Galt High School English teacher Carli Walden, center, holds a plaque recognizing her selection as Sacramento County Office of Education’s Teacher of the Year. She is joined by Galt Joint Union High School District Superintendent Anna Trunnell, left, and the district board of trustees. Photo by Matthew Malone

GALT, CA (MPG) - The Galt Joint Union High School District board of trustees approved a purchase of two electric school buses and heard about efforts to reduce suspensions at its regular meeting on Oct. 17.

The trustees first heard about the proposed electric bus purchase at their September meeting, with some trustees voicing skepticism about the idea.

Staff recommended buying the electric buses to replace two aging internal-combustion buses. The district is using a “piggyback” agreement in which it is allowed to copy the terms of a contract that was reached through competitive bids at another agency, in this case the Clovis Unified School District.

The district has also secured two subsidies that pay a total of $900,000 for the two buses. The two buses cost nearly $1 million total, but after subsidies, the district will pay only $91,000.

According to the terms of the subsidies, the district must declare as surplus two existing internal-combustion buses. The new vehicles would bring the district up to three electric buses.

Chief business official Douglas Crancer said the electric buses have a range of 80 to 135 miles per charge.

Trustee Dennis Richardson was concerned about the possibility that the range wasn’t adequate for longer routes.

The district would evaluate its five bus routes, Superintendent Anna Trunnell said, adding that an electric bus would have enough power to drive one route in the morning, charge during the day and then do another route in the afternoon.

“More than likely, we would not use these buses for long field trips unless we had a destination charger,” Trunnell said.

Trustee Melissa Neuburger later estimated that the district’s longest routes are significantly shorter than the low end of the buses’ range.

Trustee Pat Maple doubted that the buses are cost effective; he said that the cost of replacing the batteries is “phenomenal” and he opposed the item.

Board President Mark Beck pointed to pressure from the state of California to electrify bus fleets.

“The state is mandating that you have to have a certain number of electric buses and you don’t have a choice. … They have our hands tied otherwise, whether we like it or not,” Beck said.

“Somebody has to stand up and say, ‘No, enough’s enough,’” Maple replied.

The subsidies make the purchase worthwhile, according to Crancer. even assuming the buses have a shorter lifespan.

“Even if it did last just eight years, without replacing the battery, I think we’re still coming out ahead,” Crancer said.

The board approved the contract by a 4-1 vote, with Maple opposed.

Student Services director Jason Lopez presented on the district’s implementation of Differentiated Assistance, a state program to improve the performance of student groups with poor results on indicators including English and math scores, suspension rates and graduation rates.

The district identified English learners and students with disabilities as having low English and math achievement and high suspension rates. Staff chose to try reducing suspensions.

Lopez said the efforts, which include a rework of the district’s suspension policy, have worked. He cited a drop in the number of suspensions for students with disabilities.

In 2022-23, the school suspended 150 students, 69 students with disabilities; the suspension rate among disabled students was 12.3%. In 2023-24, the number of suspensions dropped, to 113 in the general population and to 33 for students with disabilities. Lopez acknowledged that the suspension rate for disabled students did not change much, to 11.4%, because the number of disabled students dropped.

The measures involved in the program included adding alternative actions before suspension when a student is caught with nicotine or cannabis products, such as a vape pen.

The options include in-school detention and referral to YVAPE, a counseling service for students found to use drugs. Lopez and other staff also conducted interviews with 20 incoming freshmen that the elementary school district identified as high-risk, to ease their transition.

“By and large,” those students were not suspended in their first year, Lopez said.

“If a (vape) pen was confiscated in years past, it might have led to a suspension on the first offense,” Lopez said. “Well, what does that student do? They go home, and they probably vape while they’re not at school, so we’re trying to keep them in school learning, which is where they should be. Rather than sending them home for a three-day suspension on a first offense, we want them to be educated. We want them to receive counseling to understand why they’re vaping. Keep them in school rather than suspending them on the first offense. That’s really the point of this whole exercise here.”

Trustee Terry Parker said she originally had concerns when she heard about the change in suspension policy. She thanked Lopez for “taking the time to let us know, and yourself know, that it’s working.”