Education
BY DANICA LLOYD
Education Edition
2024
Readers, welcome to your annual CI Education Edition! This guide features the latest updates about local K-12 public schools in your community. Our cover story explores recent Cy-Fair ISD school board elections, actions the newest trustees have taken since being elected and how the community is responding. Flip to Page 14 to learn more. 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.
Premium sponsor:
Danica Lloyd Senior Editor dlloyd@ communityimpact.com
The Met Christian Academy Themetchristianacademy.org (281) 8904879 Education With Purpose
What's inside
Time study breaks down Cy-Fair ISD teacher workloads (Page 11)
Student vaping a top concern in Cy-Fair ISD (Page 12)
Standardized test performance declines locally (Page 13)
Sponsor: Cypress Fairbanks ISD
Cy-Fair ISD reduces 2024 25 bus service
The plan In 2024-25, Cy-Fair ISD’s transportation department will: • Not serve elementary students within 1 mile of their campuses, or middle or high school students within 2 miles of their campuses unless they live on routes with hazardous trafic conditions • Eliminate late bus runs • Eliminate service to alternative learning centers Hazardous trac conditions , as dened by the board, vary between elementary, middle and high school levels but may include: • Crossing a tollway, state highway or FM road • Crossing a moderately or heavily traveled roadway with protected crossing, such as a trafic light or stop sign • Crossing a railroad track • Walking along a moderately or heavily traveled roadway without a safe walking path
Cy-Fair ISD’s board approved a transportation services reduction plan June 17 to save about $4.78 million in the scal year 2024-25 budget. The district anticipates a $77.5 million budget shortfall despite this decision as well as the elimi- nation of more than 600 positions districtwide. “Transportation for general education students is not a required service for public education. This service has been oered in CFISD for years as a benet to the students and community. However, due to budgetary constraints, the district must make dicult decisions, including reducing transportation services,” ocials said in an online FAQ posted June 26. Parents can nd out if their children are eligible for bus service at www.csd.net/transportation. The details Parents and guardians are now responsible for getting their children to and from school if they do not meet eligibility criteria. To determine eligibil- ity, district ocials measured the shortest route from students’ campuses to their homes, meaning some neighborhoods may have both eligible and ineligible students. According to the district’s website, the transpor- tation department regularly buses 75,000 students
and completes more than 4,000 runs between campuses each school day. In their own words Parents at the June 17 meeting expressed concerns about increased trac, potentially dangerous walking and biking conditions, limited access to after-school activities, and a lack of communication of these changes to parents. CFISD ocials said they were working with homeowners associations, municipal utility districts and county leadership to address safety concerns. CFISD parent and teacher Brandy Lee Dawson- Marsh said she believes infrastructure issues should be addressed to maintain safety under this new plan, including sidewalks connecting schools to neighborhoods and bike rack installations on campuses. She said she believes students are at risk of being hit by cars or kidnapped—especially in the fall when it gets dark early. “And nally, with regards to ... Spillane [Middle School] and Cy[press] Woods [High School], these schools both start at the same time. Without added infrastructures and with the increased trac ow, how are parents supposed to drop o students at one school and then navigate the trac to drop o a student at the other?” she said.
SOURCE: CYFAIR ISDCOMMUNITY IMPACT
Remember this? This is not the rst time CFISD reduced bus service due to funding limitations. According to district documents, CFISD imple- mented a similar plan in 2009-10 until the 2014-15 school year following the passage of a bond referendum that included additional buses and a new transportation center.
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CYFAIR EDITION
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