SAN ANTONIO — Officials with Southside Independent School District confirm that 21 buses have been affected by the recent school bus seat recall.
Southside ISD officials say the buses are safe to drive currently, but the seats will be replaced by December.
Back on October 4, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a recall for 53,528 buses made by Thomas Built Buses.
The seats may have been manufactured with styrene blocks that may not provide enough impact absorption in the event of a bus crash, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
"The cushioning in here, [apparently it's] not up to the Federal Motor Safety regulations and all of these need to be replaced," Southside ISD Transportation Director Jesse Berlanga said. "I’ve talked to the vendors and they say they’ll be ready in December."
Berlanga says district officials have been assured that there haven't been any issues on the roads with the buses yet, and that the buses should be safe for riders until the fixes are made.
In the meantime, Southside ISD is also rolling out 10 new "environmentally friendly" buses that run on propane, not diesel, a change that qualified them for grant funding.
"For 10 schools buses it would normally cost us a million dollars, we’re gonna get a $842,000 rebate from the state so it’s only gonna cost us about $160,000 for the ten buses," Berlanga said.