Las Cruces Public Schools awarded $2M in federal money for electric school buses

Algernon D'Ammassa, Las Cruces Sun-News
·3 min read
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LAS CRUCES − New Mexico's second-largest school district, the Las Cruces Public Schools, has been awarded nearly $2 million to purchase electric school buses under a federal rebate program.

LCPS was one of five school districts in New Mexico awarded funds under the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean School Bus Program, alongside smaller rural school districts consisting of Dora Municipal Schools ($610,000), Dulce Independent Schools ($790,000), Lake Arthur Independent Schools ($790,000) and Pecos Independent Schools ($395,000). LCPS was awarded $1,975,000.

LCPS school board president Ray Jaramillo said Las Crucens might not see electric school buses on their streets sooner than 2024, because of high demand for the new vehicles, but he said he was elated by the news.

"It's nice to have buses, but there’s also money for the infrastructure, and that’s going to be an exciting opportunity. It’s really the start of a program that we can see going in to the future," he said.

New buses are parked at the Student Transportation Specialists of New Mexico lot waiting to carry kids to and from school in Las Cruces on Friday, Jan. 14, 2022. STS-NM will add 100 new buses to its fleet this year.
New buses are parked at the Student Transportation Specialists of New Mexico lot waiting to carry kids to and from school in Las Cruces on Friday, Jan. 14, 2022. STS-NM will add 100 new buses to its fleet this year.

Program funds include up to $20,000 per bus for electric charging infrastructure, and districts applying for funds were advised to speak with their utility providers ahead of time about service capacity needed to charge the buses’ batteries on a regular basis.

What was not immediately clear is how the district's transportation contractor, STS-New Mexico, would interact with the program, if at all. A spokesperson for STS indicated the purchasing would be handled entirely by the school district.

School board member Robert Wofford, who has frequently advocated for new construction and bus fleets that are not dependent on fossil fuels, saw cause for celebration in Wednesday's announcement by the EPA.

"This is a first step toward transforming our school district into one that addresses climate change in as many ways as it can," he said. "There’s no reason to buy a vehicle that’s not electric. There’s no reason to build a new school that does not sustain itself with renewable energy."

Xochitli Rivera, 11, watches the school bus take students to the local high school while she waits for her bus to Mesa Middle School on Thursday, July 28, 2022. The bus is supposed to arrive at 7:45 am, but Rivera's mother, Michelle, has been taking her to school so she does not miss first period.
Xochitli Rivera, 11, watches the school bus take students to the local high school while she waits for her bus to Mesa Middle School on Thursday, July 28, 2022. The bus is supposed to arrive at 7:45 am, but Rivera's mother, Michelle, has been taking her to school so she does not miss first period.

Speaking for himself and not on behalf of the school board, Wofford remarked, "We’ve got a major shift in terms of economic thinking to go through in this country, to retool ourselves and be a leader with electric vehicles."

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency held a lottery to distribute $913 million from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which the EPA says will purchase 2,463 low- or zero-emission school buses, most of them electric vehicles, in 389 school districts across the nation. In a statement, the agency said the awards include funding for infrastructure necessary for charging electric vehicles.

The selection process prioritized low-income, rural and tribal communities and the funding is delivered via rebates. The Clean School Bus Program aims to reduce air pollution and dependence on diesel engines that emit greenhouse gases and accelerate climate change. It also defrays some of the high costs of replacing older buses.

Demand for awards under the Clean School Bus Program was so high, the EPA announced in September, that it nearly doubled the amount allocated for the program this year. A total of $5 billion has been committed over five years.

New buses are parked at the Student Transportation Specialists of New Mexico lot waiting to carry kids to and from school in Las Cruces on Friday, Jan. 14, 2022. STS-NM will add 100 new buses to its fleet this year.
New buses are parked at the Student Transportation Specialists of New Mexico lot waiting to carry kids to and from school in Las Cruces on Friday, Jan. 14, 2022. STS-NM will add 100 new buses to its fleet this year.

New Mexico's senior U.S. Senator, Democrat Martin Heinrich, celebrated the $4.56 million in rebates allocated to New Mexico school districts as a major step in scaling up zero-emission transportation.

“Modernizing the vehicles that transport New Mexico's children to school — especially with clean and electric buses — will make our air cleaner and improve public health, and create important energy and fuel savings for public school districts," he said in a written statement. "Electrifying our homes, buildings, and vehicles is one of the surest climate actions that we can take right now that will help secure a more equitable, healthier future for all our communities."

Heinrich co-chairs the Bicameral Electrification Caucus, a congressional caucus consisting of House and Senate members backing a transition to electric power produced from renewable sources and technologies. Among the House members is U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M.

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Algernon D'Ammassa can be reached at 575-541-5451, adammassa@lcsun-news.com or @AlgernonWrites on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Las Cruces Public Schools awarded $2M for electric school buses