Texas school districts have until Sept. 1, 2029, to put lap-and-shoulder seat belts on every passenger seat of their buses, but many North Texas districts say they cannot afford to get there on time, and the law gives them a way out, The Dallas Morning News reported Tuesday.
The requirement passed the Legislature last year. Districts must tell the Texas Education Agency by Jan. 1, 2027, whether they can pay to comply. Those that document they cannot are exempt, and they may apply for a grant to cover part of the cost of retrofitting or replacing buses, according to the newspaper.
Some district officials have also raised concerns that adding belts to existing buses could void warranties.
How districts are handling it
The paper's review of board records found a range of approaches:
- Sanger ISD, in Denton County, voted 6-0 in April to tell TEA it could not afford to comply and to seek a grant, though it did not appear on TEA's list of grant applicants. Ten of its 29 buses have no belts and four have lap belts only, and fixing them would cost $613,250, district documents show.
- Plano ISD reported in May that 216 of its 314 buses already have three-point belts, 19 have lap belts and 79 have none. Its transportation director said the district usually retires buses after 15 years or 150,000 miles, so the unbelted buses are due for replacement before the deadline.
- Grand Prairie ISD told TEA it would not meet the deadline but plans to reach compliance over time by buying belted buses as older ones retire.
- Greenville ISD said 14 of its 47 buses fall short and that buying four or five new buses a year, at nearly $2.5 million over three years, would replace them before 2029.
