Tomball ISD cannot comply with bill requiring upgraded school buses, trustees say

At the May 11 regular board meeting, the Tomball ISD board of trustees voted unanimously to execute a statutory acceptance to the state stating the district does not have the required funds to comply with Senate Bill 546.

The bill requires all school districts in the state to use only buses equipped with three-point seat belts. As previously reported by Community Impact, out of TISD's 205 buses, 103 do not meet the new safety requirements.

Meeting highlights

SB 546 requires all districts to submit their official decision and total cost regarding their bus fleets by May 29 to the Texas Education Agency. As previously reported, at the April 13 workshop meeting, the trustees reviewed TISD's fleet and discovered the total cost to retrofit the 103 buses would be $3.24 million-$4.9 million. The cost for the district to purchase 103 buses would be $14.42 million at $140,000 per bus.

During the May 11 meeting, TISD board Secretary Michael Pratt said that the district's buses over the past decade have historically been very safe. TISD will advocate to the state for funds to help fulfill the requirements of the new bill.

“If we had $14 [million]-$16 million dollars, our feedback to the state would be very different, but we don't have it,” Pratt said. “Tonight we talked about an $8 million potential deficit in a budget that's 90% people and staff. So I think this is the right decision, and the right message to say to the state. ... We’re all about safety and security, but when it comes to priority and choices over the last 10 years, we’ve had zero students who have been injured as a result of using or not using seatbelts.”