Older Kent School Buses Cleaning up Their Act

Fourteen of Kent's school buses are cleaning up their act this summer thanks to a grant from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

Kent City Schools will get a $14,798 grant to reduce diesel exhaust emissions in 14 of the district's 32 buses courtesy the EPA Clean Diesel School Bus Fund.

Jim Soyars, director of business services for the school district, said a contractor will retrofit the buses with a different exhaust system to capture more of the particulate matter emitted by diesel exhaust.

Soyars said they have to wait until the new school fiscal year starts July 1 to start the process, but he expects the buses will be emitting much cleaner exhaust in time for the start of the school year.

"With just 14 buses they should be able to crank it out before the first day of school," he said. "Basically it’s going to grab a lot more of the particulate that comes out of the exhaust."

The buses being retrofitted range in model year age from 1999 to 2003. The rest of the district's buses are newer, Soyars said.

The cost to the district is minimal. Soyars said they estimate the district will only have to pay about $200 to reduce emissions on the buses.

He said the district saw the money was available and wanted to reduce the emissions for students, staff and the community.

"There was no mandate, and this program has been around for a while. But we really felt it wasn’t going to cost the district a whole lot and we were going to get a lot of bang for our buck."