The Comal ISD board of trustees approved a $2,853,808 purchase for 17 school buses from Longhorn Bus Sales on Feb. 26.
The details
The funds will purchase seventeen 77-passenger school buses equipped with seat belts, cameras, GPS navigation systems and air conditioning, CISD Director of Transportation Jessica Fischer said. The buses will also have tinted windows to help with the summer heat. The investment also allows service facilities to keep their current inventory of parts instead of purchasing new parts for different buses, Fischer said.
The background
The purchase is funded through the district’s 2023 bond program—Proposition A—which allocated $5.5 million for replacement buses to address an aging fleet, according to board documents.
The district has already spent $2.26 million of those funds for additional school buses, and the proposed purchase would exhaust the remaining 2023 bond balance, board documents state.
This is the third purchase of buses using both 2021 and 2023 bond funds.
What’s next
The buses will arrive from Longhorn Bus Sales within a year to a year and a half and will enter rotation soon after, Fischer said.