McDowell County Schools seeks bids for bus charging station project

McDowell County Schools opened bidding for a bus charging station tied to Thrasher Project #T60-11711, with proposals due Tuesday, July 28, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. at the McDowell County Board of Education office, 900 Mt. View Road in Welch. The public opening will happen at the same time and place, putting the project on a fast track for the county’s transportation system.

The scope reaches well beyond a simple plug-in point. The notice calls for electric vehicle charging equipment plus the electrical and supporting infrastructure needed to power it, including conductors, conduits, transformers, switchgear, distribution panels and protective devices. Thrasher Group says substantial completion is required within 150 calendar days, a deadline that suggests the district wants the work finished before the project can become part of day-to-day bus operations.

The move matters in McDowell County because school transportation remains one of the district’s most visible public services. McDowell County Schools lists Adam Grygiel as transportation director and Tiffany Bailey as transportation administrative assistant, and the department continues to post bus information for families. In a county where long rural routes can shape attendance, pickup times and after-school schedules, a charging station is not just a facilities project. It is infrastructure for how students get to and from Mount View High School, Kimball Elementary School and other stops across the system.

The county has already taken a first step into electric transportation. McDowell County Schools had an electric school bus running a route in January 2023 for students at Mount View High School and Kimball Elementary School. Grygiel later said the funding “means a lot” to McDowell County, underscoring how central outside investment has become as the district looks at cleaner bus technology and the facilities needed to support it.

That broader backdrop includes a major federal push. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Program provides $5 billion over five years under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and in 2023 the agency announced more than $18.5 million in clean-school-bus awards for West Virginia through GreenPower of West Virginia. The new Welch charging-station bid does not identify a grant source or say how many buses it will serve, but it shows McDowell County Schools is preparing the ground for a larger transportation shift.