Each week, “Answer Key” aims to help families by responding to an important question about education and schools in Greater Houston. If you have a question for us to answer, please email us at education@houstonlanding.org or fill out the form at the end of this article.
This week’s question:
My child’s walk to school is dangerous. How can I get them bus transportation?
Many families across the Houston region may be experiencing renewed anxiety over their children’s walk to school after Houston ISD sophomore Sergio Rodriguez was killed by a train near his Milby High School campus earlier in December, minutes before class began.
If your child’s walking route to school is dangerous, you may have other options.
Hundreds of thousands of students across Greater Houston walk to school each morning because their district does not provide them with free transportation. Districts get funding to offer bus routes only to students who live further than two miles from campus, with few exceptions, under state law.
But students whose route to school takes them through areas prone to violence or unsafe traffic conditions — what state law refers to as “hazardous” routes — can access buses and unlock additional transportation funding for districts under state law.
Families who think their children might be eligible must follow several steps to be approved. Here’s how to do so in HISD.
What conditions would qualify?
Under state law, a child’s commute could be considered “hazardous” if a student must walk through an area that would put them at a “high risk of violence” or along dangerous roads that don’t have a walkway.
Specifically, the law describes routes that force students to “walk along or cross a freeway or expressway, an underpass, an overpass or a bridge, an uncontrolled major traffic artery, an industrial or commercial area or another comparable condition.”
Texas statutes do not expressly mention routes that traverse train tracks, but HISD spokesperson Jose Irizarry said the district does consider rail lines in deciding which routes may be hazardous, especially for young children.
“Elementary students crossing train tracks will automatically qualify for transportation, while requests for middle and high school students will be reviewed individually,” Irizarry wrote in an email.
How do I apply?
Families must complete a “Hazardous Transportation Request” form to be considered for a district-provided bus route through this program. The form prompts families to describe the geographic area, explain the dangerous conditions that make walking to school dangerous, propose a bus stop location and attach a map.
HISD Superintendent Mike Miles recommended families interested in receiving transportation through a hazardous walking route contact their school principals, who can help them through the process of completing a form.
What happens after a form gets submitted?
HISD’s transportation department reviews all submitted requests for buses across dangerous student walking routes, the district said.
If the team provides preliminary approval to the requests, the HISD board must pass a policy officially designating the areas as dangerous or high-risk and publish the locations of the routes. HISD does not have any routes currently deemed hazardous.
Districts may access funds for hazardous routes equivalent to up to 10 percent of their total allotment for transportation, or about $4 million in HISD.
Asher Lehrer-Small covers Houston ISD for the Landing. Find him @by_ash_ls on Instagram and @small_asher on X, or reach him directly at asher@houstonlanding.org.
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