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Gordon ISD board votes not to comply with SB 546, cites >$20,000 per-bus retrofit costs
Summary
Gordon ISD trustees voted May 13 to decline compliance with SB 546’s school-bus seat-belt requirement, citing vendor warnings and estimated retrofit costs above $20,000 per bus and insufficient district funds.
Gordon ISD trustees voted May 13 that the district will not comply with Senate Bill 546’s seat-belt retrofit requirement for existing buses, citing steep costs and vendor warnings about voiding factory warranties.
Trustee Brett Clark, who made the motion, told the board the district lacked the budget to meet the mandate and moved “that Gordon ISD not comply with SB 546 due to the lack of funds in the district's budget.” The motion was seconded by Trustee Kason Mobley and passed on a recorded roll call (5–0; Kathy Culbertson and Laura Jones absent).
Superintendent Campbell had presented vendor quotes and cautioned that retrofitting factory seats could be costly. The board record notes that “costs would be over $20,000 per bus” and that some vendors warned altering factory-installed seats could negate warranties. Board members questioned whether future bus purchases could require seat belts, but the formal action applied only to existing buses and was framed as a budget-driven noncompliance decision.
The board entered closed session later in the meeting for personnel matters and reconvened; no additional action on SB 546 was taken at reconvening. The district did not specify a timeline for revisiting the issue or identify alternative funding sources during the meeting.
