DERRY — The future of school buses is electric, and thanks to a multimillion-dollar grant, the majority of the district’s diesel fleet will be replaced with new, battery-powered buses.
The Derry Cooperative School District and its transportation provider, First Student, celebrated a $8.6 million grant received from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Program. The money will be used to purchase 25 zero-emission school buses for the district.
“It’s the movement forward,” said Superintendent Austin Garofalo. “We’re all looking at hybrids or looking at electric vehicles. The fact that they can do that with a bus, it’s just amazing.”
Local and state officials, school district staff, and representatives from the EPA and First Student gathered outside West Running Brook Intermediate School on Wednesday to celebrate the clean future of school buses.
Students from the school’s Kid’s Care Club, an organization devoted to community service, attended the event. Three of the students spoke about how excited they are to have the new buses.
“I think it’s really cool that our school is doing something to help the environment,” said Henry Fournier, a sixth-grader. “I’m proud to be part of a school that cares about the future.”
David Cash, the EPA’s New England regional administrator, said the new buses will be better for everyone.
“This is, again, all about your future and all about your health,” Cash told the students. “This new bus right here will help protect your health, be better for the bus drivers, be better for the teachers, and be better for the school district.”
In May, the EPA and First Student announced that Derry would receive the grant and 25 zero-emission school buses. The program has brought $31 million to New Hampshire for 110 new school buses.
Derry was awarded the most money out of any New Hampshire community that applied and tied with Pembroke for receiving the most school buses.
School Board Chairman David Clapp said this was one less worry for taxpayers in Derry.
“The education funding in New Hampshire is tough and when you get grants like this to help, every little bit counts,” Clapp said. “Usually, we’re trying to figure out how to mitigate issues. Now, we’ve got something that we won the lottery in and it’s awesome.”
Clifton Dancy, the school district’s director of information services and transportation coordinator, said he was proud to celebrate such a remarkable moment for the district.
“We are overjoyed to have received the largest grant in New Hampshire – more than $8.6 million from the EPA’s Clean Bus rebate program,” Dancy said. “This generous funding will enable us to acquire 25 zero-emission buses. To put that into context, we have 29 buses, 25 of them will be electric.”
First Student representatives said the goal is to have the electric buses on the road for the 2025-26 school year.
Ben Henry, First Student’s general manager for Northern New England, said the money will go toward updating the First Student bus station in Derry so it can accommodate the new buses, including adding charging ports for the vehicles.
The new buses were part of a bipartisan initiative championed by U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas, D-N.H., who also spoke at the celebration.
“This is about making sure that we’re responding to the needs of our communities,” Pappas said. “The health benefits are there, the energy benefits are there, the cost benefits are there. So this is a huge win-win situation.”
Hassan said this was a moment where Derry residents did not have to decide between taking care of the environment and taking care of their wallets. She said this is one time where her constituents can have it both ways.
“This is one of those examples, too, where it isn’t just about choosing between costs and the environment. This both addresses climate change and lowers costs,” Hassan said. “This is about saving money and investing in the future. It’s a really, really good day for Derry and New Hampshire and our country.”