CYPRESS, Texas — Cy-Fair ISD parents are demanding a change to bus routes after three students were hit by vehicles last week.
This comes a couple of months after the district eliminated nearly 80 bus routes due to budget cuts.
Now, families are demanding accountability and calling the injuries unacceptable. The bus routes cut impacted students who live a mile or two miles away from their school.
Now, families said their safety depends on the routes being reinstated. There were dozens of signs brought into the district’s school board meeting Monday night and they all spelled out a clear message, which is the concern for their students.
"This is not a walking city," Janet Gingell said.
Gingell said her concerns were only heightened after three students were hit by vehicles last week trying to get to school.
"When I started seeing children in my community walking across a street I would not walk across or the other people would not walk across because it is just too busy, I had an emotional moment," Gingell said.
Gingell is one of dozens of people calling on Cy-Fair ISD to reinstate bus routes. Nearly 80 were cut right before the district started for the 2024-2025 school year. The decision left parents like Jarred Hostetler scrambling to find a safe route for their children.
"They’ve never really experienced riding their bikes or walking in that kind of environment before. Trying to navigate very busy streets where people are not stopping for them even when they have the crosswalk right-of-way," Hostetler said.
Cy-Fair ISD families received a letter last week from their superintendent and district police chief. It said there will be patrols near schools and they’re deeply concerned about the incidents.
The concerns were also addressed by several Cy-Fair ISD school board trustees before public comment about a number of topics, which included bringing back bus routes.
"Please stay off your cell phone. Please obey the speed limit and traffic signs," Trustee Christine Kalmbach said.
"The bus cuts were implemented too fast. I would support raising the taxes to the full two pennies of disaster pennies," Board Vice President Dr. Natalie Blasingame said.
"During the upcoming legislative session, we will be advocating for our community to increase funding," Trustee Lucas Scanlon said.
KHOU 11 News reached out to Cy-Fair ISD and spoke with a spokesperson before the meeting to see if the district plans to further address these concerns or if any changes to bus routes will be considered. They said they’ll take a look at our questions and provide additional information.