Katy ISD board members to discuss cost of installing bus seat belts

KATY, Texas (KTRK) -- Katy ISD is set to discuss on Monday the cost of putting seat belts in all of its school buses. This comes as districts across the state are working to get in compliance with a new state law.

Texas Senate Bill 546 went into effect last September and requires districts to equip all of their buses with three-point seat belts by September 2029.

By the end of this school year, though, is when districts are required to evaluate their fleets and report that information to the TEA.

According to information provided by the Katy ISD transportation department, the district has 840 buses that they operate or contract. Of those, they say 288 or 34% already have three-point seat belts, which leaves 552 buses or 65% of the fleet not compliant yet. They say it costs about $40,000 per bus to retrofit, which would be more than $15 million to get all of the buses to be compliant.

SEE ALSO: How three-point seatbelts could save student lives during school bus crashes

Districts across the state are talking through these costs now.

Last week, ABC13's news partners at Community Impact reported Humble ISD saying they are looking at about a $13 million price tag to update their fleet.

That discussion for Katy ISD is set to happen during Monday's board meeting at 5 p.m.

Part of what the board will be talking about is whether immediate compliance is financially feasible or not.