional reinforcements,” such as the hiring of more Border Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. 

On Jan. 3, ICE announced it hired 12,000 new officers, more than doubling its force from 10,000 agents to 22,000. Thousands more are set to be hired.

The GOP-passed bill also included $4.1 billion for Customs and Border Protection to hire 5,000 customs officers and 3,000 Border Patrol agents over the next four years.

Thune said because migration at the southern border has slowed, the time has come for President Donald Trump to shift his focus to immigration reform. CBP data from November, the most recent available, shows total apprehensions at the southwest border slowed to 7,350 that month.

“I think President Trump is probably the president best equipped to lead the effort to reform immigration law in his country in a way that it creates, again, those better paying jobs, opportunities for people who come to the country legally,” Thune said. “We are a nation of immigrants, but we’re also a nation of laws, and we have to make sure we’re enforcing our laws, and that’s where it starts.”

The Trump administration has continued with its aggressive mass deportation efforts throughout the interior of the country and has moved to revoke the legal status of more than 1.5 million immigrants since taking office last January. 

Thune added that the GOP bill, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill, also provided billions for border security.

“As a result of the passage of the One Big, Beautiful bill … we got more resources down here, not only for physical infrastructure, for the wall, but for also that virtual infrastructure, for technology and counter drone technology, all those sorts of things that make it possible for the Border Patrol to do their job,” he said.

Thune was joined by Whip John Barrasso of Wyoming and Sens. John Cornyn of Texas, Ashley Moody of Florida, Jon Husted of Ohio, Mike Rounds of South Dakota and Pete Ricketts of Nebraska.

Rounds said that under the Trump administration the southern border has undergone “a remarkable transformation.” 

“There is no such thing as a country that can be a superpower, or, for that matter, be free if they can’t defend their own borders,” Rounds said. 

Cornyn also highlighted how the bill will reimburse, up to $13.5 billion, those border states who have spent money on immigration enforcement. He said of that money, Texas will get $11 billion. 

The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 1, 2025, at the beginning of a government shutdown of historic length. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON — Republicans and Democrats in Congress are cautiously optimistic they can enact the remaining government funding bills before their deadline at the end of the month, avoiding another shutdown. 

The milestone would represent an accomplishment for the typically gridlocked Congress, though it comes months after lawmakers’ original October deadline and the longest shutdown in history that reverberated throughout the country.  

Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, said recently negotiators are making “progress” toward agreement on the unresolved bills, which include funding for the departments of Defense, Health and Human Services and Homeland Security.

Those three bills are the most complicated to resolve and this year will be no exception given President Donald Trump’s actions on immigration, deportation and military intervention in Venezuela. 

Washington Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, ranking member on the committee, was somewhat less optimistic than her colleague about the likelihood all of the bills become law. But she didn’t rule it out. 

“It’s up to the Republican leadership,” Murray said. “We’re working hard to get our end of it done.”

House approves some spending

Congress approved three of the dozen annual spending bills in the package that ended the shutdown in November, providing funding for their own offices and operations; military construction projects; the Agriculture Department; and the Department of Veterans Affairs. The package provided stopgap spending for the remaining federal programs in the other nine bills. 

The House voted 397-28 Thursday to approve the Energy-Water, Commerce-Justice-Science and Interior-Environment spending bills, sending them to the Senate, where Collins expects that chamber will take a procedural vote Monday.

Collins said the remaining six unresolved bills will likely move through Congress in two separate packages — one funding financial services, homeland security, the State Department and foreign operations as well as one funding defense, education, health care, housing and transportation programs. 

If Congress finishes work on the full slate of bills, which will likely account for about $1.8 trillion in spending, it would mark the end of the first annual appropriations process of Trump’s second term in office.

Minnesota ICE shooting jolts process

The biggest hurdle to completing work on all of the bills will be reaching consensus on funding for the Homeland Security Department, especially after an immigration agent shot and killed a woman in Minnesota. 

Collins said a day after the Jan. 7 incident that members of both political parties in both chambers continue to work on the bill and praised subcommittee Chairwoman Katie Britt of Alabama for “doing a really good job.”

Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy, ranking member on the subcommittee, however, said there must be “constraints” on how immigration agents are operating. 

Murphy said the sharp increase in hiring at Immigration and Customs Enforcement as well as Customs and Border Protection, spurred by billions in additional funding included in Republicans’ big, beautiful bill, “likely resulted in people being out there on our streets who don’t have the necessary training.”

“Now I’m not saying that’s part of the story yesterday, but we know that they are not applying the same standards and the same training that they have in the past,” Murphy said. “There’s a broader question about whether CBP is qualified to operate in the interior at all. From my understanding, CBP was part of that deployment yesterday that resulted in the murder of this young woman.”

Murphy said he has a “handful of ideas” about how to address his and other Democrats’ concerns about how the Trump administration has approached immigration enforcement, while acknowledging any final agreement will need Republican support to move through Congress. 

“I won’t be asking for the moon. We’re not going to fix all of these issues. And I’m not looking for comprehensive immigration reform at all,” Murphy said. “But some targeted improvements in the way that ICE and CBP are operating, I think, are going to be necessary.”

Murphy said he believes there is time to work out a bipartisan solution on that spending bill before the Jan. 30 shutdown deadline. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said during a press conference that the leaders on the Appropriations Committee and the subcommittee are having an “important and serious discussion” about the funding bill after the shooting. 

Congress could pass a stopgap spending bill for programs within the Homeland Security Department, which includes the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to keep everything up and running for the rest of the fiscal year. The fall-back option can be used when consensus on a full-year bill isn’t possible. 

That type of funding bill, known as a continuing resolution, would keep DHS’ funding mostly flat and avoid the need for it to shut down after the current funding law expires at the end of the month. It would leave in place the types of policies that DHS has been operating under all year. 

Negotiations continue

House Appropriations Committee ranking member Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., said Wednesday talks on the unsettled bills are “going well” and that she expects lawmakers to meet their Jan. 30 deadline.

House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., said his “goal” is to approve the leftover bills before the end of the month, avoiding the need for Congress to use another stopgap measure to keep the government up and running or face a shutdown. 

While the groupings Collins outlined may seem random, Cole said appropriators spent a good bit of time contemplating how to package the remaining bills. 

“There was a lot of thought given to how to work these things together and what would maximize support on each side,” Cole said. “Obviously, those discussions were had not just amongst Republicans but our colleagues on the other side of the aisle and in the other chamber. So we think that’s the best package to move forward.” 

Congress rarely approves the final versions of the government funding bills one-by-one and used to approve all 12 in one omnibus package, though Republican opposition to that has led to smaller “minibuses.”

Cole said negotiations between Republicans and Democrats on final versions of the full-year spending bills are being undertaken by subcommittee leaders. 

“If you can solve these problems at the subcommittee level, you’ve got the most knowledgeable people, the people that care the most on both sides of the aisle,” Cole said. “The further up the food chain it goes — whether to my colleagues in the four corners (of the Appropriations Committee) or to leadership — the more political decisions come, and the less knowledgeable the people making the decision are about the topic.”

Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin, the top Democrat on the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee, said that “great progress” had been made so far toward final agreement on that bill.

“I’m very hopeful and encouraged, given the work that’s been done so far, that we can do that,” Baldwin said. 

Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy cast doubt on his colleagues’ ability to reach consensus on the last six bills, saying it will be “difficult” to work out final agreements in the time left. 

“I wouldn’t bet my house on it,” Kennedy said. “And if I were betting your house, it would be just a maybe.”

Kennedy said he isn’t involved in the negotiations on those bills but expects negotiators are “fighting over something.” Kennedy is chairman of the Energy-Water Appropriations Subcommittee, which already completed work on its bill. 

Ariana Figueroa contributed to this report. 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) updated its website with a statement that a “revamped and modernized Clean School Bus Program” is coming soon.

The five-year, $5-billion fund has been on hiatus since President Donald Trump returned to the Oval Office last January, days after the application period for the 2024 Clean School Bus Rebates closed.

But funding ground to a halt, leaving hundreds of school districts waiting to see if their electric and propane school bus projects could continue.

EPA said last summer it has been working with school districts to award rebate and grant awards for fiscal years 2022 and 2023, while holding off on providing details for new funding, pending a program review. The new website statement, reiterated to School Transportation News by the EPA press office, indicates an update on the Clean School Bus Program is in the works.

“EPA is actively reviewing and revamping the Clean School Bus Program in accordance with President Trump’s Executive Order Unleashing American Energy to ensure hard-earned American tax dollars are being put to the best use possible and not frivolously wasted as was often the case under the previous administration,” the statement reads. “Under Administrator [Lee] Zeldin’s leadership, EPA is committed to being exceptional stewards of taxpayer dollars and delivering measured results for American families, while still fulfilling Congressional intent. Administrator Zeldin has cancelled roughly $30 billion in wasteful grants and contracts since being confirmed as EPA Administrator. EPA anticipates providing additional information about the revamped and modernized Clean School Bus Program in the near future.”

The EPA website says 1,152 school districts have received 888 awards valued at over $2.62 billion to replace 8,236 school buses. The World Resource Institute’s Electric School Bus Initiative indicates via its Electric School Bus Data Dashboard that over 2,000 of those are electric school buses in operation or on order. Electric school buses have accounted for about 95 percent of Clean School Bus Program awards to date.

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The post EPA ‘Revamping’ Clean School Bus Program appeared first on School Transportation News.

Confusion reigns in the wake of a late November decision announcing how the U.S. Department of Education (ED) could be dismantled, including the impact of the decision on school transportation.

Tim Ammon, owner of Ammon Consulting Group, noted two initial impacts focus on longer decision times and less clarity regarding resolving special needs services concerns.

Staffing reductions and the reorientation of the organization would make it more difficult to obtain guidance on what services are required, having the potential to create longer term uncertainty related to the stability of decisions and policy that can potentially create future exposure for services not provided, he said.

The third item Ammon suggested is uppermost in many minds: The reduction and likely elimination of some funding streams to transportation departments.

“While some perhaps most of these will be felt at the district level, they will filter their way down to transportation as districts begin to make very difficult choices about how to pare back services across all programs due to budget deficits,” he said.

During a Nov. 20 press conference, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt noted President Donald Trump “took a significant step toward delivering on a core campaign promise to finally close the Department of Education to shrink the bloated federal bureaucracy.”

A coalition of educators, school districts, unions and The Arc of the U.S. — an advocacy group for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities — sued the Trump administration in federal court, arguing the government’s latest attempt to dismantle the ED is unlawful, according to The New York Times.

The ED has entered into new interagency agreements with the Departments of Health and Human Services, Interior, Labor, Interior and State.

The agreements do not address school transportation impacts.

The ED announcement noted “these agreements follow a workforce development partnership signed with the Department of Labor earlier this year which created an integrated federal education and workforce system and reduced the need for states to consult multiple federal agencies to effectively manage their program.”

The interagency agreements are “a key step in our efforts to shift educational authority from Washington D.C. to your state education agency, local superintendent, local school board, entities that are accountable to you,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said at the press conference.

“As we partner with these agencies to improve federal programs, we will continue to gather best practices in each state through our 50-state tour, empower local leaders in K-12 education, restore excellence to higher education, and work with Congress to codify these reforms.”

Leavitt added the agencies will “now ensure the delivery of legally required programs while also refocusing them to better serve students.”

She claimed the 43-day federal government shutdown had “no impacted whatsoever” on the U.S. education system despite ED furloughing 90 percent of its staff. She noted schools nationwide stayed fully open, students attended class and received normal in-person instruction, and teachers received their paychecks uninterrupted.

“Since its creation in 1979 during the Carter administration, the Department of Education has spent over $3 trillion taxpayer dollars without improving student achievement, despite per-pupil spending having increased by more than 245 percent,” said Leavitt, adding math and reading scores are down.

The ED is a pass-through entity, McMahon said, adding “it doesn’t educate a single student. The money it sends to states for education can be sent directly without waste. Education is local. It should be overseen locally by those who best know local needs.”

Jeanne Allen, Center for Education Reform CEO and founder, ED hasn’t worked for students in decades but dismantling it remains complicated.

“It won’t be seamless, and it won’t succeed unless the new agencies clearly communicate with states, communities and parents about their new flexibility, how funds can be better spent, and how to avoid getting snared in fresh compliance traps,” she continued. “But shifting power closer to communities is the right direction.”

In contrast, Denise Forte, president and CEO of left-leaning educational think tank and racial and economic equity advocate EdTrust, released a statement indicating “the Trump administration began the process of selling off the Department of Education for parts. The administration has let down teachers, families and students, those currently in classrooms and the generations to come.

“Further diminishing these offices that protect student rights and stop discrimination and sending them off to be run by agencies that work on public health and short-term training, which lack the skills, expertise, or capacity in education, isn’t about improving student outcomes. It’s about implementing a business model that transforms students into widgets instead of human beings who need support.”

Forte has called on Congress to “stand up for the rights of America’s students and ensure education programs stay where they belong, with the Department of Education. The law is clear. Only Congress can dismantle the Department of Education.”

She also noted students and schools were indeed hurt by the federal government shutdown, noting calls and emails from families desperate to learn about their cases with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) went unanswered. Information requests from schools and districts were left unresolved.

These new directives only serve to further distance students — particularly students of color, those from low-income backgrounds, students with disabilities, and multilingual learners — from educational opportunities, Forte said, adding the other agencies now charged with protecting students’ educational civil rights do not have the relationships, expertise, or staff capacity to do so.

Multiple media reports, such as one from K12Dive that featured a timeline of the legal and political back-and-forth on shutting down the ED, indicates the ED has asked some OCR employees placed on administrative leave since March 21 to return to work by the end of December to address the current caseload of discrimination complaints.

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Related: Education Leader Challenges Transportation Professionals to Reimagine Compliance and Student Access
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Transportation Focus Amid Uncertainty

Ammon said the most important factor transportation officials should be preparing for “is a lack of certainty about anything we thought was certain. As programs get dispersed across the bureaucracy and funds get commingled into block grants, there will be a shift in the available expertise, guidance and support, meaning departments are more likely to have to go on their own without formal or informal guidance previously provided by ED.

“Until we have a bit more certainty about whether this recent inter-agency transfer of responsibilities and funding levels will hold, districts are better off not making too many changes that would need to be undone if the winds and whims of policy and guidance change again,” he added.

While school transportation is primarily funded at the local and state level, it is indirectly supported by Title 1, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.

Ammon noted confusion will reign for a period of time, with inevitable funding shifts.

“The shifts may not necessarily be direct cuts, but the bundling of programs into something like broader block grants that make funding more fungible and more likely to be reallocated within a district is inevitable,” he added.

Ammon reiterated that guidance on required services is likely to be even more chaotic.

“Worse still is if you think about how long these things take to play out, it is possible that by the time there is some clarity on requirements the administration could change and we are back to uncertainty,” he said.

While the IDEA law would remain intact, it is unclear in the short term which federal agency would enforce it and while states would likely comply, consistency and oversight could weaken with families facing uneven support depending on state laws or budgets, Ammon said.

As the ED collaborates with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on school bus safety recommendations, the EPA on clean fleet initiatives, and Homeland Security on emergency preparedness, its dismantling could slow coordination of national safety policies and potential inconsistencies in federal guidance for bus manufacturing standards, driver qualifications, student safety training, and emergency planning.

“Because much of this is in statute, it would theoretically require Congress to do something which it has seemed incapable of recently so those things feel like they won’t change much,” said Ammon.

“The regulatory issues are likely to be more impacted because of the scope of authority over them,” he continued. “My sense is that theme of uncertainty will be the thing most felt. I suspect that the key agencies transportation operations work with will still want and maybe be even more desirous of providing guidance in order to push the revised thinking down, but the reductions in staffing will make this more difficult because there will be so many fewer people to do the work. As a result, the changes may not be as fast or significant as expected.”

With the OCR and the National Center for Education Statistics playing a key role in tracking transportation access, identifying inequities, monitoring discipline and restraint/seclusion policies on buses, and conducting research on school travel behavior, national visibility regarding data collection and research could be fragmented under the states.

The ED’s data systems track everything from student ride times to transportation spending. With no single entity responsible for collecting nationwide data, the gap would make it more difficult for policymakers and researchers to identify trends or create informed solutions.

“This is one of the areas I am most troubled by,” Ammon said. “As an industry, we already have challenges on gathering and reporting data from at least 50 different state systems and thousands of operations.

“Losing the one source where even if the data isn’t perfect – it was pretty consistent – is a real degradation of the ability to do the trend analysis and comparisons vital to identifying best, emerging, and worst practices out there,” he added.

Ammon noted while he has no idea of the impact, it’s “interesting” to contemplate that without the ED, states may develop different rules affecting interstate collaboration, emergency evacuations, rural and tribal transportation funding, and charter, magnet, and school choice program compliance.

While the ED sets guidance on whether transportation is required or optional, transportation for choice programs becomes a state decision, with a potential increase in inequities.

“With the increased push for school choice at the federal and state level, this may become a bigger issue sooner than a lot of other issues,” Ammon said.

With respect to school bus fleets, drivers and operations, the ED dismantling would interfere with how fleets qualify for federal grants; access to low-emission/green fleet initiatives, and transportation tied to federal programs such as IDEA and Title I with rural districts – which are highly dependent on federal dollars – hit the hardest.

Ammon said this will be a massive and disproportionate influence.

“While federal funding is only about 10 percent of overall funding, for certain districts it is a much higher percentage,” he said, adding that it often affects poorer and more diverse districts.

While the funding reduction will be felt as more of a top-line, district-level resource reduction, it won’t take long to trickle down to transportation, Ammon noted.

“We will see notable reductions in services and the elimination of services in many districts,” Ammon said. “We will also see program reductions because service providers who may offer services for special needs, OT/PT or homeless end up closing due to lack of funding.”

That places the burden of service provision back on districts that are neither staffed nor equipped to provide it, he added.

“It doesn’t take long to get into a doom loop here where it becomes impossible to figure out how to maintain any semblance of what has seemed like normal for a generation,” Ammon said.

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While buses would still meet safety standards through NHTSA, the ED coordinates student evacuation, emergency planning, bullying, restraint and seclusion, and disability access, with such guidance slated to become patchwork on a state-by-state basis.

Ammon said statutory concerns won’t change as much as the regulatory piece, which will likely change due to changes in regulatory scope and a lack of regulators.

“Anything that appears like ‘soft side’ enforcement of things like bullying will be completely gone as that will be perceived to be an enforcement and definition function that should be made at the local level,” he added.

While the move to dismantle the ED is major, “We have to recognize it will be experienced by different populations very differently,” said Ammon. “The groups that have had to rely on federal legislation or support — especially special needs, homeless and socio-economically challenged — will feel this right away.

“It also is important to recognize that concerns such as school desegregation required federal intervention,” he added. “It is difficult to know with a great degree of certainty how this will ultimately be resolved or predict the next area that would require broad federal input in education.”

Whether that is good or bad will be for policy makers and the public to decide.

“We can be reasonably certain that in the current moment, it is going to require a very high bar or severe crisis to get that support,” Ammon added.

The post Funding Among Potential Impacts of U.S. Education Department Dismantling on School Transportation appeared first on School Transportation News.

Th Democratic bill would fund special education reimbursement on a sum sufficient model instead of a sum certain model. An empty high school classroom. (Dan Forer | Getty Images)

Democratic lawmakers are proposing a bill to ensure that school districts get reimbursed for their special education costs at the rates projected when the current state budget was signed. 

The 2025-27 state budget, passed by the state Legislature and signed by Gov. Tony Evers in July, provided funding that was estimated to bring the reimbursement rate to a historic 42% in the first year of the budget and 45% in the second year. However, recent estimates show the funding set aside will not be enough to meet that rate.

Wisconsin currently uses a “sum certain” funding model for its special education reimbursement rate, meaning payments to schools come from a fixed pot of money set aside in the budget. If schools spend more than estimated, there is no increase in reimbursement and the rate falls. 

The Department of Public Instruction notified school districts in November that the initial special education reimbursement payments this year will be about 35% of their costs. This will not be the final reimbursement rate.

The Democratic bill would change state education funding to a sum sufficient model, meaning the amount of money provided by the state would meet shifting costs to maintain a set reimbursement rate.

Rep. Angelina Cruz (D-Racine) said in a statement that the bill gives Republican lawmakers the opportunity to “prove” that they were serious about providing a special education reimbursement at the rate that they proposed in the budget.

“Imagine your employer choosing to pay you for less than half of the work you’ve done,” Cruz said. “That’s the position we’re putting our public schools in. This level of reimbursement is not what our schools want or need, and it’s not what our children with disabilities deserve. At the very least, we must keep our promise.”

Rep. Christian Phelps (D-Eau Claire) said school districts deserve a higher reimbursement rate, noting that many advocates including state Superintendent Jill Underly called for a 90% reimbursement rate in the state budget, and Democratic lawmakers, who are seeking to win control of the Legislature in 2026, would pursue making that a reality in the future. 

“When Democrats control the Legislature, we will fight for full, fair funding in the budget. But right now, this bill ends the broken promises,” Phelps said. “It prevents another year of shortfalls and tells kids, families and districts that they can count on the state to keep its word.”

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FRISCO, Texas — Federal and state special education policy expert Glenna Wright-Gallo delivered a transformative message Sunday at the Transporting Students with Disabilities and Special Needs (TSD) Conference about moving beyond mere compliance by creating meaningful educational experiences for students with disabilities, particularly through transportation services.

The general session underscored a fundamental message: transportation is not about moving students from one place to another, but about creating opportunities for learning, growth and inclusion.

Wright-Gallo, the former assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services during the Biden administration and currently vice president of policy for assistive technology company Everway, began by challenging the audience views on the traditional approach to compliance.

“Compliance for the sake of compliance isn’t effective,” she stated.

She illustrated this point by comparing compliance to speed limit signs — many motorists don’t naturally slow down simply because a sign exists. Instead, she urged student transportation professionals to view their work as a critical component of student learning and access. “No matter what happens, no matter what political party is in the majority, education is a bipartisan issue, and children don’t have time for adults to get it together, right?” she said as as the audience applauded.

The presentation dove into recent policy shifts, highlighting how federal guidance is evolving to view transportation as more than a logistical challenge. “Transportation is access,” she emphasized, explaining that recent joint guidance from the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Transportation now explicitly frames transportation as a civil rights issue directly linked to student attendance and academic success.

During interactive group discussions, attendees revealed significant challenges in interdepartmental communication. One participant shared an example of managing a student who has an autism spectrum disorder, describing how they created reasonable modifications like positioning the student behind the driver to manage specific behavioral challenges. Another transportation director discussed the complexities of coordinating with special education departments, noting frequent communication gaps and last-minute changes that impact transportation planning.

Technology emerged as a potential solution to these challenges. Wright-Gallo encouraged innovative approaches, with one participant sharing how they used AI to create monthly training modules that build upon each other.

“Using AI, I made a training for every month that builds upon the previous months. I present it to my coordinators when we have our monthly meetings, and then they take it out and give it to their drivers that work under them,” explained John Haas, transportation director for Onslow County Schools in North Carolina. “That way, my whole district is being trained on the same thing.”

The funding landscape presented another critical challenge. Wright-Gallo acknowledged the uncertainties at state and federal levels, with many states still struggling to pass budgets. She proposed creative solutions, including exploring alternative funding sources and developing more collaborative approaches between different educational departments.

A key moment came when Wright-Gallo challenged participants to think beyond traditional compliance metrics. “It doesn’t matter what decision we make if it doesn’t result in something different for a student,” she declared, urging participants to focus on meaningful outcomes rather than bureaucratic checklists.

The discussion around technology was particularly nuanced. While embracing innovation, Wright-Gallo also cautioned against wholesale technological adoption. “Whatever goes into a learning management system comes out of it,” she noted, emphasizing the importance of high-quality initial content and training.

Participants were particularly engaged when discussing strategies for inclusive training and professional development. One transportation director shared their approach of coordinating annual in-service training with the special education department, demonstrating the type of collaborative approach Wright-Gallo advocated.

She concluded her keynote with a powerful call to action: “Lead where you live. Don’t wait for someone to give you the title of leader. Do what’s right.” She challenged participants to identify one concrete action they could take in the next 30 days to improve transportation services for students with disabilities.

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Related: Legal Keynote Opens Attendees’ Eyes to Federal Special Needs Transportation Laws
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Thursday afternoon, Wright-Gallo also presented a breakout session on transforming complex Department of Education guidelines in the form of “Dear Colleague” letters into practical, everyday applications.

She highlighted the intersection of key federal laws like the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Section 504, demonstrating how these regulations directly impact transportation services. She shared compelling stories illustrating policy gaps, such as substitute school bus drivers incorrectly denying service animals or mishandling students with neurodivergent conditions.

Regarding service animals, allowed by Section 504 of the ADA, Wright-Gallo clarified that only dogs and miniature horses qualify, and that districts can only ask two specific questions when presented with the request for service: Is the animal is required due to disability rather than being an emotional support animal, and what specific tasks does it perform?

She stressed the importance of avoiding blanket policies that might inadvertently discriminate against students with disabilities.

Funding emerged as another critical theme, with Wright-Gallo revealing multiple potential funding streams for transportation services, including innovative uses of federal funds for training, hiring and supporting student needs. She encouraged transportation directors to explore creative funding approaches and build cross-departmental partnerships.

Assistive technology received significant attention, with Wright-Gallo defining it broadly—from low-tech picture boards to high-tech communication devices. “Assistive technology does not replace a teacher or driver, it enables participation and independence,” she explained, emphasizing that these tools must be accessible during transportation and all school activities.

The post Education Leader Challenges Transportation Professionals to Reimagine Compliance and Student Access appeared first on School Transportation News.

A Fleet Electrification Accelerator launched by Connecticut Green Bank earlier this year provides school districts with a free planning and deployment support program for local school bus fleets, with a focus on distressed municipalities.

The program is designed to help Connecticut school districts transition to electric school buses by offering technical, financial and operational guidance. It helps school districts overcome the various barriers to electrification such as EV adoption, infrastructure planning, vehicle procurement and cost analysis.

As of Tuesday, Preston Public Schools and the Connecticut Technical Education and Career System joined the Fleet Electrification Accelerator Fall Cohort. CTECS serves over 11,000 students across 17 technical high schools and one technical education center.

“The Green Bank is proud of the electric school bus investments we have made in 2025 through the Fleet Electrification Accelerator, which will help communities strive towards a cleaner future,” stated Bryan Garcia, president and CEO of the Connecticut Green Bank. “The participation of Preston Public Schools and CTECS reflects a growing commitment among Connecticut’s educational institutions to reduce emissions and deliver public health benefits through improved air quality while continuing to focus on the safe, reliable transportation of their students to and from school.”

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Through the program, Preston Public Schools and CTECS will receive everything from electric school bus basics, vehicle and charger recommendations, a road map, on site assessment, procurement timelines and funding and incentive opportunities.

“Preston Public Schools is one of approximately 10 school districts that owns and operates its fleet of school buses,” said Roy Seitsinger, Preston’s superintendent of schools. “The initial assessment shows the location of our transportation department to be the third best location statewide to provide the necessary power for electrifying our future fleet needs. We are proud to be one of the first school districts to partner with Connecticut Green Bank.”

Recruitment for the spring 2025 Fleet Electrification Accelerator is currently underway. The program is sponsored by CALSTART.

The post New Resource Helps Connecticut Districts Transition to Electric School Buses appeared first on School Transportation News.

Mission Telecom threw a lifeline to school bus Wi-Fi when the nonprofit broadband provider announced it is honoring the cost share of E-Rate for lines of service.

Last week’s announcement comes after the Federal Communications Commission last month retroactively ended school bus Wi-Fi and external hotspot eligibility under the federal discount program for school districts, libraries and health providers.

School districts nationwide had already applied to and started procuring equipment and services for a school bus Wi-Fi under the assumption they would be receiving anywhere between 20- and 90 percent discounts based the proportion of disadvantage students the district serves or if it’s a rural location. With school districts essentially holding the bag following the 2-1 FCC decision on Sept. 30, Mission Telecom is reselling access to the T-Mobile 5G network.

“Equipment’s already installed. Some of these bus Wi-Fi programs [have] been running for years, and [school districts] were counting on their E-Rate discounts in their budgets. And then, all of a sudden, they were told you’re not going to get those discounts,” commented Michael Flood, a school broadband consultant and owner of Alpine Frog, which advises Mission Telecom.

Mark Colwell, director of broadband operations for Mission Telecom, explained to School Transportation News in an email that the company holds seven wireless spectrum licenses in large U.S. cities and leases them to a subsidiary of T-Mobile. In exchange, he continued, Mission Telecom access T-Mobile’s 5G network and resells the lines of service to education, libraries and social-good organizations at affordable rates.

Also, a grantmaking organization, Mission Telecom’s nonprofit status allows it to provide the data service at no more than $20 per month.

“We do not rely on traditional benefactors or individual donors, our nonprofit model and partnerships allow us to reinvest every surplus dollar into other digital-equity initiatives, cost savings for our partners, and grant making programs,” he added. “Every connection we make helps expand affordable access, close the digital divide, and empower organizations to thrive in an increasingly connected world.”

Colwell said Mission Telecom is offering the unlimited 4G/5G wireless service
at the applicant school district’s post-discount share of case based on the approved E-Rate Form 471.

“Thus, we are matching the lines of service, not the equipment,” he noted.

Colwell provided the example of a school district that previously paid $30 per month for school bus Wi-Fi connectivity and received an 80 percent E-Rate discount. He said Mission Telecom will provide unlimited service for $6 per month through June 30, 2026.

He continued that the process for school districts is “fast and transparent with no red tape or lengthy reviews,” with eligible schools and libraries needing only to submit their existing E-Rate Form 471.

Flood, who also formerly worked for Kajeet, said school districts using AT&T or Verizon, for example, could still apply for the Mission Telecom service if they already use Cradle Point routers and are released from their contracts or determine the savings is worth breaking them.

“You just pop a new SIM card in and they’re good to go,” he added.

He also noted that the new discounts come without the strings attached to E-Rate. For example, the federal discounts only applied to the number of counted, registered students who accessed the Wi-Fi on home-to-school routes and back home again. With Mission Telecom, a school district could also use the Wi-Fi for sports activity and to power GPS location, student ridership and bus video transfer.

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Related:School Bus Wi-Fi in Flux?
Related: Iowa’s Largest School District Mulls Future of School Bus Wi-Fi Program
Related: <Update: Senate Approves Stripping Individual Wi-Fi Hotspots from E-Rate Program

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School district officials have until Nov. 3 to apply for a grant designed to help implement measures to prevent school-based violence.

The funding would cover programs to “prevent violence in K–12 school settings by implementing behavioral threat assessments and/or intervention teams, technological solutions, such as anonymous reporting technology and other school safety strategies that assist in preventing school-based violence,” states an overview of the fiscal-year 2025 Student, Teachers and Officers Presenting (STOP) School Violence Program, administered by the Bureau of Justice Assistance.

Examples of funding options include developing and operating technology solutions, developing and implementing multidisciplinary behavioral threat assessment and/or intervention teams, educating students on how to prevent school violence, and training school personnel on how to prevent it.

School Transportation Active-Threat- Response Training (S.T.A.R.T.), an organization based in Ohio that provides evidence-based training programs nationwide, is encouraging districts to apply for the STOP Grant funding, to provide training to shool bus drivers and aides.

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Related: WATCH: Michigan Association Releases Illegal Passing PSA for School Bus Safety Week
Related: Ohio School Bus Grant Program Launches, $10M Available
Related: Florida District Introduces Innovative Safety Training for School Bus Drivers
Related: Federal Bill Aims to Increase Awareness of Illegal School Bus Passing

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Eligible applicants include state governments or public/state-controlled institutions of higher education (category 1) as well as local units of government (cities, counties, townships), federally recognized Native American tribal governments, non-profits (with or without 501(c)(3) status) other than institutions of higher education, independent school districts, and private institutions of higher education (Category 2).Category 2 awardees can receive up to $1 million per award.

The application process is two-part. Applicants must register in Grants.gov and follow the prompts to submit the SF-424 form by Oct. 27. The complete application is due Nov.3.

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A newly created safety fund will award Ohio school districts with grants to update their fleets with safety features, like seatbelts.

The Ohio School Bus Working Group, called by Gov. Mike DeWine following the August 2024 ejection and death of 11-year-old Aidan Clark after his school bus was struck by an oncoming truck, issued final recommendations after five months of in-person meetings.

HB3 passed the state House unanimously in June to address some of the recommendations. In addition to creating the grant fund program, it also seeks to increase fines of illegally passing motorists and to designate the month of August as School Bus Safety Awareness Month.

While the bill awaits passage in the Senate, DeWine announced that the School Bus Safety Grant Program application has launched, and applications are being accepted Oct. 15 through Nov.14. The program will provide a total of $10 million in competitive school bus safety grants.

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Related: Ohio School Bus Safety Act Raises Awareness of Illegal Passing
Related: Ohio Bill Seeks School Bus Illegal Passing Fine Increase, Safety Fund
Related: Ohio Teen Escapes Abduction Attempt While Waiting for School Bus; Suspect in Custody
Related: Texas School District Updates Seatbelt Policy Following School Bus Rollover
Related: School Bus Seatbelt Law Appears Imminent in Illinois

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Eligible applicants include city, local, exempted village and joint vocational school districts as well as community schools, chartered nonpublic schools, STEM schools, educational service centers, and county boards of developmental disabilities. The grants can go toward “the repair, replacement, or addition of authorized school bus safety features to school buses in active service or for safety enhancements to the purchase of a new school bus” the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce lists on its website. “The program is designed for flexibility to allow for tailored purchases that meet specific safety needs, while also considering finances.”

Rudolph Breglia, an advocate for seatbelts in Ohio, said in his testimony at a House committee hearing on HB3 in April that priority of grant funding should be given to the installation of lap/shoulder seatbelts in school buses, “since these safety tools directly protect children from injury and death in the event of a school bus incident. Children always need direct protection provided by seatbelts since traffic accidents will always occur regardless of how hard we try to prevent accidents by adding preventative measures to school buses,” he continued, adding that applications should also be advised that evidence exists that installing lap/shoulder seatbelts has reached the status of a “Standard of Care” or “best practice.”

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Software company Edulog is using an infusion of private equity funding to expand its presence in the K-12 student transportation routing market and support new developments with its Athena cloud-native platform, while also streamlining company operations.

The family-run company founded in 1977 and based in Missoula, Montana announced Tuesday it is partnering with private equity firm Serent Capital. Details of the deal were not disclosed.

“Our mission is to help school districts make the most of their resources. With Serent’s backing, we can broaden our reach to even more districts and families across the country, and continue to lead the industry in innovation,” commented Edulog founder Dr. Hien Nguyen.

Company spokeswoman Lam Nguyen-Bull explained to School Transportation News the strategic growth investment will allow Edulog to work with a wider range of clients than in recent years, which is expected to make Athena more accessible and intuitive to school districts, regardless if they contract for a part-time route or a employ team of on-staff routers.

Athena is a modular, configurable, cloud-based routing platform designed for school districts of all sizes. Edulog said it integrates with student information systems to pull and populate transportation routers and eligibility with customizable maps, select and assign stops to runs and communicate with parents via a portal.

The Athena software roadmap includes enhancements in what CEO Sam Bull referred to in a statement as Edulog’s “unrivaled optimization suite.” It already includes depot, stop, special needs, run, route and bell time optimization, he noted.

Nguyen-Bull added that it also provides more intuitive dashboards, deeper reporting and a better ability to track ROI through cost savings, route efficiency and route utilization.

“We’re also building AI-driven features to layer on top of our unique industry leading mathematical algorithmic optimization to support proactive planning and faster decision-making,” she said. “In addition, we’re expanding our modules by enhancing tools like our parent and driver portals and exploring new capabilities like field trip management, fleet maintenance and dismissal workflows that can simplify operations even further.”

Part of the deal includes adding Perry Turbes, Serent’s senior operating executive, to Edulog’s board of directors as executive chair. He will oversee Serent’s Operating Executive Director program, which pairs experienced former CEOs with portfolio companies to provide strategic guidance and hands-on support.

Meanwhile, it’s business as usual for Edulog customers but with increased support, Nguyen-Bull added.

“The teams and faces our customers know aren’t going anywhere. What is changing is the level of investment in the things that matter most: Faster enhancements, more personalized service and a clearer voice for customers in the future of our platform,” she said.

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Related: Retired NC State Director Graham Aligns with Edulog
Related: Ins, Outs of Routing Software Discussed at STN EXPO Reno
Related: New Technology Provides Data to School Bus Routing

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METHUEN, Mass. – Lawrence Public Schools, NRT Bus Inc., Zenobē, and partners today hosted a ribbon cutting to celebrate the deployment of 35 new electric school buses. Thanks to successful public and private partnerships, Lawrence Public Schools has deployed 25 new electric school buses, supported by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and 10 minibuses, supported by an initiative led by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) and funded by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), as part of their regular home-to-school operations. The buses are based in Methuen and support clean transportation for Lawrence Public Schools.

“To give students a comfortable, quieter daily bus ride while benefiting public health, the environment and Lawrence taxpayers is a big win for our entire community,” said Lawrence Public Schools Superintendent Ralph Carrero. “This initiative is the power of public-private partnership at its best.”

“As part of our ongoing commitment to reduce emissions and promote cleaner air for our students and schools, we are thrilled to announce the launch of this charging site to support our new electric fleet for Lawrence Public Schools,” said Scott Sheridan, Senior Vice President of NRT Bus. “We are grateful for the hard work and dedication of all our partners from the public and private sector who made this project possible and are helping us power this new fleet for the 2025 school year.”

“We’re drawing on our global fleet electrification experience to bring clean transportation and its many health and climate benefits to NRT Bus, Beacon Mobility and Lawrence Public Schools. This is an excellent example of public-private partnership in action, and we believe projects like this can be as financially sustainable as they are environmentally sustainable and beneficial,” commented Zenobē Executive Vice President of U.S. EV Sales and Marketing Maggie Clancy.

Undertaken as a partnership between the EPA, MassCEC, Beacon Mobility, Zenobē, Sargent & Lundy, National Grid, Liberty Utilities, and the school district, the charging site was completed last summer and is being used to charge and store the 35 new electric buses.

“This investment means healthier air for students, quieter neighborhoods, and cost savings for school districts over the long term,” said Rachel Ackerman, Senior Program Director for Clean Transportation at MassCEC. “Projects like this show how innovative partnerships can deliver immediate community benefits while accelerating the state’s transition to clean transportation. MassCEC is proud to support Lawrence Public Schools in putting these new electric minibuses on the road.”

Electrified by National Grid and Liberty Utilities, the charging station site provides a sustainable hub for recharging the electric batteries that power the new fleet to shuttle Merrimack Valley students and community members to and from school and other local activities.

“At National Grid, we believe fleet electrification is a key component of building a sustainable and diversified energy future,” said Jake Navarro, Director of Clean Transportation, National Grid. “We’re proud to collaborate with a range of stakeholders to invest in and modernize our energy infrastructure to support the customers and communities we serve.”

Lawrence Public Schools deployed the 25 new electric buses as part of the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program in 2022. The school district serves 13,000 K-12 students. The 25 electric school buses alone are projected to reduce carbon emissions by an estimated 1.35 million pounds per year, equivalent to removing 136 gas-powered passenger cars off the road for one year. In addition, the district was awarded $1,670,000 under MassCEC’s ACT School Bus Deployment Program in 2023 which was used to fund the 10 minibuses.

All vehicles were placed in service for the current 2025 school year.

About Zenobē Energy Ltd. (Zenobē):
Zenobē is an EV fleet and grid-scale battery storage specialist, headquartered in the U.K. The company began operations in 2017 and now employs >380 FTEs with a wide range of leading skills including electrical engineering, software development, computer sciences and financing. Zenobē has around a 25% market share of the U.K. EV bus sector and supports over 3,400 electric vehicles across 120 depots globally. The company is the largest owner and operator of EV buses in the U.K., Australia and New Zealand. Zenobē is also the leading owner and operator of grid-scale batteries on the Great Britain transmission network with >1GW of battery storage assets in operation or under construction. Zenobē’s North American headquarters are in Chicago with a subsidiary office in New York and it is actively hiring in Canada and the U.S. For more information visit zenobe.com or LinkedIn.

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As expected, the Federal Communications Commission voted 2-1 to end E-Rate eligibility of school bus Wi-Fi as well as other off-campus internet hotspots.

The declaratory ruling approved Tuesday finds Wi-Fi is now ineligible for E-Rate funding for pending fiscal year 2025 reimbursement requests because two of three FCC commissioners “determined that the best reading of section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934, is that the use and provision of these services on school buses does not serve an educational purpose as defined by E-Rate program rules and conflicts with the statute’s direction to enhance access to E-Rate-eligible services for classrooms and libraries,” FCC said in a statement.

School Wi-Fi and hotspot experts disagree.

At the urging of FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, the open meeting agenda was updated last week to include reconsideration of a 2023 eclaratory ruling “that would align E-Rate eligibility with section 254 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and make school bus Wi-Fi an ineligible expense. FCC also revoked the federal school hotspot program. School bus Wi-Fi and hotspot advocates say the declaratory ruling disproportionately affects low-income and rural students.

Carr expressed his intent earlier this month to end federal reimbursements for school bus Wi-Fi. Normally the FCC seats five commissioners but currently only has three with two vacancies: Carr is joined by fellow Republican Olivia Trusty, who was confirmed by the Senate earlier this year, and Anna Gomez, a Democrat.

Gomez, who was the lone dissenting vote Tuesday, was one of three votes in 2023 to pass then-Chairman Jessica Rosenworcel’s Learning Without Limits, which included the school bus Wi-Fi eligibility. Following a 2024 FCC order to expand the Universal Service program to fund hotspots outside of schools and libraries, school districts were allowed to apply and be selected for reimbursements. Carr was also a commissioner at the time and cast a no vote.

FCC said Tuesday a statement from Gomez was forthcoming. On Sept. 3, she cautioned that millions of students as well as seniors nationwide stand to suffer as “FCC is moving to strip that connectivity away while doing nothing to make broadband more affordable.”

”Their latest proposals will only widen the gap between those with access to modern-day tools and those left behind. We must all fight back against this level of cruelty and indifference by this administration,” she added.

Carr contends the initiative illegally extended the Emergency Connectivity Fund passed by Congress to provide for federal funding of school bus Wi-Fi for neighborhood hotspots during the COVID-19 pandemic and school shutdowns for children needing to access virtual classes and complete homework.

Learning Without Limits intended to “close the homework gap” between areas of the country where students have access to and can afford broadband internet with economically disadvantaged and rural communities that do not or cannot.

Sen. Edward Markey of Massachusetts, a Democrat, is one of the original authors of the E-Rate program.

“Rolling back the FCC’s hotspot rule is a direct attack on students and educators who need Wi-Fi to complete homework assignments, create lesson plans, and connect with each other,” he said in an email to School Transportation News Friday. “This move is short-sighted and cruel. It saves no money and only makes life harder for millions of Americans. We should be expanding connections, not cutting them off, and I will fight to keep every child, family and library online.”

Markey led a letter sent to Carr by Senate Democrats Monday asking him to continue allowing school bus Wi-Fi to be an allowable E-Rate expense. The letter notes that FCC awarded $48 million through E-Rate in fiscal year 2024 for school bus Wi-Fi.

Further frustrating Markey and other school bus Wi-Fi and off-campus hotspot supporters, the FCC only gave one week notice of the meeting agenda change and did not allow for public comment. Joey Wender, executive director of the Schools Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition, said the fate of internet access for students “should not be rushed through,” pointing out school districts nationwide have already made purchasing plans under the assumption federal funding would be available going forward.

“We believe FCC should provide ample notice of any changes and for stakeholders to comment, tell their stories, and share their data,” he added.

Echoing Sen. Ted Cruz, the leading opponent of E-Rate for school bus Wi-Fi and hotspots in Congress, Carr asserts that school bus Wi-Fi and hotspots were never meant to be E-Rate eligible expenses. Advocates argue that Congress left open for interpretation section 254(c)(1) of the Communications Act, reauthorized in 1996 to add Universal Service as the mechanism that funds internet service for schools, libraries and health care providers, the definition of what an elementary school and secondary school, along with libraries, for where Wi-Fi and internet connections can be established and reimbursed.

“Congress deliberately left the term classroom undefined in the Telecommunications Act because it understood that students learn in many different settings, both inside and outside of traditional school buildings,” commented Keith Krueger, executive director of the Consortium for School Networking, or CoSN. “That flexibility has always been a strength of the E-Rate program, allowing it to adapt as learning environments change.”
He also noted the federal law refers to “an evolving level of services.”

“From that perspective, school bus Wi-Fi is consistent with the program’s purpose. It is simply one of the modern settings where students do their work,” he added.

During a keynote address at the 2024 STN EXPO West, Krueger told the audience the FCC estimates between 8.5 million and 16 million school children nationwide lack broadband internet at home.

Wender noted FCC supports internet connectivity reimbursed by E-Rate for administrative offices and book mobiles that extend to parking lots, and school bus Wi-Fi is an even better use-case.

FCC’s Carr and Gomez as well as Sen. Cruz had not responded to questions posed by STN at this report.

But Carr and Cruz have publicly stated that school bus Wi-Fi is poses a safety issue for students using it, with Cruz likening it to TikTok for school children.

However, E-Rate requires all funded communications devices comply with the Child Internet Protection Act. School bus Wi-Fi services must include filters that, in conjunction with closed school district networks, prohibit students from accessing unapproved sites and logs when and where the attempts occur.

In a 2023 announcement of the All Eyes on Board Act to combat FCC voting to allow school bus Wi-Fi, Cruz along with Sens. Senator Ted Budd of North Carolina and Shelley Capito of West Virginia acknowledged CIPA regulations but added “there is currently no provision requiring schools to block access to distracting and addictive social media apps or websites. As a result, the E-Rate program risks inadvertently enabling access to social media in schools,” though state laws do exist requiring the sites be blocked.

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Related: Trusty Confirmed to FCC as School Bus Wi-Fi Future Hangs in Balance
Related: School Bus Wi-Fi in Flux?
Related: Iowa’s Largest School District Mulls Future of School Bus Wi-Fi Program

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Earlier this month, Sen. Cruz encouraged the House to pass a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to overturn what he called “the illegal Biden hotspot rule.” In May, he led a similar CRA through the Senate, where it passed to end federal funding of external hotspot devices some school districts send home with their students. But so far, Cruz has not garnered sufficient votes in the House to consolidate and pass a final CRA, which would be needed for President Trump’s signature into law.

Cruz has also said there are existing FCC programs that could fund school bus Wi-Fi, but he has not provided specifics.

Commented Wender, “I cannot speak to the intentions of policy makers. I can only speak to the consequences of ending the [school bus Wi-Fi] program, which is widening the digital divide resulting in low-income kids not being able to do their homework.”

Still, there’s hope, he said. Wender called FCC action “the lesser of two evils” because a future commission could reverse a decision and reinstate E-Rate reimbursement. The passage of a CRA would be more permanent.

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With 2.2 million Canadian students back in school via the yellow school bus, a new report by the Canadian Electric School Bus Alliance (CESBA) highlights the need for equity of access and funding to make the transition to electric school buses a successful one. ​

Fewer than 4 percent of Canada’s 51,000 school buses, about 2,000 vehicles, are currently electric. But 70 percent of school buses on the road are set to be replaced in the next two to seven years, the report emphasizes.

Embedding Equity in Canada’s Transition to Electric School Buses calls on federal and provincial policymakers to ensure no one is left behind during the country’s move toward zero-emissions school buses. It identifies challenges faced by indigenous communities, students with disabilities and under-resourced areas in accessing ESBs. Adoption remains “significantly lower” in indigenous and remote communities nationwide, due primarily to cost barriers. ​

“We want to make sure that provinces roll out some financial incentive for electric school buses because right now just for the deployment there are absolutely no guidelines that force school bus operators or school districts to prioritize electric school buses in communities where there is more pollution and where they’re actually underserved,” lead author Valerie Tremblay of Green Communities Canada, a co-coordinator of CESBA, told School Transportation News.

The paper notes most ESBs range from $400,000 to $600,000 per bus compared to $125,000 for a diesel model — and related infrastructure, which proves especially challenging for indigenous and remote communities that already have higher transportation costs and barriers to funding. For example, transporting a student in northern Alberta costs $1,279 compared to $363 in urban areas, according to a report on education transportation needs prepared for the Assembly of First Nations, an advocacy group for indigenous people across Canada. ​

School bus contractor Switzer-Carty is a CESBA member company and currently operates two, 2018 model-year, Type C ESBs from the former Lion Electric. Those buses transport general education students, said Rich Bagdonas, vice president of business development for Switzer-Carty. But funding is also at issue.

The federal government targets 35 percent of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles sales to be zero emissions by 2030 and 100 percent by 2040. The Zero Emissions Transit Fund (ZETF) covers capital and planning costs, while the Zero Emissions Vehicle Infrastructure Program funds chargers.

But Bagdonas pointed out that Ontario, where Switzer-Carty mainly operates, does not currently offer provincial funding programs or incentives though the company is exploring other local options.

Tremblay added ESB funding and deployment has so far focused on Montreal and Quebec, where 80 percent or about 1,600 ESBs operate, and other urban cities. Quebec also mandates nearly two-thirds of school bus fleets be electrified by 2030. British Columbia operates about 150 ESBs and also offers incentives, noted Bagdonas, as the province also aligns with California’s mandate that all trucks and buses be electrified by 2036.

Further illustrating the challenge, the report shares that Prince Edward’s Island also has no funding program currently in place despite targeting 100 percent ESBs province-wide by 2030. It had been relying on funding from the Canada Infrastructure Bank Zero-Emissions Bus Initiative, but those funds are now exhausted.

The report recommends revising provincial and federal budgets to cover higher upfront ESB costs and better support small fleet operators.

Tremblay and associate Nicole Roach note that procurement guidelines and safety standards also need updating to ensure universal bus design and a wider range of school bus models that provide accessibility and inclusivity for all. For example, they call for standard wheelchair lifts for students with disabilities.

Tremblay and Roach write that Type A school buses now offer increased range, the prior lack of which had posed “significant challenges,” but supply remains constrained with only a few models available in Canada. The availability of Type C school buses equipped with wheelchair lifts “has the potential to ease some of the equity concerns tied to ESB adoption, especially for smaller operators or school districts,” they write.

Then, there is the obvious reduction in exposure to diesel emissions, which not only improves health but also provides better academic outcomes and school attendance. The report cites findings from the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine and the National Bureau of Economic Research in Massachusetts.

The report also considers the entire lifecycle of electric school buses, from resource extraction to manufacturing, adoption and use to disposal, and calls for intentional planning to ensure the transition benefits all communities, especially those on indigenous lands. Canada is a leading global producer of many critical minerals essential for ESB production, with mining predominantly located in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta.

Meanwhile, the report also notes the need for improved working conditions by increasing wages and operational funding for school transportation staff, “as electric buses provide cleaner and quieter environments but may limit extra income opportunities due to range constraints.” This includes workforce development to expand ESB maintenance training programs that address skill gaps and job losses in the transition. ​

In addition to newly manufactured ESBs, the report recommends funding pilot projects to convert diesel buses to electric, preventing the export of decommissioned buses to countries with weaker safety standards, policies for adopting safe recycling of electric vehicle batteries and strengthening protections in mining practices to respect the rights of indigenous people and address human rights abuses linked to Canadian mining companies. ​

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Related: WRI Research Highlights Monetary Health Benefits of Electric School Buses
Related: Previous Lion Electric School Bus Warranties Voided by Company Sale
Related: Report Finds Challenges to California Vehicle Electrification Plans

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A new report reaffirms California’s commitment to zero-emission vehicle adoption and deployment despite attempts by Congress and the Trump administration to remove federal waivers that provide the state authority to cut pollution levels within its borders and elsewhere.

The state currently is involved in multiple lawsuits challenging the administration’s efforts to revoke the waivers approved by the Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency and others.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) released the report last week in response to Gov. Gavin  Executive Order N-27-25 in June that directs CARB and several other state agencies to recommend strategies that make clean transportation more affordable, reliable and accessible. ​The report outlines strategies to expand the adoption of Zero-Emission Vehicles (ZEVs) across all vehicle types, including school buses, as part of the state’s broader effort to combat air pollution and climate change. ​

The report highlights California’s leadership in clean transportation, noting that the state has already surpassed its goal of deploying 2 million ZEVs. ​With 56 ZEV manufacturers operating in the state and nearly 178,000 public or shared private electric vehicle chargers installed, California is setting the pace for the nation. ​

However, the CARB report notes that five of the 10 most polluted cities in the U.S. are in California, and millions of residents still live in areas with dangerously high ozone levels, especially in the Los Angeles area and the San Joaquin Valley. ​

To address these challenges, CARB recommends actions across six key areas: Private investment, incentives, infrastructure, fuel pricing, regulations, and procurement. CARB seeks to sustain the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) program that utilizes credits from 200 participating companies and from utilities to subsidize clean fuels like renewable diesel and to continue taking advantage of other existing funding programs. It recommends backfilling the federal clean air vehicle tax credits that are set to expire at the end of next month and providing “reliable and consistent funding” to the agency and the California Energy Commission for ZEV deployment and infrastructure incentive programs.

Noting that infrastructure remains one of the largest barriers to ZEV adoption, the report highlights the need for increased reliability of and access to EV chargers, including timely repair. CARB also recommends streamlining permitting processes and utility energization timelines. This includes implementing flexible service connections and other strategies to eliminate delays in EV charging installation.

CARB also calls for unlocking the benefits of V2G by improving the energization process to enable vehicles to power homes and businesses or to export power to the grid during peak demand periods. This includes developing utility rates “that align EV charging and discharging with grid needs” and establishing incentives to automakers that build EVs that can provide backup power. CARB also writes that standards are needed for chargers to enable the use of vehicle-grid integration.

School buses are directly impacted by the state’s push for ZEV adoption. The report emphasizes the need for incentives and infrastructure to support the transition to zero-emission buses. ​For school districts, this could mean additional access to funding programs that make it easier to replace aging diesel buses with electric or even hydrogen-powered alternatives. ​Additionally, CARB says the focus on building reliable charging infrastructure could alleviate concerns about fueling capacity and range limitations. ​

For companies operating school buses, the report’s recommendations present both opportunities and challenges. The emphasis on private investment through programs like the LCFS could provide financial incentives for operators to transition their fleets. ​Additionally, the state’s focus on workforce development could help create a pipeline of skilled workers to maintain and operate ZEVs. ​

However, the transition will require careful planning. CARB states operators will need to navigate new regulations, invest in charging or fueling infrastructure and ensure their fleets meet the state’s reliability and durability standards. Collaboration with state agencies and local governments will be key to overcoming these hurdles.

The CARB report also notes 17 other states and the District of Columbia have chosen to adopt at least part of California’s vehicle standards. The demand in these states for clean transportation collectively represents 40 percent of the nation’s new light-duty vehicle market and 25 percent of the nation’s new heavy-duty vehicle market, which are three to four times that of California alone. In addition, three of these states have established complementary regulations similar to California’s LCFS to further advance the clean vehicle market.

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Related: EPA Proposal Seeks to Eliminate GHG Regulations for Vehicles, Engines
Related: Update: Congress Shifts Tide in Regulatory Demands for Clean Energy
Related: CARB Uses $33M in Funding to Target Other Zero-Emissions School Travel

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While the immediate future remains uncertain on federal emissions regulations and funding, school bus OEMs say they are prepared with varied solutions going forward to meet the needs of every customer, no matter the fuel or where they operate.

That was the key takeaway from a July 13 panel at STN EXPO West in Reno, Nevada. The OEM representatives on stage were Francisco Lagunas, general manager of North America Bus for Cummins; Jim Crowcroft, general sales manager for Thomas Built Buses; Katie Stok, product marketing and commercial readiness for IC Bus; Frank Girardot, the PR, marketing and government relations leader at RIDE; and Brad Beauchamp, EV product segment leader for Blue Bird. The session attempted to provide some clarity to the ever-changing funding and fuel landscape.

“The only certainty is that everything is so uncertain,” Lagunas punctuated during the “The Engines & Emissions Pathway Forward” session, facilitated by School Transportation News Editor-in-Chief Ryan Gray.

Lagunas added that Cummins is seeing an increased demand in diesel, confirming that the new B6.7 octane engine will be available in January. Though, he noted that investments in electric batteries and drive systems have not slowed down. Accelera, the zero-emissions division of Cummins, is a member of a joint venture with Daimler Truck North America and Paccar to create a U.S.-based battery cell manufacturer, Amplify Cell Technologies.

Crowcroft agreed, adding that one year has made a huge difference in industry focus. Several of the same panelists sat on a similar panel last year at STN EXPO, where he said EV was the focus of the industry.

“Now, it’s been a complete 180 [degree turn] this year,” he shared, adding that the industry has spent too much time talking about EVs and not enough time talking about the other offerings.

This year has been about being diverse, being nimble and ready to adapt to change when necessary. “What is the most practical plan?” he asked, noting that diesel technology has advanced and EV fatigue is setting in.

He shared that Thomas is not telling customers what fuel or energy type to use but instead empowering them to choose what works best for their fleets. Noting the Trump administration’s relaxation of a federal push for zero-emission vehicles, Crowcroft said there has been a sigh of relief from customers for not feeling like they have to purchase electric school buses.

He noted that with all the changes and technologies, it puts more pressure on the OEMs to keep up. He said Thomas is committed to investing in quality, citing that ahead of the 2027 GHG Phase 3 regulations targeting lower NOx (the EPA currently has it on hold pending a proposal to remove GHG regulations), school districts might want to pre-buy within the next 12 months to avoid cost increases tied to the new technology.

Beauchamp said Blue Bird has always focused on a fuel-agnostic path for its customers, and the company plans on continuing with propane being a low emission source. While he said Blue Bird had yet to see EV order cancellations as of last month, he anticipates those orders will flatten. Regardless, Blue Bird is committed to EV, noting an $80 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy last year (and double that amount in company matching funds) to build a new Type D electric school bus plant.

He noted that while the supply chain has improved coming out of COVID-19, “We’re not out of the words on it, yet,” he said.

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Related: Electric School Bus Manufacturing Included in Nearly $2B Federal Energy Grant

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Stok noted that the industry conversation should not be about low costs but having a supplier that delivers good quality on time. She noted that, like the other OEMs, EV is still very much part of the IC Bus product portfolio, as is diesel. However, she said the change in federal regulations will usher in changing order preferences across the industry, noting that IC is reintroducing its own gasoline school bus with the upcoming Cummins engine.

For the remainder of 2025, she said IC Bus is on track to have the highest production output from its Tulsa, Oklahoma plant. Communication is key right now, she added, and the manufacturer is working with its dealer network to listen to the customers and continue to improve.

Meanwhile, Girardot said it’s too early to predict what the future holds but BYD electric school bus company RIDE believes it holds a promise to furthering the deployment of EVs and enhancing the capabilities of vehicle to grid technology. He noted that V2G holds value and is something that communities need to consider. He highlighted success stories of V2G, such as in the Oakland Unified School District in California.

Girardot added that technician training on electric school buses is a must.

Additionally, RIDE announced a range extension on its blade battery, which took home the Best Green Technology, as judged by attendees at the STN EXPO West Trade Show Innovation Awards. Girardot added RIDE, too, received a competitive grant to expand its manufacturing facility.

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Related: Transfinder, RIDE Win Big with STN EXPO Innovation Awards
Related: Another $200M Now Available for Electric School Buses in New York
Related: EPA Provides Update on Clean School Bus Program

The post School Bus Manufacturers Stay the Course Despite Regulatory, Funding Uncertainty appeared first on School Transportation News.

The third round of funding through the $4.2 billion Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022 is now available for zero-emission school buses in the state of New York.

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced July 22 an additional $200 million distributed through the New York School Bus Incentive Program (NYSBIP). The second installment of $200 million was made available a year ago, while the first round of $100 million was announced in October 2022.

The funding covers everything from the purchase of the electric school buses to the charging infrastructure and fleet electrification planning.

“New York State is leaning into our Environmental Bond Act commitment to provide public schools with the funding and resources to make electric school buses more affordable,” Hochul said in a statement. “We are leaving no school behind as we reduce pollution from vehicles so every student can benefit from clean air while building healthier, more sustainable communities for New Yorkers across the state.”

The program is administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), while NYSBIP provides incentives to eligible school bus fleet operators, including school districts and private contractors, that purchase zero-emission buses.

The funding is available on a first-come, first-served basis with funding amounts covering up to 100 percent of the incremental cost of a new or repowered electric school bus. Priority districts identified as high-need school districts and disadvantaged communities are available to receive larger funding amounts.

The deadline to purchase zero-emission school buses in the state nears amid the latest funding round. All new school buses purchased statewide as of Jan. 1, 2027, must be zero emissions and all school district and contractor fleets must be 100 percent zero emissions by 2035. The recently passed state budget extended a deferment until 2029 for school districts that demonstrate their challenges with meeting the mandate.

The NYSBIP defines zero emissions as electric or hydrogen fuel cell school buses, though only the latter are currently available.

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Related: New York State of Charge
Related: State Budget Calls for Real-world Range Testing for Electric School Bus Sales
Related: School Buses Among New York City Fleet to Go Electric

The post Another $200M Now Available for Electric School Buses in New York appeared first on School Transportation News.

Reading Time: < 1 minute

No.

Federal law prohibits students in the country without authorization from receiving federal financial aid.

Two Clinton-era laws — the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act and the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act — require all students to provide a valid Social Security number or otherwise demonstrate lawful-presence status to receive federal aid.

The Federal Student Aid website confirms that unauthorized students — including DACA recipients — are ineligible for federal student aid. However, it notes that unauthorized immigrants can still seek financial support through other channels, such as state grant programs, institutional aid, and private scholarships. 

The American Journal of Economics and Sociology points out that although there are alternative avenues, they are often limited and inconsistent. Even when available, it is last-dollar aid, covering only remaining costs after all other aid is applied. As a result, this rarely meets the total cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• The Review of Higher Education Undocumented College Students, Taxation, and Financial Aid: A Technical Note
• Federal Student Aid Undocumented Students and Financial Aid
• The American Journal of Economics and Sociology Immigration Status and Postsecondary Opportunity: Barriers to Affordability, Access, and Success for Undocumented Students, and Policy Solutions

Do federal tax dollars pay for the college tuition of unauthorized immigrants? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

After what felt like the end of the road for the Clean School Bus Program, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency provided an update overview, including the anticipation of additional information regarding the 2024 rebate program.

In an email Monday, the EPA reminded awardees of next steps for the rebate and grant programs, provided program oversight and compliance, and shared resources and news.

For the 2022 CSB Rebate, EPA said it completed review of most school bus projects and Close Out Forms, or COF, submitted by rebate recipients. EPA also said it is actively working with selectees to ensure accuracy and completeness. For those who have not completed their COF, the EPA is working with those selectees to ensure it is submitted in an expedited fashion.

Additionally, EPA said it is performing site visits with all 2022 CSB rebate recipients.

Meanwhile, about 50 percent of the awarded funding under the 2023 CSB rebate program has been disbursed. The EPA is encouraging all selectees to submit their payment request forms (PRF) for those projects. If the PRF has not been submitted, selectees must either submit the form as soon as possible or request an extension via the online portal.

Upon completing the PRF, rebate selectees will receive an official funds disbursement email from the EPA, with the money typically available within seven to 10 days. Once selectees receive the funds they must “email the EPA’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer (EPA-CSB-FinancialReporting@epa.gov) within 10-business days of spending their funds on eligible expenses or passing the rebate funds to a third-party to complete the purchase for eligible expenses,” the EPA stated.

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Related: EPA CSBP Payment Request Deadline This Month
Related: Report Highlights Shift in Federal Policy from EVs to Conventional Fuels
Related: The State of Green School Buses
Related: Big Questions Vexing Student Transporters

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When school buses are deployed and replaced, and infrastructure is installed, the EPA stated that selectees will need to submit their 2023 COF.

EPA also reminded Clean School Bus Program grant recipients of the July 30 deadline for filing semi-annual reports, which cover January through June 2025. The EPA asked that all selectees submit their progress reports to the EPA project officer.

Additional information regarding the 2024 rebate program is forthcoming, EPA said.

The EPA is also hosting various webinars through its Office of Grants and Departments that could be of interest to grant awardees as well as webinars through the Automated Standard Application for Payments.

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