Native Students Need Equitable Access to Clean Rides to School

With higher rates of childhood asthma and longer commutes to school, residents of Tribal Nations and Native communities – also referred to as Indian Country – stand to benefit more than most from the transition to electric school buses (ESBs).

But residents of Indian Country face more hurdles to accessing the types of clean school transportation that could help address some of these issues. Many of these barriers are rooted in U.S. policies toward Native peoples that have systematically targeted them since the nation’s founding, including: 

• Historic and current underfunding
• Federal appropriation and procurement processes
• Overlapping and conflicting jurisdiction over roads and infrastructure
• Aging grid and utility systems that fail to meet electric delivery needs

There are also challenges like high costs to transition and lack of funding that are impacting all communities across the U.S. 

But despite these issues, Tribal Nations and Native communities are among the leaders in bringing the benefits of clean rides to their areas, with over 400 electric school buses (ESBs) committed across 70 school districts serving Native students.

We all have a role to play in accelerating this transition and providing Tribal Nations and Native communities with the resources and opportunities they need to electrify their fleets.

How Electric School Buses Can Support Health in Tribal Nations and Native Communities  

The transition to ESBs offers a host of benefits to schools and communities including improved air quality, reduced pollution and better student health.

For residents of Indian Country, these benefits could make a real difference.

American Indian and Alaska Native students rely on school transportation more than any other racial group in the U.S., with 42% riding the bus each day compared to the national average of 31%. In addition, Native students also face longer routes to school with 24% percent of Native students attending rural schools, at a rate more than 2.5 times that of any other racial or ethnic group. Native children are disproportionately impacted by asthma — which is among a number of medical conditions, including cancer, that can be caused by the exhaust from diesel-burning school buses. Thirteen percent of Native children suffer from asthma, compared to 8.6% of non-Native children. And because children’s lungs are still developing, they’re at an even greater risk of asthma from diesel exhaust pollution, including from school buses.

Unlike diesel- or propane-burning school buses, ESBs produce no tailpipe emissions. That means there is no exhaust for children to breathe in, and there is reduced exposure to harmful pollutants that cause asthma and other serious conditions, offering one way to help improve health outcomes in these areas. 

How You Can Help

No matter what role you play in student transportation or the transition to clean rides, you can support the efforts of Tribal Nations and Native communities to bring ESBs to their areas. That begins with educating yourself before you engage in ESB advocacy or implementation within Tribal Nations or Native communities.  

You can start by learning about:

• The Tribal Nation or Native community’s governance structure
• The size of the community
• The language(s) the community speaks
• How Tribal members refer to themselves and the Tribe

These are just a few places to begin, and the needs of each Nation, community and Tribal organization will be different.  

Most importantly, no matter your role or stage in the ESB transition, respecting and supporting tribal sovereignty and self-determination is fundamental to working with Tribes.

Here are a few ways you can get involved: 

School Districts and Fleet Operators

• Ensure Tribal governments have signed off on any ESB projects taking place on or with routes through Tribal land. This could take the form of a Memorandum of Understanding between the school and Tribal government.
• Include Tribal representatives at every stage of ESB planning and implementation.
• Prioritize electrification of school buses on routes that serve Native students. 

U.S Federal and State Policymakers

• Consult Tribal governments as equal partners when designing federal and state programs to align with Tribal policy priorities and respecting sovereignty.
• Provide flexible and accessible funding for ESBs and supporting infrastructure (e.g., chargers, durable roads and utility upgrades), especially in rural areas facing limited grid capacity or poor road conditions.
• Incentivize school districts and fleet operators to prioritize transitioning school buses serving Native students through targeted funding programs.
• Incorporate Tribal-specific needs into state EV infrastructure plans via meaningful consultation and community engagement, ensuring accessible charging stations and optimized routes for rural and remote Tribal lands. 

Manufacturers

• Support workforce development through training and educational programs for Tribe members.
• Partner with Tribal colleges and universities to develop curricula focused on electric vehicle technologies.
• Educate your company on Tribal Nations’ concerns around the environmental impacts of EV battery production, particularly mining of critical minerals.
• Prioritize sustainable practices such as battery recycling, reuse of EV components, and second-life applications to reduce resource extraction.
• Repurpose retired school bus batteries for microgrids, grid support, peak-shaving, or emergency backup on Tribal lands, in partnership with Tribal communities and governments. 

Electric Utilities

• Institutionalize consent mechanisms to ensure meaningful Tribal engagement throughout all phases of transportation planning and implementation.
• Prioritize grid development in Indian Country to improve energy access and reliability with the consent and partnership with Tribal Nations.
• Provide technical assistance for Tribal Nations to support EV infrastructure development. 

Financial Institutions

• Educate and provide technical assistance to potential borrowers to lay the groundwork for jointly developing financial products tailored to Indian Country.
• Provide financial products that meet the needs of Tribal Nations and the businesses and organizations that serve them. Look to offer low-cost capital, employ flexible terms and design financial structures that deliver value in the forms desired by host Tribes (co-ownership models, air quality or worker benefits, etc.). 

Learn how some Tribal school districts across the U.S. are already bringing the benefits of electric school buses to their students and communities:

• How a Rural, Tribal School Electrified Their School Bus Fleet
• Building Resilience With Electric School Buses in Rural Oklahoma
• How North Carolina's Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is Planning for Seven Generations of Sustainability

Where Can You Learn More

• Who’s driving this bus? A culturally and legally informed approach for electrifying student transportation in Indian Country
• Self-Determination on Wheels: The Successes and Challenges of Tribal Nations Transitioning to Electric School Buses
• Tribal Clean Transportation Program – Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP), ITEP provides culturally relevant education, research, partnerships and policy-based services to Tribal Nations.
• The Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy provides no-cost clean energy development 
  support for Tribal Nations.
• Technical Assistance and Resources for Tribal Nations · Joint Office of Energy and Transportation