School Bus Selt Belt Program Up In the Air

Austin, TX - School bus seat belt supporters are pursuing a plan to provide funding to reimburse school districts that will outfit their school buses with three-point seat belts.

Legislators and parent groups held a press conference Tuesday discussing the School Bus Seat Belt Program and Reimbursement Plan.

Rep. Mike Hamilton and Sen. Eddie Lucio brought forth a bill in 2007 that mandated three-point seat belts on all new Texas school buses purchased after September 1, 2010. During the last legislative session, approximately $10 million was appropriated for fiscal year 2011 towards the School Bus Seat Belt Program. The funding was contingent on the development of a plan that would reimburse the school districts for the cost.

The plan is now complete and authorization is pending.

The reimbursement plan should begin Wednesday, September 1 with school districts being able to apply for funds to equip school buses with three-point seat belts, but funding for the program could be an issue as recent cuts to the state agencies have caused Texas Education Agency to look into possible cuts to the program.

According to School Transportation New s , schools districts don't know where to apply for reimbursement funds. More important is that real-world estimates for installing lap-should belts on buses could increase the cost to $6 to 11-thousand per new vehicle.

A TEA spokesperson responded that the school bus seat belt fund was simply one of the programs listed by Gov. Perry that were eligible for cuts.

Some have claimed that the Texas law is voluntary, which is no different than federal guidelines. Although, the original intent of the law was to require school districts to purchase school buses equipped with seat belts as long as there was state money available to reimburse. If there was no money, then school districts wouldn't be required to purchase new buses.