Yorktown part of growing pushback on e-bus mandate

Updated on Tuesday, April 28 at 5:29 p.m. to include comment from Assemblywoman Dana Levenberg.

The Yorktown Central School District, like others across New York, is grappling with how to finance the electrification of its school bus fleet. 

District officials say they want to be good stewards to the environment, but the cost to purchase and charge an all-electric fleet is significantly more than they can afford to spend or include in the annual tax levy. 

Yorktown officials are turning to state legislators for answers on how to make the mandate affordable — and whether it is feasible for districts statewide to comply. 

“We support sustainability efforts; however, this particular mandate is of great concern to our district as the financial implications are beyond what the district can sustain,” Superintendent of Schools Ron Hattar said in an email to Yorktown News. 

The district hired contractor INF Associates to study the costs and planning required to electrify its bus fleet, using funding from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, or NYSERDA, a public benefit corporation that promotes energy efficiency, renewable energy and clean energy innovation. 

The study found that 7 percent of the bus routes would be infeasible with current technology. It estimated the total cost to electrify the buses would be $47.8 million without incentives and $43.6 million with incentives. 

Hattar called the figures “shocking” during a school board meeting on March 16 and said consultants estimate that it would cost $600,000 per year to charge the buses. The district currently spends about $120,000 annually on fuel.  

“That $600,000 for this year represents about 30 percent of our maximum allowable tax levy,” Hattar said at that same meeting. “Those monies should be spent on students and their needs and supporting academic programs and co-curricular programs.” 

 An NYSERDA spokesperson told Yorktown News the agency is working with 470 school districts — about two-thirds of districts statewide — on fleet electrification plans, as well as with school bus contractors. 

“Most feedback received reflects that electric school buses perform well in day-to-day operations with drivers reporting that the buses handle well, and that the buses are quiet,” the spokesperson said in an email. 

The push to electrify school buses stems from a mandate enacted by Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state Legislature. The governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Assemblywoman Dana Levenberg is one of the co-sponsors of the bill.

She said through a representative from her office in an email on April 28 that she has "been listening to and working with local school districts to address the challenges they are facing with transitioning to electric buses, and will continue to do so.

Levenberg added that "since the law's passage the landscape has shifted dramatically, with federal assistance for these kinds of programs becoming far less reliable. I am currently working on legislation to help New York State adapt to these changes and support our school districts."

It requires districts to begin purchasing electric buses in 2027 and transition to fully electric fleets by 2035. The goal is to reduce emissions from gas-powered buses and improve public and environmental health.  

“This mandate, while well intentioned, is incredibly burdensome and impossible for school districts to actually implement,” Hattar said at the April 20 Board of Education meeting.