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Plum Borough SD declines to proceed with electric school-bus contract after due diligence
Summary
After a multi‑month review, district staff recommended not to move forward with an electric school‑bus contract because of high infrastructure and operational risks; the board voted to cancel/decline the contract.
Plum Borough School District staff recommended the board not proceed with a proposed electric school‑bus contract, citing high upfront infrastructure costs, operational concerns and uncertain federal incentives; the board recorded a vote to stop the process and to cancel the contract clause that would have moved the purchase forward.
"What we found is sometimes what's on paper, sometimes it looks too good to be true," Doctor Boyers said after describing outreach to districts and transportation operators with electric fleets. Staff reported an estimate of $2.2 million to bring electrical service to the district's bus garage and raised concerns about battery replacement, maintenance and charging‑time constraints during multi‑run schedules.
Mr. Manzer, the business officer, said the transaction presented either a large upfront investment or a recurring lease cost that introduced too much fiscal risk. He recommended continuing with the district's current diesel fleet. Doctor Boyers said some peer districts had diesel buses available to back up electric buses when the electric vehicles were out of service.
Board members thanked staff for extensive external fact‑finding, which included site visits and vendor conversations. The chair recorded that there were five votes in favor of the staff recommendation to "not move forward"; the board instructed staff to process the contract cancellation through required action items.
