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Spurger ISD board adopts resolution saying budget prevents full compliance with school‑bus seat‑belt law
Summary
The Spurger ISD Board of Trustees voted unanimously April 16 to adopt a resolution finding the district’s budget cannot, at this time, fund equipping every bus with three‑point seat belts as required by Senate Bill 546; the resolution lists fleet counts and estimates a $150,000 retrofit cost.
The Spurger Independent School District Board of Trustees adopted a resolution April 16 finding the district’s current budget does not permit purchasing or retrofitting all buses with three‑point seat belts as required under Senate Bill 546 and Texas Transportation Code §547.701.
The resolution, presented and approved in open session, reports the district’s bus counts by seat‑belt type: three buses not equipped with seat belts, zero buses with two‑point (lap) belts, and five buses already equipped with three‑point seat belts. The board recorded an estimated total cost of $150,000 to equip the entire fleet with three‑point belts.
The document instructs district administration to complete and submit all required reporting to the Texas Education Agency within statutory timelines and to retain records of the determination. The resolution was adopted unanimously; the certificate in the record shows the board vote as “Ayes: 6, Nays: Ø, Abstentions: Ø.”
The resolution cites state guidance and the statutory framework in Texas Transportation Code §547.701, which permits a board to determine that available budgetary resources do not allow immediate compliance and requires public reporting of fleet counts and cost estimates. The transcripted resolution text did not specify a timetable for bridging the identified funding shortfall.
Next steps in the record: district administration was directed to file the required report with the Texas Education Agency and retain agenda materials and minutes documenting the board’s determination.
