VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: Onondaga Central School District’s future could be electric
Jacob Kaye: Electric school buses have become a hot topic with New York State becoming emissions free by 2027. Today voters within the Onondaga Central school district will determine whether the buses will remain gasoline-powered or go electric. Our reporter Lindsay Arons is at the polls with more.
Lindsay Arons: Thanks Jacob and Adam, I’m here at Rockwell Elementary School where the snow has been coming down and the voters have been coming out since 7 a.m. One word can be used to describe the emotions surrounding these electric school buses. Charged.
Voter: You know we’re against it or we wouldn’t be here
Arons: The majority of voters I spoke to shared a similar sentiment that they wouldn’t have made their way to the polls if they weren’t against electric buses coming to the Onondaga Central School District.
Ginny Grome: Being that I was a bus driver for 35 years, we question it a little. Because of being out on a route that’s miles away and if the bus quits…a battery dies.
Arons: Concerns for an electric bus having a dead battery are certainly appropriate. District Superintendent Rob Price says the batteries do not last as long as some bus routes require for one reason in particular.
Rob Price: Distance, it’s miles. We have buses, we have a few routes that are over 120 miles a day. The range right now on an electric bus is 80-90 miles.
Arons: With this issue looming, why be in favor of the electric bus? New York State plans to be Emissions free by 2027, meaning all buses purchased from then on will be required to be electric. And the grant money from the state to purchase the buses now is limited.
Rob Price: What happens to the money if we don’t use it for the school buses? If we don’t use this money for the school buses the money gets distributed to another district to buy buses.
Arons: Superintendent Price says that rather than allowing another district this opportunity, Onondaga Central should consider it given the cost.
Rob Price: I think it’s a great opportunity for the community to take advantage if the community chooses to do so of the grant money to get 2 buses at no cost for local tax payers.
Arons: The polls will remain open until 9 p.m. tonight both here at Rockwell Elementary and also at the Onondaga Junior and Senior High Schools. Reporting from Nedrow for NCC News, I’m Lindsay Arons. Back to you guys in the studio.
NEDROW, N.Y. (NCC NEWS) – Electric school buses have become a hot topic with New York state looking to become emissions free by 2027. On Dec. 3, voters residing in the Onondaga Central School District voted to determine whether the buses will remain gasoline-powered or go electric.
The School Bus Referendum has two propositions for voters to choose from. Proposition I offers two electric school buses and one gasoline-powered bus. Proposition II offers three gasoline-powered buses. Electric buses typically cost more money, however New York State is offering a grant to the district that would make it cost nothing to taxpayers according to Onondaga Central Superintendent Rob Price.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for the community to take advantage if the community chooses to do so,” said Price. “To get two buses at no cost for local taxpayers.”
While Superintendent Price seemed to be in favor of electric buses coming to the district, there was one major concern that he voiced.
“Distance, it’s miles,” said Price. “We have buses, we have a few routes that are over 120 miles a day. The range right now on an electric bus is 80-90 miles.”
Many voters refused to be interviewed at the polls.
“You know we’re against it or we wouldn’t be here,” said one of the voters who refused an interview.
Ginny Grome, a poll worker and former school bus driver, said she is in the middle over the issue.
“Being that I was a bus driver for 35 years, we question it a little,” said Grome. “Because of being out on a route that’s miles away and if the bus quits, a battery dies.”
Jim Molloy, an Onondaga Central School District resident, said that his children used to attend school there, and that he also sees both sides of the issue. But the battery presents concerns.
“I get it with the emissions and being better for the environment,” Molloy said. “But it’s hilly in this neighborhood. If our basketball team has an away game with a battery-powered bus they may not make it there.”
Onondaga Central School District residents await the results of this vote to see if the future is electric.