Newfield Central School District

Newfield Central School District Describes How It Electrified its Fleet in a Rural Region

Newfield Central School District (NCSD) is a small, rural school district in central New York State about 5 miles southwest of Ithaca. Each day, its fleet picks up about 550 students and covers approximately 1,050 miles.

In 2020, NCSD decided to begin the process of converting from diesel to electric buses. In 2024, NCSD put its first electric school buses (ESBs) on the road.

NYSERDA was recently in touch with District Superintendent, Eric Hartz, and Business Administrator, Perry Gorgen, to find out about their experience. Here’s a look at how they navigated the steps of the conversion process.

1. Perception and Budgeting

The district worked with the community for budget approval. During the 2022 budget process, conversations were held at public board meetings to inform the public and a vote was passed in May 2022 to acquire three vehicles with EPA funding.

2. Charging Infrastructure

Designing and building charging infrastructure required time and planning, as well as working with utilities, certified electricians, and others.

As part of the EPA Clean School Bus grant, a study was done to evaluate the district’s electrical infrastructure and its capacity to meet the new demand from electric vehicles. That study formed the basis for NCSD’s team of architects and engineers (King + King from Syracuse, NY) to work with its local utility (NYSEG) on meeting future needs.

During the design process, a decision was made to fully build out charging infrastructure, with transformer, panel, and connections to accommodate as many as 18 chargers. Four of 18 chargers have been installed to date.

3. Staff Training and Maintenance

District drivers and mechanics all needed education about ESBs and charging. At NCSD, driver and mechanic education has been an ongoing part of ESB adoption.

Initial training was provided through the bus dealer, Matthews, with some early adopters among the drivers operating the electric buses since Fall 2024. Now, in-house trainers provide hands-on training to new drivers.

Mechanics also have training through Matthews, and they work with the Matthews team to assess any issues and get repairs done under warranty.

5. Using ESBs

ESBs are used for daily AM and PM routes to and from school. An ESB has been put on the longest route, running about 45 miles in the morning, which takes around 50-60% of the charge, depending on the temperature.

It then has about 4-4.5 hours to charge, which typically brings it back up to 95% charge or more, giving it the ability to go back out for the 45-mile afternoon run. The district reports it has consistently operated on this schedule, even in below-zero weather. It did report one exception on a day with a 2-hour school opening delay due to -8 degree weather. The delay shortened the mid-day charge time.

6. District Benefits

Benefits the district reported:

• Compared to diesel buses, kids, drivers, and bus attendants all prefer the experience of the ESB. The primary reason, though, is that the bus is so much quieter. The quiet helps keep kids calm and helps drivers and bus attendants do their jobs of keeping kids safe. The quieter ride improves student behavior on the bus as well as driver/attendant interventions. There are fuel savings compared to diesel as well.
• NCSD came across a surprise benefit with their chargers; they double as powerful diagnostic computers that offer valuable data on the bus connected to it. Diagnostics may point out potential mechanical issues sooner rather than later.

7. Future Planning

The district’s current vehicle replacement plan calls for replacing vehicles at around 8-10 years of service. On this schedule, the district will be replacing 1-2 vehicles a year and is currently on track to meet the requirement to be fully electric by 2035.