Shorter bus rides, additional options for requesting transportation and the option for high school students to use Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County's public transit system are coming to Houston ISD in the 2025-26 school year, officials announced in an April 28 video posted to the district’s website.
The details
In the video, HISD Chief of Organizational Effectiveness Kari Feinberg said the district is implementing the changes in an effort to streamline services and offer students additional travel options.
“One of the commitments that we really want to make to our families for the 2025-26 school year is reducing ride times.,” Feinberg said. “We’ve set the goal that any students who are transported on a bus to their zoned schools will not have a ride time of longer than 50 minutes.”
Additionally, Feinberg said the following changes are planned to be implemented in the 2025-26 school year:
- Improved options for parents to request bus route changes
- The option for qualifying high school students to use METRO public transit
- Additional support for students with disabilities
Currently, Feinberg said the district offers transportation services to students who:
- Attend their zoned neighborhood school and live more than 2 miles away
- Attend a magnet school, even if it’s not the student’s zoned campus
- Have a hazardous walking route to school
- Qualify under the McKinney-Vento Act, which supports students experiencing homelessness
Feinberg also said the district is implementing changes to the process required for parents to request transportation services.
As is, Feinberg said parents of students who don’t automatically qualify for transportation services are required to visit individual campuses to make a request for services, noting officials from that campus would then reach out to HISD’s transportation department to help facilitate that request.
Beginning next year, Feinberg said parents will be able to communicate directly with the transportation department to make those requests.
“We think that this is really going to streamline the process of putting students on buses,” Feinberg said.
Additionally, Feinberg said the district is partnering with METRO to provide additional transportation options for high-school students who already qualify for HISD bus services.
“Any student who qualifies for transportation ... will have the choice between either a METRO pass, which will allow them to go to and from school using METRO, or to use a HISD routed bus,” Feinberg said, noting the district would cover the cost of the METRO pass.
Feinberg also noted the district is working to provide additional support on bus rides for students with disabilities.
“If you have a student who has a disability and has transportation as a related service as a part of their [individualized education program], there are going to be some different supports and options for you that you’ll hear more about later this spring," Feinberg said.
Some context
The proposed changes are coming about 10 months after officials implemented several changes to the district’s bus routes prior to the start of the current school year.
In July, HISD officials announced the district was reducing the number of bus routes offered to students from 508 routes to 423 routes ahead of the start of the 2024-25 school year. Officials said at the time the district would save around $3 million by streamlining routes.
By January, officials said that number had been increased to around 450 bus routes after reports surfaced indicating some students had spent around four hours on the bus per day during the first week of the school year.
What’s next
Feinberg said the district will be sending out additional information to families over the next few weeks. Additionally, she said a survey will be sent to families during the week of May 5 to give them opportunities to make initial transportation requests for the 2025-26 school year.
