Red Lake School District #38, the only public school district in Minnesota located within a sovereign tribal nation, has added two new electric school buses and chargers to its fleet. With this addition, the district has become one of the first public school districts in the U.S. with a 98% indigenous population to utilize funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Clean School Bus Program.
The Minnesota district partnered with Highland Electric Fleets, provider of school bus fleet Electrification-as-a-Service (EaaS), to bring healthier electric school buses to its students and community. This initiative underscores the district’s commitment to energy transformation, in tandem with honoring its cultural heritage. The district’s curriculum includes teaching the Ojibwe language Ojibwemowin and honoring ancestral customs as they usher in sustainable transportation technology.
“As an educational institution, our priority is to provide learning opportunities for students and community members in as many ways as we can,” says Tim Lutz, Red Lake Schools superintendent. “We achieve this goal through standardized curricula, but also through the utilization of best practices in energy utilization and sustainability, while also teaching students about future career opportunities in cutting-edge fields both on and from the Red Lake Nation. We are very proud of our efforts resulting in acquiring our two electric school buses, and we are confident the buses will serve us well.”
The district’s new electric buses will help transport approximately 50 students each. With the necessary infrastructure in place, the electric buses can obtain an average range of 110 miles throughout the year with a full midday charge. The two buses are expected to travel a total of around 10,000 miles annually.
“This partnership presents a tremendous opportunity to support the Red Lake Nation and the state of Minnesota in their efforts to bring cleaner transportation to their students and community,” adds Duncan McIntyre, CEO and founder of Highland. “Our aim is to provide smaller rural districts like Red Lake Schools with equitable solutions for their school bus electrification, demonstrating that electric school buses can be accessible and affordable for everyone.”
The district will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony Sept. 27, 2024, to launch the new buses at Red Lake Elementary School in Red Lake, Minn. The event will include Ojibwe traditions, keynote speakers from Red Lake Nation and the district, government officials, and a student from Red Lake. Attendees will then have an opportunity to take a short ride on one of the new electric buses.