The transportation team will begin its annual review of bus routes for households within 2 miles of their assigned school using a new evaluation tool, approved by the Board.
Trustees approved the new scoring matrix, which includes allocated points for various hazards along a path to school, including road types, railroad crossings, commercial businesses, and intersections. A citizen-led committee worked for more than a year on the matrix, which LISD Transportation staff will use to assess hazardous conditions for the 2020–21 school year. Based on road conditions last spring, an estimated 769 students would lose bus service, and 356 students would gain bus service in 2020–21 according to this new matrix.
LISD will begin contacting families who live within 2 miles in the coming weeks with transportation evaluating routes in December and January.
Students residing within a 2-mile radius from a school area are in the “Not Eligible for Transportation Zone” (NETZone) unless their route to school is deemed hazardous.
“With the potential reduction in riders with this new instrument, I’m interested to know what the effect is on the number of buses required,” Board Vice President Aaron Johnson said. “From a capital outlay perspective, we spent a lot of money on new buses, particularly ones with air conditioning.”
The hazardous routes process does not impact the transportation services provided for special needs students when specified in the Individual Education Plan.
