Support healthy and sustainable schools for our community.

SIGN ON to support adoption of clean, zero-emission school buses in our community!

We urge our local school districts, the Bedford Central School District and Katonah Lewisboro School District, to fully electrify their fleets. Electrifying district fleets, especially transitioning school buses from fossil fuels to zero-emissions electricity is of utmost importance. Eliminating exposure to polluting diesel exhaust from fossil fuel powered buses will help mitigate associated health risks to students and drivers; it will reduce air pollution; and it will improve air quality in the community at large.

We pledge to support our district in making this critical transition as soon as possible.

We are concerned about health risks associated with diesel exhaust for children that ride our school buses. Diesel exhaust and its byproducts have been linked to respiratory diseases like asthma, cardiovascular illnesses, cancer, and higher mortality rates. Children are especially vulnerable to these dangerous health impacts because of their developing lungs and the extended amount of time they spend on school buses. Diesel pollution disproportionately affects low-income and communities of color.

Transitioning our school transportation, including the bus fleet will reduce our greenhouse gas emissions; address health concerns; and it will send a message to our children that we are taking steps to combat climate change, to ensure a healthier future.

We, the undersigned Bedford Central and Katonah Lewisboro parents and community members, submit this petition to declare our support for an immediate start to planning for a transition from fossil-fuel-powered to electric district transportation, including the infrastructure to allow the school population to charge their personal electric vehicles. We ask that school districts and all relevant community stakeholders:

     - Adopt a resolution which outlines the District’s measurable and accountable goal for  
       a full transition to zero-emission technologies.
     - Develop a plan to transition the public school buses to electric as soon as is feasible,
       including all buses owned and/or contracted for service, in the context of an overall plan
       to reduce the carbon footprint in our schools and town.
     - Commit to and communicate all milestones with our community so we can support our
       school districts in this essential transition.