Jackson County School District will add six electric school buses

The Jackson County School District makes the leap toward zero-emission as it becomes the first in the state to add electric school buses to its fleet.

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality and the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Program picked the district for grant funding.

District Business Manager Ryan Earley says the vehicles will save about $150,000 each over their 25 years of service.

The district is replacing 11 buses that are approaching the end of their 25-year cycle so five of those will be diesel-engine and six will be electric. “For us, the goal is twofold, right? It’s to improve the environment on these buses that our kids and bus drivers experience, and it’s to save money. And this pilot project with six electric buses in Vancleave will do both of those things for us.”

As the district seeks bids from manufacturers to have the buses for fall 2023, each unit is expected to range from $300,000 to $400,000.