Ritchie Grant to Help General Brown Recover From Bus Garage Fire

Key Club Members, Superintendent, School Officials on Hand for Announcement

State Senator Patty Ritchie announced Monday that she has secured a special $200,000 state grant to help General Brown Central School District recover from last April’s bus garage fire.  The funds can be used to purchase new buses and complete repairs to the garage. 

“The fire at General Brown wiped out the district’s bus fleet and stuck taxpayers with a huge, unexpected bill for repairs and replacements,” said Senator Ritchie. 

“By working with school officials, we were able to find a solution that didn’t place an unfair burden on our taxpayers in the district. I’m happy to see General Brown bounce back and hope this funding will enable them to fully recover.”

The fire—which was caused by a short in one of the buses parked inside the garage—took the school’s entire fleet out of commission, leaving General Brown to use replacement buses in their place.

Senator Ritchie made the announcement at the district’s bus garage in Dexter.  She was joined by Superintendent Steve Vigliotti, school officials and members of General Brown’s Key Club who were interested in meeting the Senator and seeing firsthand how state government works.