NYS to allow up to 4-year extension for school districts to comply with electric bus mandate:
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The new state budget allows up to a 4-year extension for school districts if they are unable to comply with the 2027 deadline to begin purchasing zero-emission school buses.
The Commissioner of Education has been empowered to grant extensions if factors outside the district’s control, like market availability, infrastructure and/or availability of state or federal grants are impeding the ability to begin making purchases or leasing electric school buses.
The News10NBC Investigative team has reported extensively on the challenges districts are facing with the state’s mandate that they stop buying new diesel buses by 2027 and stop using all diesel buses by 2035.
From a lack of power infrastructure to concerns about battery life, availability and the sheer cost of this transition, districts have faced numerous obstacles.