Dozens of new electric school buses ready to roll through DeKalb County's neighborhoods

Bernando Brown spent most of his childhood riding DeKalb County buses.

Now as an adult and the district's director of student transportation, he's helping the district roll out a new generation of electric buses.

"Coming off the tail of the bird, there is a charge like a plug with the cord that lets you know this is one of our buses that must be plugged in," Brown told CBS Atlanta as he pointed out features on one of the Bluebird models.

Starting in 2024, the EPA gave the district about $30 million for 75 electric buses. The goal is to lower emissions, improve air quality, and reduce noise.

The district says the federal funding was critical. The average diesel bus costs about $170,000, while an electric bus can cost up to $400,000.

"The financial impact on the district made it very hard for us to just automatically, just look into buying them. But so when the EPA offered the grant, we saw it was a perfect opportunity," Brown said.

Made in Fort Valley, Georgia, the electric buses make up just a small part of the district's fleet of more than 1,000 buses, which includes diesel, propane, gas and natural gas models. But the electric buses are expected to transport about 40,000 children, about one-third of its total bused students, on a typical school day.

"[T]he bus is running now, and it's quiet," Brown said. "So that's something that's going to help our community. They're going to be happy to know that they won't have that complaint as their bus rides through their neighborhood. They won't even realize that the buses are coming through."

"You can hear what's going on," said George Graves, a driver and field trainer for the district. "You'll be able to pay attention to your kids without all of the noise from the engine."

Graves said the electric bus's features are more responsive and offer a smoother ride.  

"This turn here, the turning radius on this bus is a lot better than a diesel, propane or gas. It's easy to maneuver around things," he said.

The district says the buses are being deployed in areas including Stone Mountain, Tucker and Buford Highway.

"I like to say we're driving forward," Brown said. "We're thinking about the future, and we're thinking about our students … And one of the ways of doing that is by having clean air and thinking about our community."

Georgia Power is also supporting the addition of the electric buses by helping build charging stations through its Make Ready Initiative. Students are scheduled to start riding the buses this month once those stations are complete.

With the district fighting for the environment, officials say it's a charge anyone can get behind.