by Leslie Majkrzak ‘27

A problematic electric school bus driving through MCPS neighborhood.

MCPS attempted to implement an energy-saving, environmentally friendly mode of transportation into the school system by shifting towards using electric buses instead of traditional diesel school buses. However, after signing a contract with Highland Electric Fleets and beginning to integrate their new electric buses into their fleet in the 2021-2022 school year, issues began to arise.

Some of the main problems with the new electric buses include delivery delays, hundreds of breakdowns, and limitations due to charging. MCPS told News4 that, “Current electric bus technology is not fully capable of meeting all of our transportation requirements, particularly for longer routes, special education needs, field trips and mid-day services that exceed charging capacities.” In light of these complications, MCPS requested the purchase of 150 new diesel buses, despite their previous commitment that all new bus purchases should be all-electric starting in 2025.

The current move by MCPS to purchase more diesel buses, along with the constant concerns about the electric buses, has led to further investigation into the contract with Highland Electric Fleets. Under deeper examination, it was revealed that there were questionable procurement practices when creating the $168 million deal, and it resulted in wasteful spending. One issue was that MCPS failed to make provisions for the contractor, which would have allowed them to penalize the company for noncompliance with the contract, such as late bus deliveries or constant breakdowns.

“If MCPS had followed the diesel bus agreement model, they could have assessed fees of more than $1.8 million to offset incurred expenses related to late deliveries,” stated the official Memorandum of Investigation from the Office of Inspector General (OIG). The OIG concluded that MPCS’s failure to include penalties in or enforce the terms of the contract resulted in millions of dollars of unnecessary spending, ultimately setting back its environmental goals.

MCPS promised that it will respond to the findings of the OIG by installing data tracking systems, strengthening management practices, and upgrading communications with vendors and contract drafting. However, none of these things can make up for the millions of dollars of wasted spending by MCPS. Not to mention, its attempt to be more sustainable and protect the environment was unsuccessful. Instead, the school district is forced to shift back to using diesel buses and emitting greenhouse gases, as there is no current plan to look into a different electric bus company to stay sustainable.