New York State is sticking with a plan to require school districts to begin the conversation to electric buses in 2035.
Starting that year, school districts will be prohibited from purchasing gas or diesel buses.
Le Roy Central School District is working to delay buying its first electric bus as long as possible.
"Most communities are not in this category of wanting EV buses, and I think we're in that boat," Superintendent Merritt Holly said. "With our plan, we're trying to set ourselves up so that we don't have any pressure until prices come down and infrastructure is in place. We're buying ourselves time with our fleet that we have right now so that we're not forced into buying something until we're ready to do it."
District voters recently approved a plan, on a vote of 61-7, to purchase more buses at a cost not to exceed $700,000, with $200,000 from the 2019 capital reserve fund.
The district will purchase:
- Two 65-passenger diesel buses
- Two 35-passenger gas minibuses, one with a wheelchair lift
- Two passenger hybrid vans (one will be used for taking students to events outside the district, and the other will be a utility van on campus)
Currently, electric school buses cost from $400,000 to $500,000 each.
Holly said the mandates are beyond the district's control.
"What we can control is waiting around with our fleet to make sure that when the time comes, when the infrastructure is there, and when costs are coming down -- because right now, these are not popular decisions inside many communities. It's not inside of Le Roy."
