KYLE, Texas — Hays CISD has approved funding for new school buses equipped with seat belts and approved additional funds to retrofit the district’s current fleet with seat belts, following a deadly bus crash in March.
At a special meeting on Monday night, the district's Board of Trustees approved $4 million to purchase 30 new 2025 school buses within the next 12 months.
Trustees said they would place the order on Tuesday.
The board also approved nearly $400,000 for supplies to retrofit the district’s current bus feet with seat belts.
The district said it will order those materials this week so work can start at the end of this school year.
All of the funding is coming from the 2023 bond election.
On March 22, a Hays CISD school bus was involved in a crash in Bastrop County that resulted in the deaths of a 5-year-old boy and a University of Texas at Austin grad student. Other children and staff members were also injured.
The bus involved in the crash did not have seat belts. Hays CISD said as of March 22, all but 15 of its regular education bus routes were assigned buses with seat belts and all of the district's special education buses have seat belts.
The district said prior to the March 22 accident, the issue of seat belts on buses has not been a major community concern, compared to other issues like building security and preventing violence on campuses. However, since the crash, Hays CISD has heard from parents and community members about the issue of seat belts.