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Posted on 12/21/2025 4:27:51 PM PST by grundle
ERIE COUNTY, N.Y. (WIVB) — On the heels of a statewide mandate requiring all school bus purchases in New York State be electric by 2027, parents in the Lake Shore Central School District are speaking out, claiming some bus drivers are turning the heat down, or off completely, in an attempt to conserve battery life on their electric school buses.
WIVB News 4 has received several calls from concerned parents in the school district, which covers parts of Angola, Brant, and Derby, regarding their child’s bus trips to and from school, claiming they’re coming in freezing when they get home after getting off the bus.
The kids are coming home saying their bus is freezing cold and the parents are giving them hand warmers.
“The heaters on the bus run off the same electricity as the bus itself,” said Scott Ziobro, a former school board candidate and parent who has children who go to school in the district. “They were told that it drains the battery capacity of the bus itself.”
The district currently operates 23 electric buses, along with four full size diesel buses and 24 gasoline buses, according to superintendent Phil Johnson. The district was able to purchase 20 new electric school buses, which they cut the ribbon on over the summer using a $7.9 million federal grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
All of the buses operate in compliance with New York State Department of Transportation regulations, including required interior temperature standards, the district said.
All of the parents News 4 spoke with said they heard of at least one report of some of the buses breaking down. One parent shared photos of one of the district’s electric buses being towed away.
“The bus broke down on route,” explained Chris Lampman, another concerned parent whose son allegedly had to stand outside in the freezing cold as a result. “They deployed a substitute bus, and the bus was more than 30 minutes late. 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. There’s no reason that the kids should freeze for all that time.”
Lynn Urbino, a grandmother who helps raise her grandson, was shocked and appalled when he told her why the heat allegedly wasn’t on in the bus.
“My grandson came home from school last week when it was 23 degrees,” Urbino stated. “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.'”
The district said it is aware of questions regarding heating on electric buses during cold winter conditions.
“District procedures are that heat remains on for the full duration of student transportation. 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 in a statement. “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 district is also urging any parents who still have concerns to reach out to them, saying “student comfort and safety remain a priority, and district operations continue to meet all applicable requirements. If any concerns arise, families and staff are encouraged to contact the district directly so they can be addressed promptly.”
The New York State Energy Research and Development Committee is tasked with facilitating the state’s transition to all-electric school buses by 2035. Their website has an information page on electric school buses that features a blurb about buses, their operations, and how the both interact with the colder weather.
“While battery range can decrease in cold weather, they are still sufficient to complete operations on most local bus routes,” the state agency’s website said.
Meanwhile, there are efforts in Albany to roll back the electric school bus requirement. Republican State Senator Alexis Weik is sponsoring legislation to give school districts the choice and freedom to choose which type of buses they want to buy.
“They’re living in New York City, which is also La La Land, because this is a city-centric mandate,” Sen. Weik said in response to the NYSERDA’s assertions. “This might work in New York City where the bus routes might be a mile to a quarter of a mile long, and gas stations are hard to come by in a city that’s so overcrowded and developed, but that’s not the case for the rest of New York whether you’re on Long Island or Upstate.”
Weik claims that the mandate has placed an immense amount of pressure and stress on school districts across the state who are struggling to meet the mandate in time.
Fellow Republican and State Senator Patrick Gallivan, from Western New York, is also a sponsor of the bill. He weighed in on the issue, saying the mandate will be costly and that superintendents should have the right to choose for themselves.
“This legislation removes a costly state mandate and will give school superintendents the authority to decide for themselves whether they want to purchase electric school buses based on the needs and resources of their communities,” Gallivan said. “Given the state’s recently adopted 15-year energy plan, this issue and other all-electric mandates and policies must be reexamined to ensure they align.”
The legislation, Senate Bill S8547, has officially been introduced but has yet to be assigned to a committee in the state legislature. Sen. Weik says she expects that committee to either be energy or education, and it very well may have to pass through both before moving on.
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So, EVs suck in the winter. They also suck in the summer. Pretty much covers it.
These buses do burst into flames a lot
> some bus drivers are turning the heat down, or off completely, in an attempt to conserve battery life <
An excellent example of “The Law of Unintended Consequences” in action.
Anyway, I suppose New York will solve this problem by threatening the bus drivers with arrest. Yep, that’s the ticket.
They know all this yet they still make their decisions and buy them fully knowing all of this, every bit of it, this is a bizarre and deliberate fiasco path taken everyday in modern America.
What heat?
I grew up about 10 miles from there. Lake effect snow. Brutally cold.
We walked a mile to school and a mile home. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
For pity sake! I rode a school bus from the rural area in upstate NY to town in the 1940’s and 1950’s but never heard of anyone complaining about being cold. WINTER was WINTER..it was COLD! Can’t picture a grandma or a mother coddling us about being COLD...How about going outside before and after school to feed chickens and rabbits? It’s too cold??? How about those walks in the snow to the privy???? Was it too cold to GO?” Was it too cold to ride down hill or ice skate? N O - NEVER!
Webasto makes awesome diesel auxiliary cabin heaters. Maybe they should retrofit them to the e-buses . . .
When are we going to drop the facade that government schools are about “the children?”
I wonder though — in these school districts, do the drivers have to buy their buses (like some truckers do?)...and the driver is responsible for replacing the batteries?
Well, New York did just put assisted suicide in as acceptable. How far is this from that?
The school district owns and maintains the buses.
Grew up in Minnesota and I did walk to school for the first 11 grades. You didn’t com0laine about the cold. You’d say, “ its really cold out there” and someone would say “yep”. Heat on the bus? Maybe, maybe not.
Idiocy.
So did the school district tell the drivers to turn down the heat?
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Those buses cannot afford to be stranded in that area. It's the snow belt and if there are weather related issues, they need to be able to get to safety. If the battery runs down because of running the heat, then the kids will be stranded for even longer. It's a lose/lose situation.
Better idea is to homeschool your kids.
Tell the little snot-noses to suck it up, we’re trying to save the Erf after all!
More of the joys of living in a looney Blue state.
Give me 2...
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