Shop foreman Daniel Webb checks the charge level of an electric school bus at the Austin Independent School District Southeast Bus Terminal on Monday January 29, 2024. The district made major changes to student transportation options in a bid to trim a $181 million budget deficit.
Jay Janner / American-Statesman
Most Austin Independent School District middle and high school students will have to travel farther to reach their bus stop this year after the district cut transportation options to trim spending.
The changes will slash $11.3 million from Austin ISD’s transportation budget, bringing total spending to $25 million. The cuts were part of a broader school board vote in June to reduce a $181 million deficit.
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While elementary school students will still be picked up by a school bus at neighborhood stops, middle and high school students may have to travel an average of 3 miles to reach a transportation “hub,” said Kris Hafezizadeh, Austin ISD executive director of transportation.
The vast majority of the hubs are at elementary schools. The district also added about a dozen hubs at community locations, such as libraries, parks or fire departments, for students to gather in areas of town where elementary schools are more sparsely located, Hafezizadeh said.
Transporting students from centralized hubs will reduce the mileage buses have to travel. The change will also help cut maintenance costs, fuel spending and the need for drivers, he said.
Transportation changes may be confusing to families in the first few weeks of school, but Hafezizadeh hopes the hub model will eventually become routine.
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“Is there going to be hiccups here and there?” Hafezizadeh said. “I’m sure it will be.”
Bus route changes
Austin ISD will also stop providing transportation across the district for Campbell Elementary and Eastside Early College High School, instead only transporting students who live within attendance zones. These schools have had special transportation policies for about five years to boost enrollment.
The district is also stopping transportation to the Alternative Learning Center, which educates students with disciplinary issues. Austin ISD is directing students without set bus routes to ride the city’s CapMetro bus system, which is free for students to use.
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Starting this fall, AISD students will no longer receive transportation home following after-school activities.
Students who attend magnet schools, single-gender schools and the Reilly Montessori program will still be able to get to school on a bus through the “hub” system.
Families can look up their bus stop on Austin ISD’s website.
Funding mismatch
Austin ISD officials made other transportation changes to trim costs. For instance, the department’s total number of employees decreased from 527 people last year to 437 this year.
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The state only funds bus transportation for students who live 2 miles or more from their campus. But since about 2021, Austin ISD has been providing bus pickup for children who live within 0.4 miles of a select group of nine elementary schools and within a mile of 10 middle and high schools. The schools were chosen for extra bus service in an effort to boost attendance, although that program will end this year, Hafezizadeh said.
Austin ISD, like most districts, spends more than the state provides to get kids to class. The state gives districts $1 per mile driven to pay for fuel, maintenance and staffing. Austin ISD spends about $7.20 per mile, in part because of programs that expanded busing options, Hafezizadeh said.
“When you do that kind of thing, you add more buses, your cost goes up, your mileage goes up,” he said.
Widespread budget cuts
Reductions to transportation options were among the $205 million in cuts that Austin ISD trustees approved for the upcoming school year. The district also approved changes to teachers’ planning time, reduced stipends and slashed more than 500 positions. The massive budget overhaul came as the district shuttered 10 campuses this summer, which the district projected would save more than $21 million.
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Trustees last week voted to add an 11th school closure to the list, although district officials said the reason for the closure was related to academic concerns.