Maryland education board concludes ‘arbitrary, unreasonable’ electric school bus contract violated district’s own rules

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) in Maryland has drawn withering criticism from the state’s board of education, which recently declared the district’s $168 million school bus contract “illegal.”

“The (board’s) report found that the contract between MCPS and Highland Electric Fleets was ‘arbitrary, unreasonable, and in violation’ of the district’s own bidding procedures,” explains Scott Taylor for the local ABC affiliate.

“The district terminated the agreement over the summer, even though Highland had delivered just 285 of the 326 electric buses it was contracted to provide.” 

Janis Zink Sartucci, representative of the Parents Coalition of Montgomery County, noted the unprecedented nature of the board’s report. 

“I have certainly never seen a decision by the Montgomery County Board of Education declared illegal,” Sartucci said. 

Uncovering a history of delays, criminal convictions 

The 2021 contract had promised the electric buses would replace diesel-powered ones, causing MCPS to describe itself later “as one of the leading school districts in America regarding electric buses,” Taylor noted in a 2024 article. 

However, such claims unraveled over time. Only seven of 25 promised buses had begun transporting children four months into the agreement, journalists noted. 

“Additional questions about the deal surfaced last year, when a public report cast doubt on the district’s claim that transitioning from diesel to electric buses would result in ‘zero net change’ in transportation costs,” Taylor wrote Nov. 10. 

“Soon after, the Montgomery County Inspector General raised further concerns, citing delivery delays and the district’s failure to recover $372,000 from Highland for buses that were not operational.” 

Sartucci lamented the “tremendous amount of waste” incurred by taxpayers over the course of the project. 

“I think often when people pay their property taxes and they know their money is going to education – about half of the county’s budget – they think the money goes to a classroom, and the trust that has been broken here is tremendous,” he told Taylor last year. 

Furthermore, the board’s report highlighted the involvement of two former district officials – Charles Ewald and Todd Watkins – who were criminally convicted during an investigation of “financial improprieties” within the district’s department of transportation. 

“On May 18, 2023, Mr. Ewald pleaded guilty to one felony count of theft scheme and two counts of misdemeanor conduct in office,” the report notes. 

“In accordance with the plea agreement, Mr. Ewald supported a proffer of how he used his position with the local board to misdirect payments from (the electric bus company’s subcontractor American Truck & Bus) ATB to himself, in violation of the local board procurement policies.” 

About a month later on June 30, 2023, Watkins – the department’s former assistant director and Ewald’s supervisor – pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of misconduct in office, according to the report. 

“This was predicated on his failure to properly manage the ATB contract, which allowed Mr. Ewald to steal over $320,000.” 

Ongoing maintenance, safety concerns 

Electric school buses have raised concerns among analysts for failures to fully address maintenance and safety concerns before mass deployment. 

“Electric is just going to be an economic disaster for the entire country,” Nick de Haan, a school bus mechanic in Colorado, told The Lion in the summer of 2024. 

“I’m not against doing my part for the environment, but I think we’re being pushed into this before it’s financially feasible.” 

Later that year in October, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) issued an advisory acknowledging nearly 500 Proterra electric buses were recalled because of fire concerns, according to the Daily Caller News Foundation. 

“U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm faced criticism in 2021 over her owning shares of Proterra, which was seen as a conflict of interest since the company had a direct stake in the department’s work,” the Daily Caller’s report noted. 

“Granholm did not sell her shares in Proterra until after the House Oversight Committee opened an investigation into her ownership stake in the company in May 2021.” 

‘A double-edged sword’ 

Unlike diesel-powered buses, electric buses rely heavily on batteries that must be climate-controlled for operational effectiveness. 

“The colder it gets, the less amperage you have available,” said de Haan, whose residence is 8,000 feet above sea level. “And so, the batteries actually have to be heated, or climate-controlled.” 

To maintain such temperatures for the batteries, all electric buses must feature a diesel heater. 

“These Webasto diesel-fired heaters literally heat the cooling system with the sole purpose of heating up the batteries and maintaining them at a specific temperature, whatever the engineers have designated,” de Haan said, noting a typical temperature is around 50 degrees. 

“If they’re stored outside and you’re in single digits overnight, that heater’s running all night to keep those batteries at the optimal temperature.” 

Meanwhile, electric buses in warmer climates must focus on cooling their batteries to a low enough temperature before they can work, according to de Haan. 

“They have a higher chance of failure rate. It’s a double-edged sword unless you have indoor parking for these buses, which is financially irresponsible.” 

‘Up the creek’ 

Electric buses often require substantial infrastructure to support operations, de Haan noted. 

“In order for the bus to be viable, it would need a fast charger. And from what I understand, the charging requirements require a lot of amperage. For keeping five buses or more, you’re talking about a major upgrade to the infrastructure at your location. The utility company is not going to do that for free. And so, the districts would be responsible for that.”  

While de Haan’s school district worked out a deal for local utility companies to upgrade their facilities for the e-buses, the companies were allowed to pull electricity from the buses during high-demand times for power. 

“If the utility companies pull power during the day and those batteries are not at 100% when (bus drivers) get ready to leave in the afternoon, they’re kind of up the creek essentially,” de Haan concluded.  

“Manufacturers nowadays might claim that they do research and development, but I can almost guarantee you the consumer is pretty much the guinea pig when it comes to new technology. They don’t have the time, money or resources to do R&D for any length of time.”