HISD Superintendent Mike Miles provided updates on the first day of school, focusing on staffing, transportation, and facilities. Despite the challenges, Miles emphasized the district’s commitment to ensuring a smooth start to the school year.
Superintendent Miles began the conference positively, highlighting the district’s success in staffing. “We had 28 vacancies out of 10,640 positions,” he said, highlighting that less than 0.3% of teachers were absent, and most classrooms were led by regular teachers rather than substitutes. Notably, none of the New Education System (NES) schools required substitutes, ensuring students received effective instruction on day one.
The conference soon shifted focus to transportation, a significant concern for HISD. Last year, the district spent $56 million to transport 9,000 students, which led to reassessing the transportation system. Miles explained that the district introduced changes, including adding satellite locations and implementing the EduLog software to optimize bus routing.
However, the rollout of EduLog has encountered issues, with some families receiving incorrect bus routes or multiple route notifications, which can be confusing. “We’re going to do better tomorrow,” Miles assured, acknowledging that while the system’s impact on schools was minimal, any inconvenience to families is significant. The district plans to double the size of its call center to better assist parents with transportation inquiries moving forward.
When pressed for data on late or missed bus routes, Miles admitted that specific numbers were unavailable as the district was still gathering detailed information. He reiterated, however, that the “overwhelming majority” of buses arrived on time, with only a few delays attributed to first-day traffic around schools.
Miles also responded to concerns about students waiting for buses that did not arrive on time, particularly at Sharpstown, where students headed to Carnegie were affected. He said he was unaware of the specific issue but committed to investigating it further.
Addressing Parent Concerns and Communication
Some parents expressed frustration with late notifications about bus routes, which Miles acknowledged. He explained that while routes were distributed approximately ten days before school started, the district had to balance the timing to account for student registrations, which could alter routes. “This happens every year,” he said, stating that the district issued 17,000 bus routes, though not all students would use them.
He also addressed a significant issue concerning air conditioning on buses, particularly those serving special needs students. Some bus drivers reported that their buses lacked functioning air conditioning, a concern they had raised with management to no avail. Miles stressed the importance of bus drivers performing pre-driving checks and urged them to report such issues to their dispatchers for resolution. He also committed to following up on specific cases if details are provided.
The discussion also covered air conditioning problems in school facilities, a pressing issue given Houston’s summer heat. While Miles acknowledged that there are always some classrooms with air conditioning problems, he stated that the district is “on top of every single classroom.” When necessary, the district has arranged to move students to cooler areas, such as libraries or auditoriums. The only school with significant issues on the first day was Fur High School, where students were relocated from the third floor to cooler areas on the first floor.
In response to questions about future bus routes and ensuring all students have access to transportation, Miles confirmed that the district is actively working through a list of 700 students who currently lack routes. The district will update parents as the situation evolves.
