Education
BY WESLEY GARDNER
Humble ISD faces $13.5M cost to meet new seat belt mandate
Humble ISD trustees discussed the district’s plan to implement a new requirement for Texas school districts to use buses containing three-point seat belts during the April 14 board meeting. The details Jason Seybert, HISD associate superintendent of support services, said the mandate stems from Senate Bill 546, which requires all public school buses statewide to have three-point seat belts by September 2029. “Some of our buses have a two-point seat belt right now or no seat belt at all,” Seybert said. “However, [state ocials] know not everybody currently has the funding to put that into their buses or buy new buses that meet that
and 148 buses with no seat belts. “About 31% of our buses meet that standard for the three-point seat belt,” Seybert said. “The rest of our eet does not, and that’s primarily because of the age of [those buses].” The total cost to the district to become fully compliant with the bill would come out to roughly $13.5 million, he said. What’s next Trustees approved a resolution April 14 notify- ing the Texas Education Agency that the district’s budget does not currently allow for the immediate retrotting and replacement of buses required to become compliant. Seybert said he was hopeful the state would allocate additional funds to help districts meet the new requirements. “As we continue to buy buses, we’ll continue to make sure they meet the requirements set forth,” Seybert said. “Then, we’ll see what happens with the next legislative session to help us aord this.”
Humble ISD bus breakdown More than half of Humble ISD’s 321 buses
were purchased over a decade ago, and less than one-third of the district’s buses have three-point seat belts, district data shows. 2000-04 47
2015-19 64 2020-24 79 2025-26 12 2010-14 35 2005-09 84
requirement.” A closer look
Seybert said the district has 94 buses with three- point seat belts, 66 buses with two-point seat belts
SOURCE: HUMBLE ISDCOMMUNITY IMPACT
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