Texas school districts are authorized to provide public school transportation. For those that do, motor vehicle accidents are fertile ground for claims against school districts. School districts may benefit from taking the time to review their risk management approach to the provision of transportation services.

A school district in El Paso is now on the highway to a greener future, after it unveiled its new fleet of electric school buses on Friday. The Socorro Independent School District hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday to celebrate 25 new electric school buses and charging stations that will hit the road during the upcoming 2024-2025 school year. The district said it is the first in the region to introduce electric school buses, as it aims to create a "cleaner environment for students, staff and the community." view article

The Houston Independent School District announced they are making adjustments to their school choice transportation system. The district said the move is to minimize the time students spend riding the bus, improve efficiency in their transportation system, and ensure the district can continue to provide transportation to all HISD families who access their school choice options. view article

Electric vehicles are becoming more common on the roads every day. Thanks to a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, Wylie Independent School District has the opportunity to introduce 22 electric school buses, which, if accepted, would make up one-third of the district’s bus fleet. view article

When classes resume in Cy-Fair ISD this fall, some students will no longer be able to ride the bus. The district on June 17 eliminated bus service for most students within a 2-mile radius of their school to save $4 million with trustees' unanimous approval of a new hazardous traffic conditions resolution. It's part of the district's transportation plan for the 2024-2025 school year. view article

The Georgetown ISD board of trustees elected June 17 to extend Superintendent Devin Padavil's contract for four more years after his first year serving the district. What you need to know: After a summative evaluation of the superintendent's performance, trustees voted unanimously to extend Padavil's contract through July 2028 with no change to base compensation, and they also eliminated a $20,000 allowance for executive coaching at the superintendent's request. Padavil's base compensation is $226,770. view article

The 2023 Clean School Bus Program awarded over $26 million in funds to several Texas school districts, including Fort Worth ISD, to purchase electric buses   Fort Worth ISD will soon begin transforming its school bus fleet from diesel-burning buses to electric buses, thanks to over $6.1 million in funding from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Program.  The EPA announced in a June 20 press conference that Fort Worth ISD is one of several Texas school districts included in its second round of funding and will allow the district to purchase 15 electric school buses.  “These school buses are going to be one of the first steps taken to help improve the air quality for all of our young people,” said Rep. Marc Veasey (TX-33), who attended Fort Worth ISD schools  Veasey championed and voted for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in 2021, which provides funding for the EPA's multiple grant and rebate opportunities. Over five years, the Clean School Bus Program will provide $5 billion to replace existing school buses with zero-emission and clean ones. view article

Waco ISD announced Tuesday they will be taking control of the transportation department and increasing bus drivers pay. The change will go into effect on July 1, 2024, after Waco ISD contracted the service since 1988. view article

Fort Worth ISD will soon begin transforming its school bus fleet from diesel-burning buses to electric buses, thanks to over $6.1 million in funding from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Program. The EPA announced in a June 20 press conference that Fort Worth ISD is one of several Texas school districts included in its second round of funding and will allow the district to purchase 15 electric school buses. view article

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is granting more than $6.1 million to Fort Worth ISD for new, electric buses. Thursday, the district celebrated the award and highlighted how the program will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, save schools money and better protect children’s health. view article

The school bus driver shortage continues to impact local school districts. Comal ISD is looking to hire 40 school bus drivers by the start of the new school year this fall. view article

Pflugerville ISD police are investigating after a student and his family say he was attacked by a group of adults on a district school bus. The attack happened at Dessau Elementary School on Tuesday afternoon when a load of summer school students was being dropped off. At least three adults got on the bus, according to Kelsie Trevino, and started attacking her son Caden, a seventh grader. view article

For the first time in three decades, Waco ISD is taking transportation like busing into its own hands and bringing it in-house. In the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN notice, released late last month by the Texas Workforce Commission, it says 94 layoffs were coming up between Waco ISD and GoldStar Transit. view article

A Southwest Independent School District bus ended up in a ditch Monday morning due to wet roads, the district says. It happened around 8:20 a.m. on Loop 1604 and Old Pearsall Road, on the southwest side of town. The school bus was carrying nine students when it slid off the road and into a ditch. The district says that nobody was injured. view article

A Denton ISD student and her mother spoke out during Tuesday night’s school board meeting after a bus attack. Kai Williams, a 13-year-old middle school student at Bettye Myers Middle School, said she was attacked by an adult on a school bus. According to Denton police, at abut 4:14 p.m. on April 23, officers were called to the 3500 block of East McKinney Street. view article

A criminal investigation is unfolding in Denton after a 13-year-old girl is attacked on a school bus by adults. The bus was leaving Bettye Myers Middle School last week when the 8th-grade girl says she was attacked by someone she says she didn't really know. Earlier in the day, she'd heard rumors that the girl, new to the school, wanted to fight her. view article

Across the nation, school districts are having a hard time keeping and hiring bus drivers. One local school district, Comal ISD, is becoming greatly effected. As one of the fastest growing and largest districts in the San Antonio area, the district covers over 500 square miles in five different counties with over 27,000 students attending. view article

Some Brenham ISD parents are concerned about the safety of their children aboard school buses, while the district struggles to find people to drive them. Overcrowding and longer run times for some buses has parents worried and debating whether their children should be using school transportation. One parent, Cassi Harrison, has pulled her three children off after she says her daughter had to sit on the floor of her elementary school bus, which had students from two bus routes. Harrison says the safety of the children needs to be addressed. view article

A driver was shot before crashing into a Spring ISD school bus Tuesday morning in north Harris County, officials say. This happened on FM 1960 near Rolling Creek just before 7:30 a.m. Deputies are in the 1600 block of FM 1960, where a @SpringISD bus has crashed with another vehicle. The driver of that vehicle has a gunshot wound. No reports of injuries to students. view article

After four days of frustration over Houston ISD’s new transportation system, which parents widely have derided, Amanda Marshall wanted to know exactly how her 10-year-old son, Henry, was getting to his magnet school. view article

Two Austin ISD buses were involved in a crash in southeast Austin on Wednesday morning, and both police and the district say no injuries have been reported. view article

Several Conroe ISD elementary school students had minor injuries after a car slammed into their school bus. School officials said 58 students from Ford Elementary were on board at the time of the incident this morning. view article

An Abilene ISD bus driver was assaulted Monday morning. Police reports say the driver was transporting students back to the Abilene State Supported Living Center when one of the students refused to stay in his seat. The driver pulled over when he wouldn't sit down as requested, and after she stopped the bus, "the student began punching and kicking the bus driver," according to the reports. view article

The Pottsboro Independent School District’s board of trustees discussed a resolution to receive funding for a service they already provide during their regular meeting earlier this week. PISD Superintendent Kevin Matthews explained that Texas law does not provide transportation funding to school districts if the district is transporting students that live within two miles of the schools they attend, unless those areas are dangerous for students to cross. In this situation, that is the case, Matthews said. The board identified five areas they qualified as hazardous: Highway 289, Highway 120, FM 996, FM 1417 and Cardinal Lane. - See more at: http://heralddemocrat.com/news/schools/pottsboro-isd-board-identifies-dangerous-roads-stresses-student-safety#sthash.NCQqqUs4.dpuf view article

Humble Independent School District is hiring bus drivers for the 2015-2016 school year. Interested applicants are encouraged to apply online or visit a weekly job fair, held every Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 1703 Wilson Rd, Humble, Texas, 77396. Humble ISD offers paid training to qualified applicants.

Heavy rain and high water pushed a Northwest Independent School District bus off the road, where it became stuck Thursday morning, according to authorities. The bus was stopped at a red light on Texas 114 near Farm-to-Market Road 156 when swift water in a heavy rainstorm overtook the road and pushed the bus onto the shoulder, according to Emily Conklin, the district's communications director. view article

A student from Parker Intermediate School was struck by a vehicle as he was getting on his school bus Monday morning in north Harris County. view article

Frisco ISD has pulled four Blue Bird school buses from its fleet as a precaution after a bus that had been in service for five days caught fire on Tuesday. No one was injured. Representatives from manufacturer Blue Bird and dealer Rush Bus Center met with district staff Wednesday to view the burned bus and the four others. view article

Three students from Stehlik Intermediate School in the Aldine Independent School District were taken to an area hospital Tuesday morning after a minor collision with a cement mixer. The wreck happened about 8 a.m. on West Road at Deer Trail Drive as the bus was transporting students to the school at 400 West Road, a school district spokeswoman said. The school is just west of Interstate 45. view article