The first day of school in Aldine Independent School District (AISD) brought excitement, but also some transportation headaches for parents and students relying on Aldine Transportation services. Issues with bus routes led to significant delays, causing concern and prompting the district to address the problems.
Isiah Trevino, a parent of a third-grader at Reed Elementary School, experienced firsthand the challenges of the first day. On Tuesday afternoon, he waited anxiously for his daughter’s bus, a stark contrast to the nearly hour-long wait he endured on the first day. “We were kind of like why is it taking so long? Checking the time here, constantly, checking the time like anybody else would,” Trevino recounted, highlighting the widespread frustration among parents.
Alt text: A student disembarks from an Aldine ISD school bus after school, illustrating the daily routine for many families.
Social media became a platform for numerous parents to share their similar experiences with first-day transportation disruptions. Miriam Castillo, whose son attends Grantham Academy, faced a last-minute notification on Monday afternoon that her fifth-grader had no assigned bus route. “They called me at 2 p.m., ‘Hey there’s no bus route for him. He would have to be a car rider. You would have to come up here and get a car tag.’ I said no problem,” Castillo explained.
Despite her willingness to pick up a car tag, Castillo sought to resolve the busing issue. However, she was informed that switching her son to a bus route would not be immediate, potentially taking 10 to 12 days for confirmation. Castillo mentioned that during the district’s ‘Home Access Center’ communication portal registration in July, she didn’t recall an option to specify her son’s transportation method, which she believes defaulted him to a car rider. Although the district indicated the option was available, Castillo opted to continue transporting her son herself rather than navigate the potential delays of switching to bus service. “I know I have the option to do it but not others,” Castillo stated, acknowledging the limitations some families face regarding school transportation.
Alt text: A parent waits in a car line to pick up their child after school, representing an alternative to Aldine transportation bus services.
Aldine ISD issued a statement addressing the transportation concerns:
“The safety and well-being of our students and staff are a priority for Aldine ISD, and we are excited to welcome them back for the 2024-2025 school year. We are aware that some of our students have experienced bus route issues. The Aldine ISD Transportation department is diligently working through systematic challenges to ensure our students make it to school safely on time and ready to learn. We anticipate the issue to be resolved as soon as possible and will communicate routing updates to parents. In the meantime, parents have been advised to use the transportation bus pass until they are permanently assigned to a bus route.”
The district’s statement acknowledges the ongoing challenges within Aldine transportation and assures parents that the transportation department is actively working to resolve these “systematic challenges.” Parents are advised to utilize transportation bus passes as a temporary measure while permanent bus route assignments are being finalized. Aldine ISD aims to ensure students have reliable and timely transportation to school, emphasizing their commitment to student safety and academic readiness.
