Schools

School Board Approves Funding Method For Clean-Energy Buses, Solar-Powered Campuses

The improvements will cost the Murrieta Valley Unified School District $13 million and would replace an aging fleet of buses.

Using what board members called “creative” financing, the Murrieta Valley Unified School District is moving forward in an effort to reduce its carbon footprint in a large way.

The district is in the process of investigating a plan that will allow the conversion of the majority of their bus fleet to buses that run on compressed natural gas (CNG). They are also moving forward with plans to install solar energy panels at several campuses. Funds from delayed payments from the State for the construction of Murrieta Mesa High School and Dorothy McElhinney Middle School would be used for both projects.

The construction funds allotted to the district from the State were frozen during the construction of Murrieta Mesa High School, forcing the district to take out $56 million in bond certificates to pay off the construction. Now that the funds have been received, the district is considering paying off $35 million and paying $8 million from capitalized interest and reserve funds, while using $13 million to pay for the environmentally-friendly improvements.

Of that, $11 million would be used to fund solar installations at several campuses and $2 million would be used to purchase buses and provide a CNG filling station. The district would seek the remaining $4 million from grant funding available from South Coast Air Quality Management District’s school bus replacement program and from Mobile Source Reduction Funds.

Repayment of the $13-million debt for the solar improvement and CNG changeover would occur primarily through restricted Community Facilities District special tax surplus revenues from existing taxes and from fuel and bus maintenance savings, according to a staff report. These funds can only be spent on capital improvements; they cannot be used for salaries, instructional materials or other general fund purchases. There are no new or increased taxes associated with the current proposals.

Prior to now, SCAQMD would only fund replacement of bus models older than 1987. Because the district’s buses were fairly new at that time, it missed out on funding. But SCAQMD is now moving up that cutoff to include buses older than 1994, making Murrieta buses eligible, according to Jack Martin, director of transportation for the Murrieta Valley Unified School District.

With the threshold change, Martin said 23 of the district’s buses would be eligible for the program, and the district would seek to replace at least 19 of them.

“As everybody knows, we have somewhat of an aging fleet,” Martin said, adding that Murrieta receives the lowest amount of funding in the state for its transportation needs.

The district gets about $100,000 per year from the State to fund its transportation needs, and the rest--$3 million per year--comes from the district’s general fund, Martin said. With rising diesel prices, administrators agreed the fuel savings would play into paying back the certificates, as well as relieve strain on the general fund.

“We are excited about the program, it has been a long time coming,” Martin said. “Dr. Scheer has always been concerned about the age and safety of our fleet.”

Superintendent Stan Scheer commended the creative financing. Scheer worked with the first school district in the U.S. when it converted its first bus to CNG in 1979.

“I can’t believe it is 2011 and we are finally getting to this,” Scheer said.

Governing board member Robin Crist gave her appreciation for the “creative financing.”

“No one else is going to take care of us but ourselves,” Crist said.

The board unanimously voted in approval of the financing method during a special meeting May 26.

Assistant Superintendent of Facilities Bill Olien said solar carports and roof mounts would likely begin being installed on some campuses during summer 2012. Further, the district is poised to start seeking $4 million in bus replacement grants in June.


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