Leander ISD considers $18 million budget impact for three-point seat belt buses

Of LISD's current fleet of 318 buses, 212 are equipped with three-point seat belts. There are 79 general education buses not equipped with seat belts, and 27 special education buses equipped with two-point seat belts. Buses not equipped with three-point seat belts are not deployed for daily school routes, per district documents.

Senate Bill 693, passed in 2017, required all newly purchased buses with a model year of 2018 and after to be equipped with three-point seat belts. As such, the LISD buses not equipped with three-point seat belts were manufactured between 2007 and 2018, documents state.

Breaking it down

Officials said the district observes the industry standard of a 15-year replacement cycle for buses. In order to comply with SB 546, LISD has two potential options:

• Retrofit the 79 general education and 27 special education buses at a cost of $30,000-$45,000 per bus, equating to a $4.2 million budget impact. However, officials noted that the district's bus manufacturer will not warranty retrofitted buses.
• Purchase 79 general education and 27 special education buses before Sept. 1, 2029, equating to an $18 million budget impact. This would provide a longer runway to full compliance and allow for a more staggered replacement cycle, officials said.

"All the buses have to meet federal motor vehicle safety standards," Trimble said. "If anything is changed on that bus, that manufacturer gets out of the picture. ... You're changing how that worked from the manufactured standard. While a retrofit company would have warranties associated with the work that they do, just understand if something was to happen then a lot of that risk and liability comes back to the district. ... There's still a modification made to that vehicle, and it's not standard, and it doesn't necessarily meet the manufacturer's design of that bus."

The funding source

DeWayne Street, senior executive director of facilities, said funding for the mandate could come from the general fund budget but would require additional expenditure reductions or allocations from the fund balance.

Future funding considerations could include a Citizens' Facility Advisory Committee process for a potential future bond or utilizing active bond project savings, Street said.

Something to note

Street said LISD must make a formal determination on whether the district's general fund budget can comply with the requirement before May 29.

Trimble said this process "typically doesn't happen" with mandates like this, saying the May 29 deadline is so the state can gather information from districts and make a determination if there's any associated funding that could come in the future.

"Typically they don't do that, so that is one thing I want to carve out there that could benefit districts," Trimble said. "I can probably guarantee it won't be fully funded, but there may be some associated funding that could come through the [Texas Education Agency] later on."

Going forward

The board will take action at its May 7 board meeting on how to fund the mandate if district officials determine that LISD's general fund cannot permit compliance.