A bus from Lion Electric Co., one of four acquired by the Winthrop Public Schools under the federal Clean School Bus Program, is parked near Winthrop Middle School in December 2023. Lion Electric, based in Canada, is reportedly on the brink of bankruptcy. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal file photo

WINTHROP — In a divided vote, the Winthrop school board Wednesday decided to put its electric school buses back on the road, even as school districts across the state continue to experience problems with Lion Electric Co. buses supplied through the Maine Clean School Bus Program.

Winthrop’s four electric school buses were taken out of service for around a month after a part on the buses was recalled by the Canadian manufacturer.

TO USE OR NOT TO USE

In a proposal to the Winthrop Public School board Wednesday,  interim Superintendent Becky Foley suggested one of the four buses could be added back into service on Monday, with the other three buses available for trips.

The school board agreed, voting 3-2 to put the bus back on the road, with board members Catherine Emery, Tim Weiss and Chairperson Alicia Lawson in favor, while Monika McLaughlin and Ivy Corliss opposed the proposal.

Emery and Lawson said they support the decision made by Foley, who said she believes the buses are safe following a test-drive period. Their vote was supported by a report to the board by Joshua Wheeler, the school district’s transportation director, about the results of the test-drive period and a Lion Electric technician correcting any issues.

But McLaughlin and Corliss said they do not want students on the buses at all in light of the problems the buses have had.

“All drivers have had training on the electric school buses,” Wheeler said, “and if we roll them back out, we will offer refresher training.”

That training includes reviewing the controls specific to the electric vehicles.

“And we will give them the opportunity to drive them, if they choose,” he said.

The four electric school buses, funded through a grant program from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, have had numerous problems, including a power steering failure last year that forced Wheeler to drive an electric bus into a snowbank to stop it during a test drive with no students on board. The latest issue, a part recall, put the bus out of commission for about a month while the district figured out what to do.

Wheeler reviewed for the board the testing the buses underwent. Each ride was documented extensively with the number of miles driven and the errors, if any, he said. The bus that will rejoin the active fleet displayed no error messages during the test period; the other three buses did have a few issues, including a heater malfunction, but are now in the clear.

Wheeler said if the board had decided not to put the buses back on the road it should consider buying one or two diesel buses to make up for the loss from service of the four electric school buses.

“We have the commitment to keep the buses running and in order for five years, so through June 2028,” Wheeler said. “We would have to keep the remainder of the buses plugged in, especially in the cold weather, to maintain the buses’ integrity and test drive intermittently to keep the buses functional.”

Under the terms of the Clean School Bus Program, school districts that accepted the buses are required to use them regularly. If they don’t, they would be required to refund the grant money. In Winthrop’s case, that would cost the district nearly $1.6 million.

Corliss asked about the possibility of parents not wanting their child to ride an electric vehicle to school. Foley said the school district isn’t likely to offer an alternate route, but parents always have the choice to make other arrangements, such as driving the student.

Although only one electric bus will be added to the fleet for now, the board’s vote does not stop school district officials from substituting one of the other three electric school buses on a route if a diesel bus breaks down, or from using one of the electric buses for a trip.

FINANCIAL ISSUES RAISE CONCERN

Foley said a representative from Lion Electric Co. contacted her Wednesday afternoon and assured her that despite financial problems the Quebec-based company is facing, the school district will receive the $57,000 it’s owed from having to rent diesel buses while the electric buses were out of order.

The agreement predates Foley’s tenure but was a decision the district made to offset potential bus shortages. She said because of the company’s financial troubles, including the recent layoff of nearly half the company’s workforce and the shutdown of its Illinois assembly plant,  the representative did not have an exact date that the district would be reimbursed.

Bruce Burns, the only member of the public who spoke at Wednesday’s board meeting, was concerned about Lion Electric Co.’s financial issues. Burns spoke two weeks ago at the school board meeting about his concerns over the electric school buses, which prompted the reevaluation of the buses.

McLaughlin wondered what might happen to the fleet of buses, namely the bus warranty, if the company goes bankrupt.

“We have had problems from the get-go and I anticipate we will have more. I don’t want kids on those buses, I don’t want to keep repeating myself, and this company is going under,” she said. 

The logo on a Lion Electric Co. bus owned by Winthrop Public Schools. The school district has four Lion Electric buses that have been problematic for a couple of years. Lion Electric is based in Canada. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal file

Other school districts have experienced problems with their Lion Electric Co. electric buses, including the Yarmouth School Department. Superintendent Andrew Dolloff said the school district had numerous problems with the buses long before the company’s financial problems emerged.

“They’ve been a problem to deal with from the word go,” he said in an interview Wednesday. “It’s a complete lack of response by the company or an inadequate response when they are here.”

“It’s just been extremely frustrating. It’s a terrible experience,” Dolloff said.

Lion Electric did not immediately respond to a request for comment left on its website Wednesday, or a request for comment on Tuesday.

The Yarmouth School Department used federal grant money to buy two Lion buses for the 2023-24 school year, Dolloff said. School officials encountered “consistent mechanical and technical problems,” such as erroneous readings about battery failures and error codes.

The Yarmouth School Department worked with an industry consultant when it bought the buses, analyzing different products, he said.

“Lion at that point had a pretty good reputation,” he said.

Yarmouth schools, which operate fewer than 15 diesel buses, won’t easily approach the subject of electric vehicles again because of its experience with Lion, Dolloff said. “It’s giving EVs a bad reputation.”

The school district is not able to fix the buses because its mechanics are not trained to work on electric vehicles, he said.