ROCK SPRINGS – A trio of propane school buses will be added to Sweetwater County School District No. 1’s bus fleet following action taken by the district’s school board Monday night.

The buses replace three 2008 model diesel buses, which will be scrapped. The buses were purchased with the approval of the Wyoming Department of Education and the total cost of $355,000 will be reimbursed over the course of five years. Each bus costs $158,000, but the 2024 Diesel Emissions Reduction Act provides for a grant that covers 25% of the purchase costs, which lowers the cost of each bus to $118,500.

With the diesel buses, District Transportation Director Joseph Clingenpeel said much of the maintenance going into them involves after treatments designed to reduce pollutants in diesel exhaust fumes. He said the EPA is behind phasing out diesel buses because of the pollution their engines create and the health hazards that can be posed from breaking in exhaust from idling engines.

Clingenpeel said the propane buses in the district’s fleet have served it well. He said the propane buses have not had issues starting in cold weather and have been easy to maintain. Clingenpeel also said it’s safer to bring a propane bus into a building, saying leak-detecting “sniffers” can quickly discover leaks and isolate them.

“I love the propane buses,” Clingenpeel said. “They’re just all around a great bus.”

Policy Phaseout

Eight policies the district aims to phase out were listed under the Board Information portion of the school board’s agenda Monday night. The policies relate to construction of new buildings. Superintendent Joseph Libby said the policies were all either superseded by or had language contradictory to state statutes and recommended their removal to clean up the district’s policy list. Board Chairwoman Carol Jelaco said the district would take action next month.