In the spirit of looking forward to a new year, one of the things that we at BFA Fairfax are looking forward to is the delivery of our new electric buses. While we were working through the tribulations of 2020, one of the projects we were working on in the background was the acquisition of new electric buses for BFA Fairfax.
Early in the 2019-2020 school year, BFA Fairfax won a competitive grant process that allowed us to replace two of our current buses with more efficient electric buses. The real advantage of this award is that we would get two $350,000 buses, along with funding to support all of the related infrastructure including charging stations, training for drivers and related personnel for the cost of two comparable diesel buses. And we were due to replace two of our aging buses anyway.
Over the past year, our partners in the grant process at the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation and Green Mountain Power have been immensely helpful. We have been meeting virtually each week throughout the past 12 months to arrange RFPs, review and approve bids, and plan for the smooth delivery of our buses and installation of necessary infrastructure.
In August, with the approval of the board, we ordered our two buses. They are currently in production and we expect to have them delivered by the end of the school year. I am also excited to share that, just before the holidays, the installation process for our charging stations has begun so that we can be ready for the arrival of our new busses this Spring.
In the spirit of thanks after the holidays, I would like to thank Patsy Parker, BFA Fairfax Transportation Coordinator; Kate Cahalane at VEIC; and Randy Morton, FWSU Business Manager for their tireless attention to detail, flexibility and follow-through that has made this incredible opportunity possible and for bringing it to fruition.
We can also not thank our drivers enough for their work to safely drive our students (regardless of vehicle type) to and from school every day!
Justin Brown is the Principal at BFA Fairfax Middle School. He is a regular contributor to THE FWSU STORY. You can follow him on Twitter @jbrownenator.
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