New York State Assembly:

Marjorie Byrnes
133rd Assembly District
Satellite Office
Wayland Town Hall
110 N. Main Street
Wayland, NY 14572 
byrnesm@nyassembly.gov
(585) 218-0038

https://nyassembly.gov/mem/Marjorie-Byrnes

Thursday 2-4 p.m. with Community Liaison Mike Palmesano

Fourth Thursday of each month (Noon to 2 p.m.) with Assemblywoman Byrnes

NY State Senator

Thomas F. O’Mara
58th Senate District
Satellite Office: 
105 East Steuben Street
Bath, NY 14810
(607) 776-3201
omara@nysenate.gov

https://www.nysenate.gov/senators/thomas-f-omara

United States House of Representatives: 

Nicholas A. Langworthy

Corning District Office
89 W. Market Street
Corning NY 14830
(607) 377-3130

https://langworthy.house.gov/

United States Senators

Charles E. Schumer
Satellite Office: 
Kenneth B. Keating Federal Building
100 State Street Room 3040
Rochester NY 14614
(585) 263-5866

https://www.schumer.senate.gov/

Kirsten E. Gillibrand
Satellite Office: 
Kenneth B. Keating Federal Building
100 State St. Room 4195
Rochester NY 14614
(585) 263-6250

https://www.gillibrand.senate.gov/

Local Issues: 

Recent New York State Legislation requires that by 2035 schools in NYS will need to have entire school bus fleets of electric buses. Implementation requires the purchase of new fleets and the construction of the infrastructure to charge and maintain the buses. As of 2027, all bus purchases must be green energy buses. Wayland-Cohocton sees the following issues which make the electric bus requirement unsuitable for rural school districts: 

• Cost of implementation: The cost of purchasing the buses and building the infrastructure has the potential to bankrupt small rural schools like our local district. A base model electric bus is about $370,000 compared to a similar diesel model at $130,000. 

• Electric costs continue to rise and more and more issues have come to the forefront in terms of the ability of the current electricity grid being able to manage the additional draw of electricity. WC would need to have the capital work done on installing charging stations prior to using the buses. Any eclectic issues either because of power outages or grid issues would mean buses can’t roll. 

• Buses have a maximum trip of 120 miles on one charge with the need of keeping 20% power for safety purposes. Battery degradation means that over the life of the bus, the duration of power from the battery decreases at about 2% per year. This could have a significant impact on the long bus routes in our rural area. During cold seasons, the electric system becomes even less efficient. 

• Tools and maintenance supplies will need to be updated and the current district mechanics retrained to maintain the buses. 

• Currently, the district has a bus replacement program that maximizes state aid and the resale value of the buses. It is impossible to understand if at the end of the battery life of the bus, what, if any, will be the resale value of the buses. Vehicle battery replacement has not reached an economically reasonable option yet. 

(source: https://www.bonadio.com/news-events/articles/nys-electric-vehicle-bus-mandate-what-to-do-about-it)

State Funding: 

We continue to struggle with the way aid is distributed across the state to schools. Our large geographic area and student profiles make it difficult to always deliver appropriate programming to our students. We struggle to keep our salaries competitive with larger districts within commuting distance and lose staff to districts with higher pay. While we support the intention of the tax cap as a means to work with our community to create a budget that is in line with the needs of our local taxpayers, we feel the tax cap has become overly restrictive based on a complicated formula, that doesn’t even allow for many districts to reach the 2% threshold that is advertised by state governments.

New York State Council of School Superintendent’s Issues List: 
https://www.nyscoss.org/Site/content/Advocacy/State-Legislative-Issues.aspx

New York State School Boards Association Action Center:
https://www.votervoice.net/NYSSBA/Home