As schools consider how to address two state mandates this coming year — one for electric buses, and another for responding to rising temperatures — limitations on building infrastructure and the broader electrical grid pose complications.
Schools across New York state have one more year before any new school buses they buy must be electric. The Monroe County School Boards Association is calling for a pause on that deadline.
Amy Thomas, executive director of the association, said it’s a challenge for some districts to meet the state mandate when buying electric vehicles hasn’t been popular among voters.
“When the communities are voting on a bus proposition and they vote it down — which has happened here locally, twice recently — when the taxpayers say ‘No’ to a bus proposition like this, and the governor says, ‘You must,’ Where does that leave us?” Thomas said.
In the past two academic years, propositions to buy new e-buses were shot down by voters in Hilton, Spencerport, and Churchville-Chili.
The Greece school board approved buying 35 new gas and diesel buses in March despite the approaching deadline. Romeo Colilli, the district's assistant superintendent for finance, said at the time that electric school buses were significantly more expensive than gas and diesel ones.
Others have argued that electric vehicle batteries are not fit to withstand extreme cold and winter weather.
A 2021 study by the Alaska Center for Energy and Power found that “the most concerning cold weather issues are (driving) range decreases, slower charging times, lower power availability in extreme cold, and the need to keep a vehicle plugged in or in a heated space especially during extended periods with ambient temperatures below about -20°C (-4°F).”
Yet another consideration is whether the power grid has the capacity to take on additional demand for charging stations and other infrastructure upgrades. In Monroe County, energy capacity issues have been flagged in the towns of Henrietta, Brighton, and Penfield.
The Monroe County School Boards Association wants the state to conduct a comprehensive feasibility study and pause the 2027 deadline in the meantime. The state requires that by 2035, all school bus fleets should be zero-emission.
Meanwhile, schools have another possible electrical challenge to grapple with: how to handle extreme heat.
This is the first school year that schools across New York state are required to take action when classroom temperatures reach 82 degrees — like closing blinds, opening doors and windows, turning off electronics, and providing water breaks.
When the temperature reaches 88 degrees or hotter, schools are required to move students and staff from those areas.
“So what does that do for school districts that don't have air conditioning units?” Thomas asked. “Most of our schools do not, and so they're looking at that investment. But there are a lot of things tied to that.”
Like: the electrical grid.
Learning opportunities have been cut short when schools do not have a reliable means to get temperatures below the threshold. A dangerous heat wave in 2024 led many local districts to switch to half days and cancel extracurricular activities.
According to the National Weather Service in Buffalo, this past year there were 55 days when temperatures in the Rochester area reached 82 degrees or hotter. On nearly half of those days, temperatures were recorded at 88 degrees or hotter.
