Electric school buses coming to Rumney, Henniker

Shawne Wickham, The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester
·3 min read

Nov. 1—Two rural school districts in New Hampshire will be getting brand-new electric school buses, after winning a federal lottery for the funding.

The EPA announced last week that the Henniker and Rumney school districts are getting a total of nearly $2.8 million to purchase new electric school buses — four for School Administrative Unit 24 in Henniker and three for Rumney School District.

The funding comes from the EPA Clean School Bus Program, created under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in 2021.

In the first round of funding for the five-year program, 391 applicants from around the country were selected by lottery to receive more than $913 million to replace their existing school buses with clean and zero-emission models.

Jessica Wilcox, transportation program specialist at the state Department of Environmental Services, said she was "thrilled' to hear that two school districts here got funding in the first round.

"It was also inspiring to see how many school districts had been interested in the funding," she said. "I think that speaks to where we're moving as a nation."

"The electric bug has bit New Hampshire," said Wilcox, who is also director of Granite State Clean Cities Coalition.

The EPA program is designed to favor "priority" school districts initially, defined as high-need, low-income communities and rural areas.

Both Henniker and Rumney qualified as priority school districts. The funding will go to the districts' student transportation companies, which will purchase the electric buses and charging equipment.

"We're excited that we're receiving the buses," said Christopher Roy, business manager for SAU 24. "It goes along with a lot of the energy upgrades we've looked to around the district.

"And it's a good first step on the buses side."

Roy said the district's school bus provider, Student Transportation of America (STA), submitted the application to the EPA and will be receiving $1.58 million to purchase four new electric buses.

SAU 24 includes four school districts: Henniker, Weare and John Stark Regional, which use STA, and Stoddard, which uses a different bus company.

Roy said it's his understanding that the new electric buses can be used for the three districts that use STA, not just for Henniker students.

It's a little murkier in Rumney.

The EPA grant lists "Rumney School District" as the recipient of $1,185,000 for three new electric buses.

Kyla Welch, superintendent of SAU 48, which includes Rumney School District, said she was "really excited" to learn that the district was selected.

Her SAU contracts with Durham Student Services for school buses.

Rumney School District includes just one school, Russell Elementary School, which has about 90 students in kindergarten through eighth grades. "It's just one of my little schools in a larger community," Welch said.

Welch said she's waiting to hear more specifics about how the funding can be used, and hopes the electric school buses can serve the broader SAU's students. "We're excited about it and we can't wait to see more of the details," she said.

Twenty other New Hampshire school districts are on a waitlist for funding, including Concord, Goffstown, Litchfield, Oyster River and Plymouth. "If any other school districts nationwide drop out, that funding could potentially go to folks on the waiting list," Wilcox from DES said.

The next round of funding will be announced by the end of this year, and Wilcox said school districts that are on the waiting list should be well-positioned to receive funding in future rounds.