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ELKINS -- The Randolph County Board of Education approved the $34,780 purchase of a charger for electric school buses this week.
The EV (for "electric vehicle") charger will be used for two electric school buses that the BOE voted to buy last December. Because of a grant Randolph County Schools received in 2024, the buses cost the county $32,705. The original price for the two buses, before the grant, was $774,064.
The charger purchase was approved by a 3-1 vote during the consent calendar portion of Tuesday night's BOE meeting. Rachel Anger, Sherri Collett and Janie Newlon voted in favor of the purchase, while Ed Daniels voted against. Dr. Phil Chua, the fifth BOE member, was out of town and did not attend the meeting.
An electric vehicle uses one or more electric motors for propulsion, drawing power from a rechargeable battery pack, rather than an internal combustion engine.
The charger's price includes the charger itself and management software for five years. DC America won the bid to supply the charger to Randolph County Schools. DC America specializes in electric vehicle charging solutions, particularly focusing on the installation and deployment of DC fast chargers.
Nick Alfred, Randolph County Schools' director of Facilities, Maintenance, Transportation and School Safety, told the BOE the buses had already been purchased, and tried to clear up local rumors about the company supplying them.
"Today is for the purchase of the charger; we have already made the bus purchases," Alfred said. "There has been some concern that the company (Thomas Built Buses) we are buying the buses from is going bankrupt, and that is just not true. There is another bus company having some problems, but we don't deal with them."
Collet asked Alfred when the county would receive the buses.
"Soon as I get the charger hooked up, hopefully in a few weeks," Alfred replied. "One bus is a demo bus and it's ready to go. The other bus will be ready any day now."
Anger questioned the warranties from Thomas Built Buses, saying, "So all the initial guarantees and everything is still the same, no fear from that company?"
Alfred said, "Thomas has been in business for over 100 years and the warranties are the same with the addition of the battery warranty, which is eight years and 175,000 miles, with the bumper-to-bumper drivetrain still the same."
The buses come with a three-year, 50,000-mile warranty on the body and chassis, officials said previously.
Schools Superintendent Dr. Shawn Dilly said he was happy that the bid for the charger came in lower than the $90,000 Alfred originally projected.
"I want to mention that I was glad to see that the bid was actually a lot less than we originally anticipated," Dilly said. "That rarely happens."
Alfred noted the school system's maintenance crew helped create financial savings by performing some of the electrical work where the charger will be located.
The next BOE meeting is scheduled for Aug. 5 at 5:30 p.m.