The Greece Central School District school bus fleet is getting a refresh next year.
The Greece school board unanimously approved spending $5.6 million to replace 35 diesel and gas school buses with newer ones next school year.
All of the replacement buses will be fueled by gas and diesel, despite an approaching state deadline to switch to electric buses.
Romeo Colilli, the district's assistant superintendent for finance, said that despite the state's requirements, there are other considerations that need to be addressed and voted on before that can happen.
New York lawmakers passed the law requiring school districts to switch to electric buses in April 2022. The law says that starting in 2027, any new buses bought by school districts have to be electric, and by 2035 the whole fleet has to be electric, Colilli said.
"However ... there's a lot of things that have come up since two years ago, that we're hearing there could be some changes forthcoming shortly, but we don't know that yet, and we have to make this determination now,” Colilli said.
Colilli said the cost of electric school buses is significantly higher than gas and diesel ones, which cost about $180,000 dollars each.
School board President Sean McCabe said the cost will not affect taxpayers. Instead, the district plans to use state transportation aid and its capital reserve fund to cover the cost.
