Canyon Independent School District (CISD) has begun equipping its school buses with three-point seat belts in response to a new Texas law requiring all school buses to meet the safety standard. The district has upgraded 59 of its 69 buses using a portion of its savings, though budget constraints have prevented full compliance across the fleet.
The new law requires districts to evaluate whether their budgets can support the cost of installing seat belts and report their findings to the Texas Education Agency. For CISD, the expense of equipping each bus is roughly $32,000. Superintendent Dr. Darryl Flusche said the district was legally obligated to assess affordability but noted the mandate presented financial challenges.
“The state law required that school boards make a determination of whether their budget would allow for this expense, and then report to the State Education Agency whether it would or would not,” Flusche said. “But again, we’re in a deficit budget. So does our budget allow? The answer is no. It’s an unfunded mandate. However, does that mean we wouldn’t equip buses? The answer’s no to that also.”
CISD officials said the remaining 10 buses were not upgraded because they are nearing the end of their service life and are not currently transporting students. “Some of those are end-of-life buses that are not even running routes or transporting kids at this time,” Flusche said. “Other buses will soon be end-of-life. So our discussion is whether or not to go ahead and equip those buses or save that expense, perhaps for replacement buses.”
Flusche emphasized that CISD is not alone in facing financial strain due to the mandate. “It’s another unfunded mandate that school districts have to deal with across the state,” he said. “We’re hopeful that the State Education Agency will offer grants. That’s why they wanted to know which districts across the state could manage it and which ones could not.”
Meanwhile, Amarillo Independent School District (AISD) said all district-owned buses are already in compliance. For buses operated by its contracted busing service, First Student, the district is working with the company to determine how many buses will need modifications.
“All buses owned by AISD are already in compliance. For buses owned by our contracted busing service, First Student, we are in the process of working with the company to determine how many buses need modification,” AISD said in a statement.
Under the law, districts that cannot afford to install seat belts must publicly report the number of non-compliant buses and provide estimated upgrade costs. The measure aims to increase student safety while maintaining transparency about financial challenges faced by districts.
As Texas schools assess their fleets, CISD’s approach illustrates the balancing act between safety mandates and budget realities. By using savings to upgrade most of its buses, the district has taken a significant step toward compliance, even as it navigates limitations with aging vehicles and budget shortfalls.
