Governor Nathan Deal and Lt Governor Casey Cagle were on hand for a special "Handing Over of the Keys" ceremony when officials from Blue Bird Buses and Roush Clean Tech passed the keys to the Hall County Board of Education at the district's bus center on May 10, 2012.

The event marked the official rollout of a fleet of 20 new Blue Bird Buses, equipped with Roush designed LP fuel delivery systems. The Hall County School District becomes the first in the state to put a fleet of alternative fuel school buses into service.

Governor Deal remarked, “I think it is an historic step certainly for our state, and I’m glad that Hall County is leading the way on it.”  He went on to note several significant economic factors which this event could have, not only on the school system, but also on the state.  First, Blue Bird, which leads the nation in school bus production, is located in Fort Valley. 

As more of these buses come online throughout the state and nation, it will mean jobs for Georgians (Blue Bird is the largest employer in Peach County).  Also, LP gas is a “clean fuel” making it much safer for our environment. Finally, LP is a domestic product with 90 percent of the source here in American, which will lessen our dependence on importing foreign oil. 

This final point was driven home by Lt. Governor Casey Cagle when he said to the crowd in attendance, “So many of us talk about weaning ourselves off the dependency of foreign oil, but very few steps are really taken. Today we celebrate a huge step.”

Hall County School Superintendent Will Schofield addressed the economic impact LP buses will have on the system:  “Number one, it means savings to our bottom line immediately,” We already have these buses in service, and we’re using them every day and saving dollars that can go into the classroom. More importantly, as we scale our fleet and convert it more and more to LP, those savings will grow.”  (Currently, LP is less than $2 a gallon compared to $3.50 for diesel)

Jewel Armour, Executive Director of Transportation, estimates fuel savings for next year for these twenty buses to be around $36,000.00.  Phil Horlock, president and CEO of Blue Bird, expanded on the overall potential savings in his comments, suggesting the school system could see a savings up to $500,000 over the next fifteen years from less costs on both fuel and maintenance.

A significant component for the Hall County Board of Education in considering adding LP buses to the fleet was the initial costs of needed fueling stations, each of which would cost $250,000.  That financial hurdle was crossed when Clean Fuels USA p

rovided grants that covered the costs of the three fueling stations now in service.

 Image Below: Board Vice Chair Craig Herrington accepts keys to LP bus fleet