AUSTIN, Texas — As Austin Independent School District prepares to welcome its more than 70,000 students back to its campuses, district and city leaders are gathering to discuss safety and safe routes ahead of Tuesday’s ringing in of the new year.

Leaders will meet at Lamar Middle School Monday morning at 10 a.m., where they will speak on such topics like the newly-improved sidewalk along Wynona Avenue and White Horse Trail just up the street.

According to Austin Transportation and Public Works, the city recently installed a raise sidewalk at the intersection to help with student crossing. Whether it’s with walking routes, or bus routes, the district is working to make travel to and from school as safe and efficient as possible for families.

The district is welcoming in its new bus hub model this school year, moving away from its traditional neighborhood stop model for high school students. Through this, the district says transportation will become more efficient, and students will spend less time on buses.

The change isn’t coming without criticism from families, however. Under a post announcing the changes to hub stops for high schoolers, parents commented concerned about some of the dangers and inconveniences they and their students will face with these changes.

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At a recent board meeting, District Superintendent Matias Segura said spoke about trying to balance efficiency and safety.

“As you move to a hub model, because you’re reducing costs and reducing miles, it is difficult to ensure that all three conditions are met,” he said. “And I think that’s where we find ourselves as we make these adjustments to improve the network.”

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson is expected to be in attendance at Monday morning’s press conference event, along with councilmembers Mike Siegel of District 7, and Paige Ellis of District 8. Representatives from the Austin Police Department and Austin ISD Police Department will also attend Monday’s event, as well as AISD Executive Director of Transportation & Vehicle Services Kris Hafezizadeh.

Follow CBS Austin on social media for alerts and updates from Monday’s press conference event.