Gov. Janet Mills announced Tuesday that she will propose $4.3 million for enhanced safety measures on Maine school buses in her supplemental budget, after two tragedies involving school buses that claimed the lives of students last year in Rockland and Standish.
The safety measures include retrofitting school buses with crossing arms and anti-pinch door sensors.
Approximately 80% of Maine students ride a bus to and from school every day, according to Maine Department of Education Commissioner Pender Makin.
Mills also announced that she has signed an executive order creating a Maine School Transportation Safety Commission, which will review rules related to school bus safety and identify improvements to school transportation rules “to ensure the safety and well-being of school students, staff, and drivers,” according to a press release from Mills’ office.
“The unimaginable tragedies that occurred last year demand action to ensure that every student in Maine is safe traveling to school. By committing funding to retrofit school buses with enhanced safety measures and creating this commission to study what more can be done, we are taking steps to prevent future tragedies,” Mills said in the release.
In 2019, Mills signed legislation requiring school buses of the 2021 model year or newer to have crossing arms. In 2023, the governor signed legislation requiring anti-pinch door sensors in school buses of the 2025 model year or newer.
The funding in the supplemental budget, if approved by the legislature, would cover retrofitting nearly 1,700 buses owned by Maine school districts that are not currently equipped with either or both safety measures and that can be retrofitted.
