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Toms River wins $600,000 EPA bus grant; summer window, generator and security projects set to begin
Summary
District officials said the district received a $600,000 EPA award for 10 buses (breakdown presented), a $65,000 playground grant for South Toms River Elementary and listed summer facility work including window replacements, coping repairs, generator installations and security-camera closeouts.
District grant and facilities staff told the board on May 23 that the district received multiple awards and will start several capital and maintenance projects this summer.
Grant awards: The district reported an EPA award of $600,000 toward the purchase of 10 buses. Staff presented the breakdown as $200,000 toward eight propane buses (described in presentation as $25,000 per bus in the grant allocation) and $400,000 toward two electric buses; administrators said they will evaluate infrastructure costs and other federal or state incentives before final procurement. Separately, the district said it received a $65,000 recreational grant for playground equipment at South Toms River Elementary.
Facilities and summer work: Facilities staff outlined summer starts for window replacements at Washington Street and West St. Elementary (preconstruction scheduled after June 13), coping repairs at Eastover Elementary (ROD grant funded), generator and switch-gear work at several high schools, and documentation and bidding to replace the fabric at the John Bennett Athletics Center next summer. Several referendum projects were described as in final closeout stages.
Technology and safety: Technology staff reviewed a districtwide Parentsquare rollout and Chromebook replacement plans (one-to-one devices in grades 4–12), plus two-factor login and data-security measures. Facilities staff also noted coordination with the Toms River Police Department on communications equipment and an anticipated equipment cost of roughly $65,000 for upgraded communications gear for shared use of a tower; staff said they are pursuing grant funding to offset that cost.
Next steps: Officials said they will return with procurement details and infrastructure-cost analysis for electric buses, continue closeouts on referendum projects and begin the enumerated summer projects once school ends.
