CUMBERLAND, R.I. – From coast to coast, Durham School Services is helping students start the school year strong. Now, the spotlight turns to the East Coast, where the company recently celebrated another successful start-up alongside its longtime partner of 21 years, the Cumberland School Department.

In preparation for the first day of school, Durham’s team and the Cumberland School Department dotted every i and crossed every t. From start-up meetings to safety training and driver refresher courses, these standard procedures were completed flawlessly. While this preparation played a significant role in last month’s success, the true credit, according to Mark Dumont, General Manager, Durham School Services, is “the relationship we’ve built on open communication, collaboration, and our shared commitment to student safety.”

As an important Company value, safety is, without a doubt, the star that guides all of the Durham team’s operating decisions, and this is also true for the Cumberland School Department.

“I work very closely with Durham’s General Manager, Mark, and speak to him frequently,” Tracy Walton, Transportation Coordinator, Cumberland School Department. “We approach everything collaboratively with safety top of mind. This allows us to provide our students and their families with not only the utmost care, but also efficient, effective transportation. I think this year’s start-up was a perfect example of what this type of partnership can achieve.”

With deep-rooted experience in student transportation dating back to 1917, Durham has helped define best practices in the industry and maintains the keys to service excellence, including proactive communication, teamwork, and elevated safety standards, which have established the Company as a premier transportation provider. By leveraging that century of experience, Durham has continuously implemented effective operations and built long-standing partnerships, like the one with the Cumberland School Department.

“A strong start does not happen by accident. It takes lots of planning, communication, partnership, and a shared commitment to the well-being of the students and families we serve,” said Mark Dumont, General Manager, Durham School Services. “By communicating early and frequently, reviewing the details together, and responding promptly when adjustments are needed, we help ensure that the district stays informed and, in turn, build a greater level of trust with district leaders and the families that depend on us. I am beyond pleased with what my team has accomplished together with the Cumberland School Department and look forward to continuing Durham’s legacy of providing excellent service.”

“I am very proud of the partnership we have established with Durham School Services and the safe, steadfast service we have been able to provide to our students and community. From their drivers, monitors, and staff to the leadership team, Steve, Francisco, and Mark, Durham has shown nothing but the highest regard for ensuring our students are well taken care of and above all, safe while in their care. This commitment, coupled with proactive problem-solving and continuous communication, is why we have enjoyed such success all these years,” said Dr. Philip Thornton, Superintendent of Schools, Cumberland School Department. “I couldn’t ask for a better transportation partner for our district, so thank you, Durham, for all that you do to protect our students’ access to safe, reliable transportation.”

Beyond day-to-day transportation, Durham is also a proud community partner. The team often supports local Touch-a-Truck and Ride-Along events, bringing an iconic yellow bus for children to explore and ride on before the new school year begins. The team has also donated buses to transport children throughout the community for seasonal events and activities such as Halloween celebrations. These efforts and more give Durham the opportunity to build stronger ties with the community and remain the trusted provider the Cumberland School Department and its families have depended on for more than 20 years.

About Durham School Services
As a premier transportation provider, Durham School Services provides safe, reliable student transportation that communities trust and families depend on. With operational discipline, local commitment, proven safety standards, and clear accountability, we bring deep expertise to every route we operate. Driven by our five values: Safety, Care, Transparency, Communities, and Culture, we deliver transportation that works quietly, consistently, and without disruption.

The post Cumberland School Department and Durham School Services Celebrate a Safe, Reliable Start to the New School Year appeared first on School Transportation News.

As a state committee studies ways to wean Rhode Island off of natural gas, several of its members want the group’s final report to dismiss one potential pathway as wholly unrealistic.

Switching to renewable natural gas or other alternative fuels appears to be neither a feasible nor a financially viable solution at this time, say multiple stakeholders who have commented on a draft outline of a report a consulting group prepared for Rhode Island regulators.

RNG is derived from biomass or other renewable resources. It is a biogas, captured from the decomposition of organic matter, such as animal manure or food waste.

Many gas utilities around the country are pushing for RNG as part of the solution to lowering greenhouse gas emissions. But Michael Walsh, a partner at Groundwork Data, a clean energy consultancy that worked with the Conservation Law Foundation and the Sierra Club in the committee process, told the Energy News Network that “we don’t see a lot of viability with the RNG pathway,” both because of limited availability and because it is much more expensive then fossil fuel gas to produce.

While RNG is interchangeable with conventional natural gas, “realism about the availability and cost of alternative fuels for the gas system is necessary” for the planning process, wrote Nicholas Vaz, Rhode Island special assistant attorney general, in his comments on the draft. 

Vaz cited a 2019 study prepared for the American Gas Foundation that looked at RNG production potential by 2040, based on the availability of source materials and utilization. Based on those findings, Vaz concluded that the amount of RNG available by 2050 would only allow for about 17% of Rhode Island households to remain connected to the gas system.

Currently, more than half of Rhode Island homes receive natural gas service.

The state Public Utilities Commission established the stakeholder committee as part of its “Future of Gas” docket, an investigation of the future of the regulated gas distribution business in Rhode Island. That docket was opened in 2022 in response to the passage of the state’s Act on Climate, which mandates a 45% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions below 1990 levels by 2030, 80% by 2040, and net-zero by 2050.

The natural gas system operated by Rhode Island Energy accounts for almost 40% of statewide emissions. So the PUC, which regulates the utility, is in the tricky position of having to craft a plan for getting commercial and residential customers off natural gas, finding a way to pay for it, and ensuring that consumers aren’t harmed in the process. Regulators will use the committee’s report to help inform the strategy it lays out.

The neighboring state of Massachusetts is a little farther along in that process; its state Department of Public Utilities issued an order last December outlining a strategy for getting the state off natural gas.

While utilities there initially pushed for a plan that was heavily reliant on RNG, regulators ultimately rejected that approach, citing concerns about availability, cost and whether such alternative fuels will actually lead to a reduction in emissions.

To some extent, Massachusetts’ work to date helped inform the committee process in Rhode Island, Walsh said.

“We had a lot of Massachusetts folks in the room to share lessons learned,” he said. “We at least got through some of the questions faster.”

Ben Butterworth, director of climate, energy and equity analysis for the nonprofit Acadia Center, told ENN his organization would like to see Rhode Island prioritize much of what is in the Massachusetts strategy: a focus on electrification and energy efficiency, disincentivizing further expansion of the gas system, and pilot programs focused on the strategic decommissioning of the gas system.

The PUC must also consider how to fund the transition, Butterworth noted. Vermont and Massachusetts are pursuing a clean heat standard as a funding mechanism for climate goals, while New York is pursuing a cap-and-invest approach. 

“Finding that mechanism is critical, and the report should include at least those options,” Butterworth said.

At the same time, the report should include a discussion of possible mechanisms to protect low-income ratepayers from “the inevitable initially increased costs of electrification,” urged Jennifer Wood, executive director of the Rhode Island Center for Justice, in her comments on the draft.

These might include capping the amount a household pays for electricity as a percentage of their income; rate reforms; and assistance programs to defray the costs of installing electric heat pumps.

“Low-income utility customers living in rented homes that are least well equipped for energy efficiency are already most harmed by the social effects of climate change,” Wood wrote. “The only way to ensure that they will not be doubly harmed by unsustainably higher utility bills during the transition…is to decouple income-eligible consumers’ energy costs from the near-term impacts of necessary, but initially more costly, electrification.”

The committee is expected to issue a final report with its findings and recommendations to the PUC by the end of the year.

As Rhode Island considers future of gas, advocates call for ‘realism’ on cost, availability of RNG is an article from Energy News Network, a nonprofit news service covering the clean energy transition. If you would like to support us please make a donation.