The possible price of retrofi tting old buses with three-point seatbelts had the Tioga ISD trustees a bit wide-eyed at the school board meeting Monday evening.
In light of Texas Senate Bill 546, the trustees opted to tell the state they have insuffi cient funds in the budget to add seatbelts to its existing fleet of buses.
“That’s a very expensive process, as you can imagine, particularly when you start messing with … the standards that were in buses from say, three or four years ago or even 10 years ago,” Superintendent Josh Ballinger said.
That expense could be to the tune of at least $1,000$1,200 per seat, with the older buses possibly costing up to $2,500 per seat to retrofit.
“The value of some of those, like Bus 4, is a few thousand dollars for the entire bus,” Ballinger said. “Bus 12 is not much more than that. … It’s going to cost more to put seat belts in them than what the bus is worth, so that’s not really an option even if we did have the funds.”
The action allows Tioga ISD more time to meet the state’s requirement.
Trustee Billy Smith asked what the hardline date is for getting the seatbelts in place throughout the district’s fleet of buses.
Ballinger added that the district would love to have all seatbelt-equipped buses.
“We’re all about safety, obviously,” Ballinger said. “Every school district in the state is. And there are arguments for and against having seatbelts on buses, but there obviously was enough push to get this through this summer.”
The board also approved the purchase of a new 77-passenger bus for $148,967 as well as a 15-passenger van.
With the lead time at 1214 months for a custom-built bus, the board asked Ballinger to instead opt for going with a bus on the lot from Longhorn Bus Sales that comes equipped with the required three-point seatbelts but does not have under-theseat storage.
It should be available within four months.
“Storage isn’t required, but seatbelts are going to be,” Smith said.
Board Secretary Ryan Walters offered to look into storage solutions for the new bus that could be added after it arrives.
The payment will fit into the budget where the nowpaid off bus lease was blocked in.
The passenger van will help alleviate travel issues as the number of employees willing to get a CDL license decreases, Ballinger said.
“To be able to get into a safe van, not the 1988 model schools have been holding onto,” he said.
Ballinger gave the trustees the kindergarten and seventh grade immunization summary report, which is based on last year’s kids in those grades.
“Every year, we are red flagged,” he said. “… It doesn’t take much to lower that percentage if the choice is to [be] unvaccinated.”
The board also opted to renew its groundskeeping contract at the cost of $49,200, increased from $46,800.
“Jack Mills and his wife Lisa do a good job for us,” Ballinger said.
Trustee Nick Oliver spoke from his perspective in the industry.
“I think that’s actually super reasonable from someone who has done that professionally,” Oliver said.
Ballinger added that Mills is always willing to help with baseball and softball field maintenance.
With the cap on spending without getting a competitive bid set at $50,000, the board asked Ballinger to be prepared in advance for the contract deadline in 2026 to go out for bids in advance of next September.
“This guy’s great, and I’m all for keeping him around and doing whatever we’ve got to do, but a year from today, I don’t want it to get pushed back because we didn’t [prepare],” board President Dallas Slay said.
Trustee Holly Mizer takes her oath of office, administered by TISD Business Manager Sondra Hall. Abigail Allen/The Post-Signal
