Heights - River Oaks - Montrose Edition | August 2024

Education

BY SHAWN ARRAJJ

Education Edition

2024

Readers, welcome to your annual CI Education Edition! This guide features the latest updates and resources about local K-12 public school options in your community, including stories on Houston ISD’s transportation system and a $4.4 billion bond referendum district ocials are considering to place on ballots this November. All of the stories were written by our team of local journalists, and all of the advertisements are from nearby businesses who support our mission to provide free, useful news—show them your gratitude by supporting them. As of press time July 31, the HISD board of managers was expected to vote Aug. 8 on whether to place the bond on the ballot in the Nov. 5 General Election. As district ocials ne-tuned details of the potential bond in July, our team took a look at what it could mean for tax payers as well as what improvements would be funded at schools in the Heights, River Oaks and Montrose area. The story also looks at challenges the district could face in getting the bond to pass, including disapproval among some voters of district leadership under Superintendent Mike Miles, who was appointed by the Texas Education Agency to run the district in 2023. Find all the details about what the bond could include and the key dates moving forward in the story by Reporter Wesley Gardner on pages 10-11.

What's inside

Houston ISD considers $4.4 billion bond referendum (Page 10)

Rachelle Park General Manager rpark@ communityimpact.com

HISD cuts, adjusts bus routes for 202425

The cost

The district will save around $3 million by streamlining routes, part of a broader eort to cut $16 million from annual transportation infrastructure costs, which were $56 million in the 2023-24 scal year. Ocials are aiming to reduce transportation infrastructure costs by: • $10 million by the end of the 2024-25 school year • $16 million by the end of the 2025-26 school year Additional savings are expected to come from improvements to how HISD dispatches and manages buses, according to a July 22 news release. District ocials said new bus routes would be communicated to families by the end of July. Families with questions or concerns about their routes can call the HISD transportation helpline at 713-613-3040.

In an eort to cut costs and reduce the time students spend on buses, Houston ISD ocials announced changes July 22 to bus routes that will go into eect for the rst day of the 2024-25 school year on Aug. 12. The changes will aect the bus stop locations for roughly 3,000 students in the school choice program. Roughly 115 schools are part of HISD’s school choice program, including magnet, dual language and international baccalaureate schools. District ocials estimate roughly 9,000 students rely on the bus system to get to and from campuses, including 6,000 zoned students and 3,000 school choice students. Under the new streamlined system, buses will on average make fewer stops and carry more students, said Alexandra Elizondo, HISD’s chief of public aairs and communications. Students who attend zoned schools and students who are enrolled in HISD special education programs—around two-thirds of students that ride buses—will not be aected by the changes.

Bus route changes

Total routes 2023-24: 2024-25:

508

423

Average length of one-way trip 2023-24: 1 hour 45 minutes 2024-25: 1 hour 15 minutes

30 minutes

Assigned bus stops for roughly 3,000 school choice students: • Were located within a 2-mile radius of their homes in 2023-24 • Will be located within a 3-mile radius of their homes in 2024-25

SOURCE: HOUSTON ISDCOMMUNITY IMPACT

For the remaining 3,000 students enrolled in school choice programs, assigned bus stops will now be located within a 3-mile radius of each students’ home, up from a 2-mile radius last year. Most of those students will be assigned a stop at their zoned high school or middle school, while some students may be assigned stops at community centers or libraries nearby.

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HEIGHTS  RIVER OAKS  MONTROSE EDITION

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