BASTROP, Texas — Transportation safety is top of mind for Bastrop ISD, as they look to revamp its school bus fleet over the next two years.
Currently, 77% of their school buses have seat belts, but by the start of the 2025-26 school year, the district says all of them will have seatbelts.
“Those conversations are always being had about what can we do to provide better and safer and quality great service for the students,” Goldstar Transit terminal manager J.W. Barrett said.
Yoli Morales has two kids in the school district, one in middle school and the other in high school. The safety upgrades are something she’s thrilled to see since her kids ride the bus every day.
“It’s very important because we’re so rural that most of our buses travel to Highway 71 all the time, so it’s super important that they’re safe and that they have seatbelts,” Morales said.
Over the next two years, they will be adding 45 buses total, including 23 replacement buses, 17 new ones, and five new activity buses.
Bastrop ISD leaders say the new buses will help account for all the about 5% growth the district has been experiencing over the last two years, and more growth in the future.
“We’re seeing a lot of growth in Bastrop ISD, which is great for the community, and we are trying to accommodate that growth by bringing in extra units to add more routes,” Barrett said.
The district will also be adding 12 new bus routes over the next two years. District leaders are hopeful this will help reduce the amount of time they’re on buses.
In January, the school board approved this amended contract with their transportation provider Goldstar Transit. The updated contract would also include a 5% pay raise for all bus drivers.
“We know that having competitive rates is just going to help make sure that we are able to get new bus drivers and retain those bus drivers and have quality bus drivers for our students,” said Cassandra Balderas, the director of communications and marketing for Bastrop ISD.
These bus upgrades come almost a year after the fatal bus crash involving a Hays CISD school bus on a field trip in Bastrop that left two people dead.