Governor Janet Mills has announced that she will propose approximately $4.3 million for enhanced safety measures on Maine school buses in her supplemental budget. The announcement follows two recent tragedies involving school buses that claimed the lives of Maine children in Rockland and Standish.
The safety measures to be funded in the budget include retrofitting Maine school buses with crossing arms and anti-pinch door sensors.
The Governor says she has signed an executive order to establish the Maine School Transportation Safety Commission, a body to review statutes and rules regarding school bus safety and identify improvements to school transportation rules to ensure the safety and well-being of school students, staff, and drivers.
The Commission, which will include representatives of the Maine Department of Education, Department of Public Safety, Department of Transportation, Maine School Safety Center, local school districts, and others, is charged with making recommendations to the Governor and Maine State Legislature by April 30, 2026.
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. I look forward to working with the Legislature to approve these funds in the upcoming budget and will welcome the recommendations of the Commission when it completes its work in April.
In 2019, Governor 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 Maine State Legislature, would cover retrofitting nearly 1,700 buses owned by Maine school districts which are not currently equipped with either or both safety measures and that can be retrofitted.
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