College Station ISD trustees will be asked Tuesday, Nov. 17, to buy nine 77-passenger buses for $1,490,021, paid for from the $229.12 million bond voters approved in November 2023.
District operations staff sought quotes for the buses and recommend buying them from Longhorn Bus Sales at $165,469 apiece, plus an $800 fee for using the BuyBoard purchasing cooperative, according to a memo from Assistant Superintendent Josh Symank. The price does not cover routing hardware and software, student tracking equipment or the fuel management system, which will be added once the buses arrive.
The posted agenda lists the purchase as six buses, but the memo and the dollar figure are for nine.
The bus purchase is one of several items on the consent agenda, which trustees usually approve in a single vote.
Head Start playgrounds
Trustees, who also serve as the governing body for the district's Head Start program, will consider moving $290,479.78 that went unspent on salaries and benefits in the 2025-26 program year. Vacant positions left the money unused, according to the district's budget revision request.
Most of it, $254,201.66, would pay for playground equipment for Head Start children: $118,496.80 at College Hills Elementary and $135,704.86 at Rock Prairie Elementary. The remaining $36,278.12 would go to classroom furniture, curriculum, family engagement materials and health and safety supplies. The district says the change does not reduce enrollment, staffing or services. The Head Start Policy Council approved the shift Oct. 27.
Other business
- Approval of new library books under Senate Bill 13, the 2025 state law that requires districts to post proposed purchases for 30 days of public comment before the board votes. No comments were posted on this list, the district said.
- Three more years of digital access to the Into Literature curriculum for grades 6-8, at $109,994.
- An engagement letter hiring the law firm Thompson & Horton for additional legal counsel on what the district's memo calls matters needing specialized expertise. The memo does not say what those matters are.
- A closed session on economic development negotiations.
