This article was originally published in Louisiana Illuminator.
Children riding on school buses without climate control will continue to endure Louisiana’s extreme heat and occasional chills. State lawmakers on Tuesday suspended legislation to require buses to have heating and air conditioning in the vehicles.
The Louisiana House of Representatives voted 56-43 to repeal Senate Bill 26, sponsored by Sen. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, which would have required climate control measures on all buses serving public schools by 2032.
House Republicans, who represent mostly rural areas, said their school districts would not be able to afford such a requirement.
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“This is an unfunded mandate that many school boards simply cannot support,” said Rep. Dodie Horton, R-Haughton.
The school year in Louisiana starts in August, when the heat index can regularly exceed 100 degrees. Many public school systems do not have air conditioning in all their buses, according to a fiscal analysis of the legislation.
Only two of the 44 school buses in Calcasieu Parish are air-conditioned and used specifically for special education students. Only a third of school buses in East Baton Rouge Parish and 79 of 278 school buses in Rapides Parish have air conditioning.
Some jurisdictions — including Baton Rouge, Jefferson Ouachita, Tangipahoa and Morehouse parishes — recently used federal grants to purchase new air-conditioned buses. Ascension, Lafayette and Grant parishes also paid for the air conditioning of their fleets this year.
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State law already requires school buses to be replaced once they reach 25 years old. Purchasing a new bus costs between $50,000 and $200,000, legislative staff said. Heating and air conditioning on a bus increases costs by $10,000 to $15,000, according to the Louisiana Department of Education.
“My poor town is more mediator than the Ten Commandments,” said Rep. Dewith Carrier, R-Oakdale, who opposed the legislation.
Other lawmakers said the state should be more concerned about the health and well-being of schoolchildren.
“Let me ask this question: Whoever serves in this House doesn’t have air conditioning in their car?” said Rep. Robby Carter, D-Greensburg, during the House debate on the legislation. “We’ll take it ourselves. Why not for our children?”
Louisiana Illuminator is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. If you have any questions, please contact editor Greg LaRose: info@lailluminator.com. Follow Louisiana Illuminator on Facebook and Tweet.
