New York parents say kids 'freeze' on mandated electric school buses during brutal winter weather
Parents in Western New York are raising alarms over cold rides and breakdowns after officials mandated that all school bus purchases must be electric by 2027.
Local outlet WIVB reported that the law has drawn the ire of parents in the Lake Shore Central School District. The station received "several calls" over the electric buses, with parents claiming that their children are freezing when they come home from school.
Per WIVB, the district operates 23 electric buses, 24 gasoline buses and four full-size diesel buses.
"The heaters on the bus run off the same electricity as the bus itself," Scott Ziobro, a local parent, told WIVB. "They were told that it drains the battery capacity of the bus itself."
Several parents told the outlet that they heard of at least one instance of the buses breaking down, in addition to the heating issues.
Chris Lampman, a concerned parent, claimed that a bus "broke down en route."
"They deployed a substitute bus, and the bus was more than 30 minutes late," said Lampman. "My son stood outside for over 35 minutes waiting for a bus that wasn’t coming."
"Some of those kids are on there for upwards of a half hour or more while the bus makes its route," he added. "There's no reason that the kids should freeze for all that time."
Local grandmother Lynn Urbino told WIVB that she was horrified when her grandson told her that his bus didn't have its heat on.
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"My grandson came home from school last week when it was 23 degrees," Urbino said. "He said they didn’t have heat. He came in cold, and I told him, I said, ‘Isn’t the bus warm?’ And he said, ’No, they can’t put the heat on because it drains the battery.'"
Superintendent Phil Johnson told WIVB in a statement that he is aware of the complaints, and that the school district's transportation procedures require heat.
"All routes are planned so that the electric bus battery capacity is more than sufficient to support both the route and continuous heating, even in winter weather," Johnson said. "The district values its transportation staff and continues to provide training and support to ensure students and staff are safely transported."
"We appreciate the efforts of our staff as we navigate our transition to electric buses as required by NYS," the statement added.
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority website claims that electric school buses are capable of keeping heat on in cold weather.
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"While battery range can decrease in cold weather, they are still sufficient to complete operations on most local bus routes," the website says, according to WIVB.