Parents in Erie County, New York, are complaining as their children freeze on electric school buses while drivers try to conserve battery life.
WIVB reported on Dec. 18 that several families in the Lake Shore Central School District are raising concerns as their children come home saying their buses were cold.
Some parents are even forced to send their children to school with hand warmers.
“The heaters on the bus run off the same electricity as the bus itself,” Scott Ziobro, a parent and former school board candidate, told WIVB.
“They were told that it drains the battery capacity of the bus itself.”
New York state has mandated that all new school buses purchased must be electric by 2027.
Lake Shore Central School District therefore has 23 electric school buses, alongside 24 gasoline buses and four diesel buses.
The school system bought 20 of the electric buses with the help of a $7.9 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Despite the new technology, some parents reported buses breaking down with their children inside, meaning they had to stand outside in the cold while another bus arrived.
“The bus broke down on route,” Chris Lampman, whose son allegedly had to stand in the cold, told WIVB.
“They deployed a substitute bus, and the bus was more than 30 minutes late. My son stood outside for over 35 minutes waiting for a bus that wasn’t coming,” he added.
“Some of those kids are on there for upwards of a half hour or more while the bus makes its route. There’s no reason that the kids should freeze for all that time.”
These are not the first reports of faulty electric school buses.
Maine Department of Education Commissioner Pender Makin wrote a letter to the EPA asking for waived penalties for not using buses provided by manufacturer Lion Electric, according to a report earlier this year from WGME-TV.
“Specifically, we urge the agency to pursue legal remedies, including claw-backs of federal funding or other resources provided to the company,” he wrote.
At least six districts in the state were reporting problems with Lion Electric buses acquired through federal programs.
As of fall 2024, the EPA spent $1 billion to put a mere 5,000 electric buses on the roads.
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