'A huge unfunded mandate': Evergreen Public Schools not actively pursuing EV buses due to budget deficit
Evergreen Public Schools wrapped up a two-year study on the future implementation of electric school buses, though the buses likely won't be seen in the district any time soon.
Superintendent Christine Moloney said at Tuesday's school board meeting the district isn't currently moving forward with electric buses due to ongoing budget constraints. The board approved a $14 million budget reduction for the 2026-27 school year in March that will cut 82.3 full-time equivalent positions.
Willdan Energy Solutions conducted the study, which began in 2024 after state legislation passed that required school districts to exclusively purchase zero-emission buses beginning in 2035. The study was designed to be a road map for Evergreen to begin phasing in electric buses to its fleet and installing charging stations in a pilot program, but there is currently no timetable in place for that plan.
"We are not pursuing that at all right now," Moloney said, "because of the budget issues that we are finding ourselves in for now and the foreseeable future. ... We're not using any of our general funds, capital funds, transportation funds for that at all."
The study proposed introducing six electric buses and charging stations for each bus in its initial phase, which was estimated to save the district $31,224 annually in fuel, maintenance and carbon benefits.
However, the study estimated the initial phase of the project would cost the district $3.6 million to implement. One-third of that cost could be offset by a combined $1.2 million in credits available between a $250,000 incentive from Clark Public Utilities and a clean school bus rebate for $950,000, the study found.
"(The study) actually gives us a good talking point with our legislators as well, saying, 'Hey, when you require districts to move to EV, the infrastructure is a huge expense, and so are the EV buses,'" Moloney said.
Moloney's comments came in response to board member Gary Wilson's request to remove the item from the consent agenda and have it reviewed separately.
Moloney explained the agenda item was only to close out the study and didn't entail further action. The item was later approved 3-0 by board members Ginny Gronwoldt, Wilson and board president Rob Perkins. (Board vice president Julie Bocanegra did not attend Tuesday's meeting.)
"Right now this is a huge unfunded mandate that we are not moving forward with," Moloney said.
Board approves updated policy on meeting minutes
After parents and staff raised concerns in a March 24 meeting on proposed changes to the district's policy regarding board meeting minutes, the policy was approved on a 2-1 vote following a second reading Tuesday.
Video and captions aren't mentioned in the revised policy, which several speakers said could pose a problem for accessibility and transparency. That feedback echoed similar concerns expressed at the March meeting.
Multiple sentences from the previous policy were removed, including, "When issues are discussed that may require a detailed record, the board may direct the secretary to record the discussion," and, "Audio or video recordings will be maintained on file." A sentence that included "meeting minutes will be comprehensive" was also amended.
Wilson cast the lone "no" vote, arguing that the updated policy reduces transparency, especially by providing less-detailed meeting minutes.
The policy was last updated in 2014. Perkins noted the revision brings the board in line with current state law and the board has discretion to do more than the law requires. Currently, video and audio from past meetings are available on the district's YouTube channel.
"The purpose of this policy is to make sure we have policy that complies with state law," Perkins said. "Whether or not we go beyond that is still up to us. I would not support a complete retreat onto what is described here. I think we ought to continue our practice, continue to post the videos as we have in the past and not change that part. But the policy needs to conform to the law."
Perkins and Gronwoldt pushed back against claims that the updated policy constitutes a lack of transparency.
"My opinion would be we're being fully transparent by posting those videos," Gronwoldt said. "They can go back and watch whatever they want. ... Fiscally, I don't see us having the manpower to really spend a lot of extra time on meeting minutes when we do provide a full video."
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