Education
BY SARAH BRAGER
Education Edition
2025
Welcome to Community Impact’s 2025 Education Edition! Cy-Fair ISD is undergoing signicant shifts as it responds to community needs and evolving educational trends. The district has experienced a notable 59.1% increase in student transfers to local private and charter schools, highlighting growing competition and prompting district leaders to reevaluate strategies to retain and support families. In a move to better serve its student population, CFISD is reinstating bus routes that were cut last year, restoring transportation for nearly 12,000 students who previously lacked reliable access to school—an important step toward equity and accessibility. At the same time, Cy-Fair ISD is embracing innovation and career readiness. The district is using newly-invested state funds to expand its career and technical education (CTE) programs, oering students more pathways beyond traditional college degrees. Finally, this guide also includes a timely Q&A with Professor Meng Li, founding director of the Bauer Human-Centered AI Institute at the University of Houston, who discusses the increasing role of AI tools in education.
What's inside
Bauer Human-Centered AI Institute Director Meng Li talks AI use in schools (Page 10)
Angie Thomas General Manager athomas@ communityimpact.com
Learn about Cy-Fair’s ISD increase in career, technical readiness programs (Page 14)
See how Cypress Winds Community Band is promoting music education (Page 17)
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Cy-Fair ISD brings back cut bus routes for students in August
All Cy-Fair ISD students will have access to buses for the 2025-26 school year after the board of trustees voted June 23 to reinstate bus routes. Exact routes will be released to the public in the beginning of August, district o cials said. How we got here The district allocated $4.1 million for transpor- tation in its $1.2 billion budget for the upcoming scal year. The decision follows a year of backlash after the district cut over 70 routes for scal year 2024-25 to manage its budget shortfall. The impact Approximately 33,000 students were notied last summer that they were ineligible for bus services, CFISD Chief Financial O cer Karen Smith said. However, she said actual ridership only decreased by about 12,000 students because not all students who are eligible for bus services use them.
Cy-Fair ISD bus routes changes CFISD has 628 bus drivers on sta and 46 in training as of July 9. Regular buses
Special education buses
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SOURCE: CYFAIR ISDCOMMUNITY IMPACT
voted to approve the bus route cuts, said at the June 23 board meeting she regrets the decision. CFISD also received several reports of auto pedes- trian accidents involving students last school year. “I have to sit here and apologize to the public because it wasn’t a good decision to keep children unsafe on their way to school,” she said.
Jarred Hostetler said his 11-year-old daughter had to walk almost 2 miles to and from school. “It didn’t seem like anyone was really looking out for the safety of our children, so that’s when I decided that we had to really push to get the buses back,” Hostetler said. Trustee Natalie Blasingame, who originally
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