| (a) Definitions. The following words and terms, when
used in this section, shall have the following meanings, unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) Collision--Any collision as described by Texas
Transportation Code, Chapter 550, Subchapter B.
(2) Motor bus--In accordance with Texas Education Code, §34.003,
and Texas Transportation Code, §502.001, a motor bus is a vehicle
designed to transport more than 15 passengers, including the driver,
and includes vehicles used to transport persons on the public highways
for compensation, other than a vehicle operated by muscular power
or a municipal bus.
(3) Multifunction school activity bus--In accordance
with Texas Transportation Code, §541.201, a multifunction school
activity bus is a subcategory of school bus. It must meet all FMVSS
for a school bus except having traffic control devices, including
flashing lights and stop arm, and it may not be painted in national
school bus yellow. The multifunction school activity bus cannot be
used to transport students from home to school or school to home or
for any purpose other than school activities.
(4) School activity bus--In accordance with Texas Transportation
Code, §541.201, a school activity bus is a bus designed to accommodate
more than 15 passengers, including the operator, that is owned, operated,
rented, or leased by a school district, county school, open-enrollment
charter school, regional education service center, or shared services
arrangement and that is used to transport public school students on
a school-related activity trip, other than on routes to and from school.
The term does not include a chartered bus, a bus operated by a mass
transit authority, a school bus, or a multifunction school activity
bus.
(5) School bus--In accordance with Texas Transportation
Code, §541.201, a school bus is a motor vehicle that was manufactured
in compliance with the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS)
for school buses in effect on the date of manufacture and that is
used to transport preprimary, primary, or secondary students on a
route to or from school or on a school-related activity trip other
than on routes to and from school. A school bus is a bus owned, leased,
contracted to, or operated by a school or school district that is
regularly used to transport students to and from school or school-related
activities; meets all applicable FMVSS; and is readily identified
by alternately flashing lights, national school bus yellow paint,
and the legend "School Bus." The term does not include a multifunction
school activity bus, a school activity bus, or a motor bus.
(b) Reporting.
(1) School districts and open-enrollment charter schools
shall report annually to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) the number
of collisions in which their buses were involved in the past year.
School districts and open-enrollment charter schools shall report
the collisions in a manner prescribed by the commissioner of education.
School districts and open-enrollment charter schools shall file annual
collision reports to TEA only in the period beginning July 1 and ending
July 31 and shall include the following information in the report:
(A) the total number of bus collisions;
(B) the date each collision occurred;
(C) the type of bus, as specified in subsection (a)
of this section, involved in each collision;
(D) whether the bus involved in each collision was
equipped with seat belts and, if so, the type of seat belts;
(E) the number of students and adults involved in each
collision;
(F) the number and types of injuries that were sustained
by the bus passengers in each collision; and
(G) whether the injured passengers in each collision
were wearing seat belts at the time of the collision and, if so, the
type of seat belts.
(2) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
shall report a bus collision involving a school bus, a multifunction
school activity bus, a school activity bus, or a motor bus if:
(A) the bus is owned, leased, contracted, or chartered
by a school district or charter school and was transporting school
district or charter school personnel, students, or a combination of
personnel and students; or
(B) the bus was driven by a school district or charter
school employee or by an employee of the school district's or charter
school's bus contractor with no passengers on board and the collision
involved a pedestrian.
(3) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
shall not report a bus collision involving a school bus, a multifunction
school activity bus, a school activity bus, or a motor bus if:
(A) the bus was driven by a school district or charter
school employee or by an employee of the school district's or charter
school's bus contractor, the collision occurred when no passenger
other than the school district's or charter school's driver or bus
contractor's driver was on board the bus, and the collision did not
involve a pedestrian; or
(B) the collision involved a bus chartered by a school
district or charter school for a school activity trip and no school
district or charter school personnel or students were on board the
bus at the time of the collision.
(4) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
shall not report a collision that occurred in a vehicle that is owned,
contracted, or chartered by a school district or charter school and
is not a school bus, a multifunction school activity bus, a school
activity bus, or a motor bus.
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