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.
Unfortunately it’s going to take a busload of kids to get hurt or killed in an electric bus fire before this madness stops. I pray it doesn’t happen, but there have been some pretty close calls already.
My wife will tell you these kids show up to school, no coats or hats, definitely no gloves, shorts or pajama bottoms, a light top or short sleeves and lightweight shoes or sandals, then complain it’s cold. And this is Vermont.
They can have the kids shovel coal in to a boiler for heating.
Or the kids can gather around when the bus bursts in to flames.
They shouldn't do that. They should turn the heat on so the batteries run down. That way they prove EV buses aren't going to work.
I will contend it is the law of premeditated ignorance. This law comes to fruition as politicians and bureaucrats use laws and procedures for meetings to preclude evidence of realities they will face. They characterize as a law the politically correct term for facing the consequences of their good intentions that were obvious on the front end.
Well, Duhhh !
install an LP radiant heater in the bus.
OR even better, buy diesel or gasoline buses which comes with built in heating system.
Well, Duhhh !
install an LP radiant heater in the bus.
OR even better, buy diesel or gasoline buses which comes with built in heating system. In really cold country, diesel is not the best choice either.
Get the typical bureaucrat response: there is no problem, we have a policy.
I have one of the boiler versions.
I set it up with valves and quick disconnects so I can easily move it from my Unimog to motorhome or even to heat a tent.
It works great, is extremely efficient with diesel fuel.
+1 for “my Unimog”.
I have 2, a 404 radio van and a U1300L with a NATO Zeppelin radio shelter.
And a Land Rover Lightweight, Rokon Trailbreaker, etc.
Do you have a Unimog?
The kids are getting an education.
By the time they get out they’ll be smarter than the people voting in the State Capitol.
This is unexpected.
Who is still sending their kids to public school? That’s insane.
No, just familiar. In the late 90s a bunch of people on a gun forum I was on were trying to put together a group buy for the Unimog’s cousin, the Pinzgauer. Austrians were surplusing a bunch of them. I tried to justify getting in on that, but there was no way it was happening with a house with a 2 car garage on a 1/2 acre in suburbia. Just appreciate both vehicles for what they are, think them neat.
That was Ronald Reagan’s job at Eureka College.
Why can’t they warm themselves in the reflected glow of the school’s virtue signal?
It is pretty cold upstate NY but what’s the alternative? Run the heat until the battery dies and the bus breaks down and you then have to get out and walk?
Btw, we didn’t have any heat on our buses when I was a kid but then again I didn’t live next to friggin’ cold Lake Erie.
Also, we had to wear dresses when I went. Now that WAS cold.
What are they going to do when one of these electric buses has a thermal runaway event and as a result many children die?
The solution is to put propane heaters in the buses.
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