Isiah Trevino watched as a bus driver dropped his daughter off at 3:55 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.
The timing matters because on the first day; he waited nearly an hour waiting for his daughter’s drop-off. The third grader is a student at Reed Elementary School in Aldine Independent School District.
“We were kind of like why is it taking so long? Checking the time here, constantly, checking the time like anybody else would,” Trevino said. “It’s crazy.”
Several parents shared on social media similar first day issues.
Miriam Castillo’s first day hit a rough patch when her son’s school, Grantham Academy, shared Monday afternoon, her fifth grader didn’t have a bus assignment.
“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 said.
While getting the car tag Castillo tried getting her son placed as a bus rider. But she learned it wouldn’t be an immediate switch. Castillo said officials shared with her it would take between 10 and 12 days to confirm the switch.
The parent told KPRC 2′s Rilwan Balogun in July while filing out the district’s communication portal, ‘Home Access Center’ she didn’t see an option of noting how her son would get to and from school. But the district said it was an option, which is why it defaulted her son to being a car rider.
Castillo said instead of again attempting to make the switch, she will keep taking her son to and from school.
“I know I have the option to do it but not others,” Castillo said.
ALDINE ISD STATEMENT:
“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.”