Drone’s-eye view of the Wethersfield CUSD #230 campus taken on a warmer day last summer by Technology Director Jason Phelps. The photo is currently posted on the district’s revamped website, geese230.com.

The Wethersfield School District’s electric school buses have hit a bump in the road.

Superintendent Dr. Andrew Brooks informed the Board of Education at its January meeting that Lion Electric, the company which was to manufacture four electric school buses for the district, has filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection.

Operations at the plant near Joliet where they were to be suspended operations Dec. 1 citing lagging sales as the reason for the closure. The company, based in Montreal, Canada, has also filed for bankruptcy protection there.

Dr. Brooks said the buses, to be purchased with grants from the EPA and Department of Energy, had been ordered, but not paid for and another bus manufacturer is being sought.

Brooks said a number of school districts in Illinois are affected, including Peoria District 150 which had ordered 15 electric buses from Lion. Meanwhile, Williamsfield, one of the first school districts in Central Illinois to purchase electric buses, has seven on the road at the present time.

Lion Electric was the first company to manufacture electric school buses in 2017, according to news reports. The plant at Channahon opened in July of 2023 and, at the time, anticipated manufacturing 20,000 buses a year. Since September, however, revenue was down 62%, according to news reports.

Dr. Brooks said the arrival of electric buses at Wethersfield will be delayed by the setback, but installation of solar panels on the bus barn and conversion of the building to a micro-grid charging station, are still on target for completion this fall.

In other business, Dr. Brooks told the board it’s time to replace the aging Kewanee boiler in the Blish Building with a smaller, more efficient unit.

A 1950’s-era Kewanee boiler in the basement of the Blish Building may be retired soon. The boiler carries a small orange and black circle “K” logo on the manufacturer’s plate on the front of the unit. [Photo by Dave Clarke]

He said he believes the current gas-powered boiler was installed in the 1950s and has a number of problems due to its age. The boiler provides heat for the two-story building which houses Wethersfield Junior High School.

Brooks said a local Northwest Controls representative has estimated the cost of removing the old boiler and installing the new one at 1$104,000. He said he is looking into applying to Ameren for incentive energy grants to cover a portion of the cost. A final report on the project and a decision will be made at the February board meeting.

Under action on personnel, the board accepted a request from junior high science teacher Cathy Dana to revoke her request to retire at the end of this school year and continue teaching for another two years.

The board also accepted the resignation of Laura Evans as K-Kids Coordinator, and approved high school science teacher Jennifer Gault as play sponsor.

Under announcements, there will be no school on Jan. 20 in observance of Martin Luther King Day. The Mid-Winter Dance will be held on Jan. 25, and a Key Club Blood Drive will be held on Jan. 31 in the small gym of Wethersfield Elementary School.

The next Board of Education meeting will be held at 5 p.m. on Feb. 13 in the boardroom at the high school.