The Austin school district withdrew its bus hub plan for middle school students late Friday following backlash from families concerned about safety and logistics. High school students will still be subject to the hub model.
Earlier this week, parents were left scrambling for answers and solutions after Austin ISD unveiled new bus hub assignments that left some middle and high school school students walking up to three miles and others crossing dangerous roads. The new transportation model is part of Austin ISD’s effort to close a historic budget shortfall through more than $205 million in cuts, which included just over $11 million saved from cuts to transportation.
The return to neighborhood stops for middle school students came “after careful consideration” following parent feedback, the district said in a letter to parents Friday night, and the funds will come from the closure of Paredes Middle School and other savings the district identified but did not specify. High school students will still be picked up at centralized hubs located at elementary schools, libraries and fire stations instead of neighborhood stops. Bus stops for middle school students will be finalized and public by Aug. 13, the district’s letter said. Austin ISD encouraged parents to continue sharing feedback to help inform any future changes.
“We are dedicated to ensuring that your students receive safe, reliable transportation so they have stable foundations to help them grow in the classroom,” said Austin ISD’s Transportation Executive Director Kris Hafezizadeh in the letter to parents Friday.
District leaders had assured families considerations would be made for hazardous routes. But when families received their hub assignments this week, parents were left overwhelmed by safety concerns and the rush to find short-term solutions when the district unveiled unreasonably long walks and routes that traversed high-speed roadways for some students.
When the initial hub routes were released, some parents said the move could be what finally broke their trust in Austin ISD and pushed them to charter schools or state voucher-supported private education next year. Ahead of the first day of school on Aug. 18, they were busy looking for transportation solutions.
“We’ve got to figure out a way to move out of this district,” said Adam Kesner, whose children attend middle and high school in Austin ISD. “I can’t trust this district to put my kids first.”
Prior to Friday’s reversal, Hafezizadeh said in a press conference Thursday the district had added additional hubs in response to parent concerns submitted via email, phone and through an ongoing parent survey. Though he couldn’t guarantee new stops would be added everywhere, Hafezizadeh said justified concerns could result in new hubs, if the budget allows.
Hafezizadeh stressed the maximum that students will walk to their nearest hub is three miles, and students will be able to walk to “many of them,” noting students can also ride CapMetro transit for free or carpool to hub stops as an alternative to walking. As a community, he said, everyone is responsible for student safety.
The change is part of the district’s sweeping budget cuts that eliminated hundreds of jobs, increased class sizes at some schools and reduced programming, among other things. Despite cutting 27 bus routes, Hafezizadeh said no bus drivers or monitors lost their jobs, though some transitioned into new positions .
“Of course to the eyes of the family it is challenging, it is hard,” Hafezizadeh said. “I do ask the help of our families and community members if there is a need to and from the hubs.”
Driving families to hard decisions
Kesner’s children were assigned to a hub at an elementary school across state highway 45, a path which he said has no crosswalks or sidewalks. He said the route created a “logistical nightmare” for his family, which would have to navigate two full-time jobs and four pickups and drop-offs daily.
After reaching out to Austin ISD’s transportation office, Kesner said he was told parents needed to support students getting to bus stops safely and no new stops had been added for his address as of Thursday.
“I think they are going to end up losing more enrollment over it and if you lose more enrollment you lose more money,” Kesner said. “ One of the values of having public school is the bus. If I am going to have to drive my kids to and from school, why wouldn’t I consider a charter school anymore?”
Austin ISD said in a statement Friday the district transports nearly 7,000 middle- and high-school students daily. The district’s transportation department conducted safety reviews of each hub stop throughout the summer, the district’s statement said, and added additional hubs where needed. However, the district does not have documentation of these visits, the district said.
The district said in its statement they work with the City of Austin’s Safe Routes to School program on issues such as sidewalks, crossing guards, traffic signals and other safety needs and notified city organizations where hubs were planned.
The brunt of the financial burden
Jennifer Johnson, a mother of seventh- and ninth-grade Austin ISD students, said the change came just days after she learned her seventh-grader’s school, Bailey Middle School, would be the
main receiving school for students of the suddenly-shuttered Paredes Middle School.
Already concerned about Bailey taking on the Paredes state-mandated improvement plan, Johnson worried about the newly-assigned hub that is a mile away and across a congested arterial road. The neighborhood, she said, was concerned about potential traffic caused by converging drop-offs at the elementary school, and she was unsure how to make the times work with a full-time job downtown.
“All of us can recognize the district is in a very precarious situation,” Johnson said. “Bailey families in particular feel like we are being saddled with a tremendous amount of responsibility from the district in terms of these operational changes and decisions.”
Johnson wrote an email to district leaders earlier this week and filled out the district survey, but said she had not personally received a response as of Thursday. Options like CapMetro, she said, don’t feel safe. She said she is now open to considering options other than AISD, including applying for a state-funded voucher for private school.
“You really can inconvenience families out of the district,” Johnson said. “The instability and the chaos has kind of put us over our capacity.”
What happens next?
A survey for parents to voice concerns about the hub model will close on Aug. 17. District leaders said all responses are being reviewed and changes could be made even after the start of school, if warranted.
Students will use the hub model for the first time on the first day of school, Aug. 18. Hubs will be located at local elementary schools and community centers such as fire stations and libraries.
Parents are able to find their local bus hub by using the district’s mobile app or desktop finder tools.first time on the first day of school, Aug. 18. Hubs will be located at local elementary schools and community centers such as fire stations and libraries.
Parents are able to find their local bus hub by using the district’s mobile app or desktop finder tools.
This story has been updated to reflect changes to the bus hub plan announced by the district on Friday.
