Saturday, October 14th 2023 07:00 am
Story and photos: Alice Gerald
Senior Contributor
New York state’s requirement that all school districts go all-electric by 2035 was described as an unfunded mandate at a Grand Island School Board meeting held Tuesday at Sidway Elementary School.
“The state is providing up to $500 million in grants,” said Grand Island Schools Superintendent Brian Graham. He and the school board heard about that and more at the district’s transportation office earlier in the day at a “presentation on upcoming mandates and legislation requiring all school districts to have coverage” from a representative from Leonard Bus Sales (from Bergen). Informed. The state will begin purchasing electric vehicles. ”
“It’s not just school buses, it’s all the vehicles that districts buy, like Ford trucks,” Graham said.Buying buses Starting in 2027, all districts will be required to buy electric buses. It is important for the Board and the community to understand. By 2035, school districts across New York state must have all vehicles electric. ”
There are also options for emissions-free vehicles. They could be “battery powered” or buses powered by hydrogen batteries. Currently, there are no school buses powered by hydrogen batteries, and there are no plans to build one. “Yes, there are plans to build electric buses, but please understand that the state has enacted a law that is illogical and doesn’t make sense,” Graham said.
New York State has 700 school districts.
Electric cars cost significantly more than gasoline or diesel cars.
“Last year, we asked taxpayers to pay $155,000 each for three diesel- or gasoline-powered buses,” Graham said. “Traditionally, we know that buses are handed over when they are 10 years old. The community is very supportive of helping school districts upgrade to new buses every year. If you are a member of the community, we You probably know that we put out vehicle suggestions every year.
“The cost of purchasing one 65-passenger bus would be anywhere from $155,000 to $460,000. That doesn’t make sense in a district that has a lot of buses that will have to be turned back by 2035. It’s not just that it doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t make sense in all of New York State. Just realize that last year we spent about $465,000 on three large buses that run on gasoline or diesel. If three were purchased, it would cost $1.3 million, which is a significant burden for districts that want to plan carefully and comply. Significant funding is available from the state to support these purchases. School districts will be prohibited from complying unless they do so.”
“If you do the math, you find that $500 million divided by $460,000 would buy about 1,080 school buses across the state,” Graham said. “The state needs to remove 45,000 buses by 2035.”
Replacing 45,000 buses across the state would cost $20 billion, said Bob Markle, assistant superintendent for school management and finance.
Trustee Glenn Bobek said the time period the state allotted for purchasing electric vehicles is another issue.
“I think the time frame[to do this]is too short to realistically get there,” he explained. “This is a good goal and something we should achieve, but we need to think more about it. There is not much thought on the part of the country about what specifically needs to happen when this law is passed.” I think our district may be better equipped than other districts because we have the space (for buses and infrastructure), but other districts are better equipped because of that. It would be a huge disadvantage. They don’t have the space. The government needs to take a step back (to figure out what makes sense).”
“Even if we had more time, we really need the funding to be able to eventually replace the entire fleet,” said board chairwoman Ashley Dreher. We need funds.”
“We’re not saying we don’t think people should buy electric cars,” Graham said. “We believe we need more time to deliver a fleet of electric vehicles.
“We understand that we need to comply and we intend to do our due diligence to understand what it would be like to add infrastructure with charging stations and start purchasing buses. But we’re not going to play dumb about it. We’re going to put a lot of pressure on Albany to change this law. I’m committed to zero emissions to keep our community safe. But it’s fiscally irresponsible to ask the community to agree and comply with this law as it’s currently written. We’ll keep the pressure on.
“I was at the Erie County Legislature last week and talked to that group. It’s a large group and they’re doing a good job and they bring our legislators to breakfast and talk to them. And we asked to be present and have our concerns heard. We activated the Erie County Legislative Group to push our legislators to ensure that this legislation is passed to every district in New York State. We help them understand how illogical it is for them.
“Secondly, the New York State Council of Superintendents will further retort and say, ‘We need to think about this differently.'”
on the news
In other news, the Grand Island Central School District plans to hold two community forums in the form of panel discussions next week at Grand Island High School. Those interested in the presentation can choose to watch it in person or online. The topics to be announced are:
• “Keeping Students Safe: When Access to Vaping and Cannabis Increases Exponentially” will be held in the auditorium on Wednesday, Oct. 18 from 6 to 7 p.m.
“We can say that marijuana has amphetamines in it. Marijuana is laced with bath salts. Marijuana is laced with opioids. Marijuana is legal, but our children are at risk. They are putting themselves at risk by purchasing or obtaining cannabis adulterated with other substances,” Graham said. “And to that end, I’m going to tell you all right now. You’ll hear me say this at the press conference on Friday. You’ll hear me say this at the community forum next week. While searching students’ bags, some students suddenly became ill due to residue and particulates that were mixed with cannabis and amphetamines in their bags.
“This is a very serious issue and we hope the community will join us in this great presentation by Dr. Joshua Lynch of Kids Escape Drugs, Horizon Human Services, and the Matters Organization. I am an addiction expert. The purpose of this community forum is to openly discuss and share resources and strategies to keep children safe.
“I’ve been doing this work for 37 years and I’ve never sent anyone to the hospital who came into contact with residue or particles in these drugs. Young children are starting to access this. As a community, we must step up and take action to keep our children and those around them safe. Please consider attending this event.”
• NYU Buffalo’s chat series discussion on “Advancing Education with Responsible Artificial Intelligence” scheduled for Thursday, October 19th at 6 p.m., will include staff from both NYU Buffalo and Grand Island Central School District. Masu.
“We talk about artificial intelligence and the power it has for good in education for all children. I think you’ll find it fascinating,” Graham said.
Additionally, Graham said, “October is an initiative of Vikings Cares, where every student in our district contributes to their community in some way.”
He said the group of students who were at Buckhorn Island State Park “helped clean up and took the time to beautify the state park.” Great kids doing great work in our community. All children contribute to our district. ”