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Waller ISD staff outline fleet counts, deadlines and cost estimates to comply with SB546 three‑point seat‑belt rule
Summary
Chief Facilities and Operations Officer Kelly Baehren and Transportation Director Jacob Erreguin presented SB546 deadlines (May 29, 2026 cost report; Sept. 1, 2029 universal three‑point seat belts), district bus inventory and per‑bus cost estimates; the board was told it must determine financial feasibility and will act at a future meeting.
Chief Facilities and Operations Officer Kelly Baehren and Director of Transportation Jacob Erreguin presented the board with an overview of Texas Senate Bill 546 and what compliance will require of Waller Independent School District. The presenters noted two deadlines in the law: a May 29, 2026 report on seat‑belt costs and a Sept. 1, 2029 deadline by which all school buses must be equipped with three‑point seat belts.
Baehren and Erreguin provided a fleet inventory and cost figures: the district has 108 general‑education buses (66 equipped with seat belts and 42 not equipped) and 31 special‑education buses (19 equipped with three‑point belts and 12 equipped with two‑point belts). The presentation listed a per‑bus purchase estimate of $156,745 and a retrofit estimate of $35,000 per eligible bus. The meeting minutes include totals that appear inconsistent with the per‑unit figures presented: the minutes list a total of $7,432.995 for 51 buses and $1,362,761.80 for retrofitting 42 buses; by arithmetic, 51 × $156,745 equals $7,993,995 and 42 × $35,000 equals $1,470,000. The board was told it must determine financial feasibility within the district budget and will consider the matter at a future meeting.
The presentation included a sample SB546 Seat Belt Costs Reporting Form and an update on fleet inventory. No formal action or vote on SB546 compliance funding was taken at this meeting.
