A Tri-Cities area school district is planning to add three electric buses to its fleet next school year.

And the Pasco School District isn’t stopping there. As grant money becomes available, the district may add even more electric buses in the future – a step officials say would mean both cost savings and environmental benefits. The district is putting infrastructure in place for 20 electric buses.

“It’s exciting. It’s the next generation. (The world) is moving in this direction. We were fortunate to get a grant so we can try it ourselves,” said Raúl Sital, assistant superintendent of operations and supports.

The district is using about $1.2 million in grant money from the state Department of Ecology to buy the buses and install the infrastructure needed to operate them, including charging stations.

The Pasco district is one of several around Washington investing in electric buses thanks to state or federal grants. Pasco officials believe their district will be the first in the Tri-Cities with electric buses.

The three buses will come online in the 2023-24 school year. They’ll cost an estimated 17 cents per mile, compared to the 68 cents a mile for diesel buses, officials said.

Students won’t notice any difference between riding on the electric versus diesel buses, they said.

The electric buses will be able to travel about 120 miles on a charge, and the district’s longest route is 70 miles. So, the electric buses will charge midday, between the morning and afternoon routes. The drivers and mechanics who’ll work on the electric buses will go through additional training this summer.

The charging stations and other infrastructure is going in at the district’s new Richard L. Lenhart Transportation Center. A grand opening was planned May 11 at the facility, which is named for the Pasco School District bus driver who was fatally stabbed while on duty in September 2021.

The $10 million facility at 3410 Stearman Ave. was paid for with $3 million from a voter-approved bond in 2017, plus money from the state. It will serve the district’s 170 buses and 130 support vehicles.

The Pasco and Finley school districts also recently formed a transportation co-op, so Finley’s school buses also will be worked on at the facility. Finley previously outsourced vehicle maintenance.

The new two-story, 29,000-square-foot transportation center has nine shop bays, plus staff offices and training, conference and meetings rooms and more. The transportation department has been working out of portables, with the shop housed in a cramped building that dates back several decades.

Mechanics have often had to work on vehicles outside in the extreme cold or heat, depending on the time of year, because of the limited space in the existing shop.

“On a nice day, fine. But when you have to be outside in the snow and the bus needs to be fixed – they do it and it gets done, but (it’s not ideal),” Sital said. “This will be more efficient and safer.”

Plus “we’re set for growth” with the new facility, said Ronald Sanchez, transportation supervisor.

G2 Construction of Kennewick was the general contractor, led by Project Manager Oscar Torres.

Jeff Lane of ALSC Architects of Spokane designed the facility.

The district purchased its electric buses from Schetky Bus & Van Sales in Pasco.

Pasco School District is the largest district in the Tri-Cities with more than 19,000 students, and it transports more than 9,000 students a day on its buses, not including sports and field trips.

The new transportation center and the electric buses will bring efficiencies that will allow the district to continue to be good stewards, Sital said – “good stewards of the environment, good stewards for the community and good stewards of the funding our community provides,” he said.