Buses and routes

Key facts

• Areas that kept bus service for 2026-27: 3¹
• Areas where service ends: about 15¹
• Public feedback: 35 responses¹
• Buses without the seat belts the new law requires: 106 of 318²
• Cost to replace them: about $18 million²

In short

Each year the board decides which short walks to school are too dangerous. Kids in those areas get a bus. For 2026-27, 3 areas kept a bus and about 15 lost it.¹ The district did not say how much this saves.¹

A new Texas law says school buses need three-point seat belts by Sept. 2029. 106 of the district’s 318 buses don’t have them. Replacing them would cost about $18 million.²

Related: next bond · consent votes · money out

Layer 1: What changed

Who gets a bus

The state pays for busing students who live two miles or more from school. For kids closer than that, the district can still run a bus if the walk is dangerous. These are called “hazardous routes.”¹

Leander scores each walking route. It has used the same scoring sheet since 2019. A score above 475 means the walk is hazardous, so kids get a bus.¹

On April 23, 2026, the board approved the 2026-27 list on the consent list (many items in one vote).¹

• Kept a bus (3 areas): near Cypress, Giddens and the east side of Camacho. Their scores were 525 to 735.¹
• Bus ends (about 15 areas): near Camacho, Leander MS, Cypress, Mason, Hisle, Leander HS, Cedar Park MS and HS, and Westside. Westside gets a crossing guard instead.¹

What we don’t know

The item gives no savings figure. It also gives no count of buses or riders affected.¹

What does not change

Busing for students who need it under a special-education plan (an IEP) is not affected.¹

Layer 2: The other side

• Service ended mostly where building work finished or new signals and crosswalks went in. For some areas, the district says construction is done and safe routes are in place.¹
• The district asked for public feedback. It got 35 responses and said they were “consistent with previous years.”¹
• The board has passed this kind of item before. In 2020 it passed 6–1.¹

Layer 1: The seat-belt law

A Texas law (SB 546) says school buses must have three-point seat belts (lap and shoulder) by Sept. 1, 2029.²

Buses	Count
All district buses	318
Already have three-point belts	212
Regular buses with no belts	79
Special-ed buses with only lap belts	27

That leaves 106 buses that don’t meet the law. They were built from 2007 to 2018.²

Staff said those 106 buses are not used on daily school routes. All daily route buses already have three-point belts.²

Two ways to comply

• Add belts to old buses: about $4.2 million ($30,000 to $45,000 a bus). The bus maker won’t back this with a warranty, so staff ruled it out.²
• Replace the buses: about $18 million, or roughly $170,000 a bus (our math).²³

Staff said a future bond, or savings from current bond projects, could pay for this.² In May 2026 the board voted on a finding that the main budget “does not permit” buying buses with these belts.⁴

Layer 2: The other side

• The 106 buses are not used on daily school routes, staff said. Replacing them meets the law; it doesn’t add daily service.²
• Staff said buses are replaced about every 15 years anyway.²
• On May 7, 2026, the board approved that finding on the consent agenda (a list of items passed in one vote), 6–0 with one trustee absent.⁴

Layer 1: What the state law says

Texas Education Code §48.151 sets the rules for busing money.⁵

• A student counts for state busing money if they live 2 miles or more from school. Students who are homeless also count.
• The state pays a rate per mile. For 2025-26 that rate is $1.00 a mile for regular routes.⁵
• A district can get up to 10% more for “hazardous” areas closer than 2 miles. The state education commissioner must approve it, and the board must explain and name those areas.⁵
• The money must be spent on transportation.⁵

Layer 1: What the district spends on transportation

In 2024-25 the district spent about $23.47 million on transportation from all funds, or $552 per student. The year before, it was $24.92 million. The 2024-25 total includes about $7.41 million of bond money for things like buses.⁶

Count only day-to-day operating money (not equipment or buildings), and it was $369 per student.⁷

Counterweight

Spending moves a lot from year to year: $13.26 million in 2022-23 and $24.92 million in 2023-24, partly because of bond purchases.⁶

Layer 3: Sources

Questions to ask

• Where does the board post its yearly list of hazardous walking areas?
• How does the district decide which routes to add or cut?

Changes to this page

• Nov. 2, 2026: We changed wording so it says no more than our sources show.
• Nov. 2, 2026: Added questions to ask.
• Nov. 2, 2026: Added a note that shows how we worked out the figures.

What you can do or watch next

• Watch transportation items on board agendas.

Numbers marked “our math” are our estimates, not official figures. The notes show the inputs and the steps.

Footnotes

1. Board packet, Apr. 23, 2026, consent item 5.A, 2026-27 Hazardous Routes (BoardBook meeting 736449). Packet. Scoring sheet adopted Oct. 17, 2019. Feedback window Jan. 14 to Feb. 1, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵

2. Board packet, Apr. 23, 2026, SB 546 seat-belt presentation; board packet, May 7, 2026, page 38. Apr. 23 packet · May 7 packet page 38. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹

3. Our math. About $18,000,000 ÷ 106 buses = about $169,811, or roughly $170,000 a bus. Inputs from note 2. ↩

4. Board minutes, May 7, 2026, page 1, consent item 5.C (SB 546 determination) (BoardBook meeting 738502). Minutes. ↩ ↩²

5. Texas Education Code §48.151 (text as of 2025) Statute; Texas Education Agency, HB 2 implementation letter, 2025. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

6. Texas Education Agency, PEIMS actual financial data, function 34 (Transportation), all funds, 2022-23 to 2024-25; “bond money” is capital projects funds, object 66 only. Per student on 2025 enrollment of 42,507. ↩ ↩²

7. Texas Education Agency, PEIMS actual financial data, function 34 (Transportation), 2024-25, divided by 42,507 students, the “fall survey enrollment” column for 2024-25 in the state’s summarized financial data (PEIMS); the $552 counts all funds, and the $369 counts operating funds 1–4, objects 61–64 only. Our math. ↩