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Can School Bus Emissions Retrofits Improve Student Test Scores?
A new study Georgia State University study claims
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that retrofitting school buses with emissions-re- duction equipment can not only save money and improve air quality, but also help classroom learning. “School Bus Emissions, Student Health and Aca- demic Performance,” examined school bus retrofit programs in Georgia and compared them with stu- dent health and academic performance. Report co-author Garth Heutel, an associate profes- sor of Georgia State’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, told School Transportation News the study was the first of its kind to review retrofitting and its possible effect on student academic performance. Huetel, Assistant Professor Daniel Kreisman, and graduate assistant Wes Austin analyzed student test score data from the 2006 through 2017 school years and found better scores in districts that retrofitted their school buses. Gains were confirmed for English test scores, but there was only mixed evidence on the math test scores. School districts also saw an improvement on child respiratory health outcomes. The researchers studied data from four different types of emission retrofits. The most used filter, the diesel particulate filter, captures most of the emissions that leave the tailpipe. It was found to be the best emissions reduction tool on older buses. The study advised that retrofitting school buses does improve academic achievement. The authors concluded that installing retrofit equipment, while a less glamorous approach to saving money is a cost-effective solution to attaining higher test scores, when compared to reducing class sizes or other interventions. “So, it was three to six times more expensive
for class size reductions in this previous study than what we’re finding with the retrofits,” Heutel explained. “ The take-away from that is, if you are a school district with $1 million to spend and you want to improve test scores, it seems like bus retro- fits give you more bang for your buck, compared to these other alternative measures.” While the study didn’t include electric or alt-fuel buses, Heutel said the projections can gauge the possible increase in emissions reductions. “But to our understanding, the electric buses are
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20 School Transportation News • JUNE 2019
pretty expensive now,” Heutel concluded. “These retrofits were pretty cheap—an average of $8,000 per retrofit. So getting some pretty high test and health score benefits for a relatively low-cost inter- vention … seems like a good idea.”
Grant Money Deters Refurbishing Black River Unified School District in Sullivan, Ohio, received several Volkswagen grants to pur- chase new school buses, instead of refurbishing old ones, like the district has done in the past. Cur- rently, Black River has 18 school buses in its fleet, and it used the VW money to replaced four buses over the past four years. “As we replace buses, we
are putting new cameras into them,” Transportation Supervisor Bruce Berry said. “Eventually, I hope to put them on all of our fleet. But right now, as we replace a bus, they are being ordered with the camera system, including the stop-arm camera.” Rohrer Bus in Dun-
cannon, Pennsylvania, is one of many bus dealers that also provides refurb services. Ed Allandar, vice president of maintenance, said the company has seen a decrease in the number of refurb requests. “The refurb business has
dropped off because of all the Volkswagen money out there,” he said. “People are getting grants to re- place, rather than rebuild.” However, refurbishing
does help capture all of the potential value and full life cycle of the vehicle. He said most transporta- tion directors are trying to run their fleets for 15 to 18 years. If the vehicles still can travel additional miles, and the mechanics still can provide the necessary ser- vice, he said refurbishing remains a viable, cost-ef- fective option. ●
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