MCPS slams the brakes on electric bus program - The Observer
Showing posts with label Highland Transportation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Highland Transportation. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 18, 2025
Churchill Observer: "So far, MCPS has received 16 buses for the fiscal year 2025." (They should have received 120.)
Friday, November 1, 2024
Latest revelation over electric bus contract at Montgomery Co. schools provides a jolt at hearing
A July Montgomery County Inspector General’s report found that the school district failed to assess $372,000 in performance fees it could have assessed to its vendor, Highland Electric Fleets, for failures to live up to terms of its contract. Issues cited included the late delivery of buses and periods when buses were inoperable due to charging or other issues.
On Monday, Dana Edwards, chief of district operations for Montgomery County Public Schools, told the members of the county council audit committee that MCPS had “invoiced the contractor” to the tune of $1.5 million.
Montgomery County Inspector General Megan Limarzi didn’t hide her surprise: “I’m only hearing today that the number that has been invoiced is $1.5 million,” and she said an “enormous concern” for her office would be to learn more about the details of the terms. Making sure that the contract is enforced mattered, explained Limarzi, “because the vendor is supposed to make sure MCPS has the buses they need to get the children to school.”..
Friday, October 18, 2024
@mocoboe Board of Education Consent Agenda is for Unanimous Votes. Superintendent Taylor & BOE Silvestre put purchase of 70 Diesel School Buses on Consent Agenda.
The Montgomery County Board of Education has responded to the ABC7 news report on their purchase of 70 diesel school buses for MCPS by saying:
“Consent agenda items are routine business items that are grouped together to be approved with a single vote. The purpose of a consent agenda is to efficiently address standard administrative and operational responsibilities of the administration that require Board approval...."
But the Board of Education's HANDBOOK (shown below) explains that Consent Agenda items are for unanimous votes. How did Superintendent Thomas Taylor and Board of Education President Karla Silvetre know in advance that the elected Board of Education members would unanimously vote in favor of this controversial purchase?
Monday, August 26, 2024
County Council Staffer Essie McGuire Approved Electric School Bus Scheme for @mcps When She was @mcps Associate Superintendent in 2021
Here is the link to the February 2021, Montgomery County Board of Education Contract Approval for the HET MCPS, LLC. electric school bus scheme.
HET MCPS, LLC. was not awarded the contract through the RFP process, a company called Highland Electric Transportation was awarded the contract. Somehow MCPS switched companies, and the Board of Education approved a contract with a company that had not participated in the bidding process.
At the bottom of the 3rd page of the Contract Approval are the initials of the MCPS administrators who approved the Resolution submitted to the Board of Education.
Jack R. Smith, Superintendent
Monifa B. McKnight, Deputy/Acting Superintendent
Derek G. Turner, Chief
Essie McGuire, Associate Superintendent of Operations
Eugenia S. Dawson. Director
Todd M. Watkins, Director Department of Transporation
Watch the video below. Listen to Ms. McGuire sell the electric bus scheme to the Board of Education.
Ms. McGuire, "very excited to bring this forward today..."
"...ongoing effort with legal department, budget office, transportation office..."
Wednesday, July 31, 2024
New report says Montgomery County Public Schools wasted millions on electric buses
It signed a contract a year earlier with Highland Electric Fleets to deliver more than 300 electric buses to replace its diesel-powered buses.
Our investigation two years ago uncovered that not all buses arrived on their original delivery dates. Four months in only 7 out of the promised 25 buses were transporting your children.
Now a scathing report from the Montgomery County Office of the Inspector General reveals the $160 million contract with Highland for 326 electric school buses turned into a massive delay of buses for years...
The Parents Coalition of Montgomery County, a taxpayer's watchdog group, is outraged.
"What do you think is alarming for parents to see out of that report?" asked 7News Investigative Reporter Scott Taylor.
"Tremendous amount of waste of dedicated education funding. These are our precious education dollars," said Janis Sartucci with the Parents Coalition of Montgomery County...
Tuesday, November 7, 2023
MCPS Got ZERO Grant Funding for $168M Electric School Bus Scheme while Texas School District got a $1.58 million Clean School Bus grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Texas School District Goes All-Electric
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Montgomery County's Board of Education will pay out of the MCPS Operating Budget for the use of electric school buses without the benefit of any grant funding.
The Montgomery County Board of Education is a national leader in making poor financial decisions.
Monday, October 30, 2023
After purchase of diesel vehicles, activists worry future of MCPS bus electrification is on fumes
The decision is “shocking and says that the electric bus scheme has collapsed,” said Janis Sartucci, a member of the Montgomery County Parents’ Coalition, an advocacy and watchdog group, that has monitored MCPS’ bus electrification program.
The board approved a request from MCPS Superintendent Monifa McKnight to purchase and finance “90 transit-style diesel school buses” and the contract states that the board would fund and finance the buses over a six-year term for $14,749,919...
Activists worry future of MCPS' electric bus program is on fumes| MoCo360
Monday, September 25, 2023
MCPS Parents and Guardians Have No Idea They are Putting their Children on School Buses Owned by a Shell Corporation out of Massachusetts. Buses are Not Marked. @mcps @mocoboe
UPDATE: On September 7, 2023, a MCPS electric school bus was involved in an accident with 5 vehicles and a tree. No children were on the bus at the time of the accident.
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Electric school buses are all the rage and Montgomery County Public Schools has gotten national attention for their supposed plan to convert their entire school bus fleet to electric buses.
But who owns the electric school buses that Montgomery County children are riding on?
When the Board of Education was buying diesel school buses the diesel school buses were owned by the Board of Education. But the electric school bus scheme the Board of Education signed up for at the insistence of their former Department of Transportation Director Todd Watkins (Mr. Watkins' sentencing is this week.) does not have the Board of Education buying the electric school buses. Instead, the scheme involves a shell corporation called HET MCPS, LLC. putting school buses on Montgomery County roads.
The HET MCPS, LLC electric school buses are apparently unmarked as shown in the image below, so parents actually have no idea they are putting their children on a school bus owned by a shell corporation instead of Montgomery County Public Schools.
When MCPS signed up for this electric school bus scheme the company that actually bid on the contract (NOT HET MCPS, LLC) had exactly ONE electric school bus on the road in Beverly, Massachusetts. That Beverly, MA bus was clearly marked as belonging to Highland.
But the electric school buses on the road in Montgomery County are not clearly marked.
Who owns the electric school buses in use by MCPS, but more importantly WHO IS INSURING THEM?
MCPS says, "...that the contractor covers them for liability...", but who is the contractor?
Tuesday, August 8, 2023
BREAKING: @mcps @mocoboe Electric Bus Contractor for Charging Stations Proterra Stuns Investors With Surprise Bankruptcy Filing - Sell
Proterra: Stuns Investors With Surprise Bankruptcy Filing - Sell
Summary
- After the close of Monday's session, battery systems and electric transit bus manufacturer Proterra Inc. stunned investors with a bankruptcy filing out of left field.
- Following the successful restructuring of the company's convertible notes earlier this year, the move comes as a surprise.
- Apparently, the company is looking to separate the legacy transit bus operations from the battery and charging solutions segment ("Proterra Powered & Energy") and pursue a recapitalization or sale.
- Regardless of the company pursuing a recapitalization or a sale, a recovery for existing equity holders looks highly unlikely at this point.
- Considering the very real risk of a wipeout, I would advise existing shareholders to sell existing positions and move on.
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Proterra Press Release
...Under the agreement, Highland and its project partners, including Thomas Built Buses, Proterra, and Annapolis-based American Bus, will electrify all five of MCPS’ bus depots, supplying the electric school buses and charging infrastructure along with services including managed charging. Highland will purchase buses manufactured in North Carolina by Thomas Built Buses, which will be supplied and serviced by American Bus. Both companies have been long-time trusted suppliers and partners for the MCPS Department of Transportation. Designed, engineered, and manufactured in the United States by Thomas Built Buses, the all-electric Saf-T-Liner C2 Jouley school bus is powered by Proterra’s electric vehicle technology platform. The Jouley couples 226 kWh of total energy capacity with a Proterra Powered drivetrain to offer an industry-leading operating range of up to 135 miles on a single charge to meet the needs of school bus fleets...
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