LISD officials discussed the district’s response to the incident at a Nov. 7 board of trustees meeting.
On Friday, Oct. 18, some school buses were stuck in traffic for hours, causing students and parents to experience emotional distress, officials said.
“I think that a lot of folks didn’t understand how bad it really was,” school board President Gloria Gonzales-Dholakia said.
What happened
Around 11:30 a.m. Oct. 18, a construction crew hit an 8-inch gas line at the intersection of RM 620 and RM 2222, which resulted in a major gas leak. Road closures led to increased traffic as there are not many alternate routes in the area, Area Superintendent Kimberly Waltmon said.
The district was initially notified of the leak at 12:45 p.m. Several campuses held students for many hours until family members could safely pick them up, Waltmon said.
School buses were en route as early as 12:30 p.m. but experienced significant traffic delays. Bus routes took four to five hours longer than usual, with some students being dropped off as late as 9 p.m., said Brandon Evans, senior executive director of operations.
Some buses stopped at Target to allow students to go to the bathroom as the vehicles do not have restrooms, he said.
Parents could use the SMART Tag app to track their child’s location, Evans said. Because the district encouraged students to ride the bus who did not normally do so, some families did not have access to SMART Tag, Gonzales-Dholakia said.
The approach
The district provided communications to parents throughout the evening Oct. 18 until the last student was dropped off, Chief Communications Officer Crestina Hardie said. Parents should download the Remind app and ensure their settings allow them to receive district and campus messages, Waltmon said.
“There was a confluence of things that were happening that made us realize that this situation was deteriorating very quickly,” Hardie said. “This is a lot for parents to handle on top of an already emotional experience with the amount of traffic that was happening in the area.”
After monitoring the situation throughout the weekend, district leadership held a meeting at 3 p.m. Oct. 20 and decided to close eight schools in the Vandegrift High School feeder pattern Oct. 21, Hardie said.
“We felt like after what we had experienced on Friday, we were going to put students at great risk if we tried to put them on the road, regardless of whether or not the road was going to be open or not,” Hardie said.
The schools were able to hold extracurricular activities Monday as the road began to reopen that morning, she said.
The following schools were closed Oct. 21:
- River Ridge Elementary
- Laura W. Bush Elementary
- Steiner Ranch Elementary
- River Place Elementary
- Grandview Hills Elementary
- Canyon Ridge Middle School
- Four Points Middle School
- Vandegrift High School
The district faced challenges receiving updates from local agencies and getting buses to the area in a timely manner amid severe traffic congestion, Evans said. The situation had an emotional impact on students and their families, he said.
Austin and Leander police departments received calls from parents who were concerned about their students. Some buses were able to pull over for parents to pick up their students before arriving home, Evans said.
“What are we going to do about traffic flow when emergencies happen?” Place 1 board member Trish Bode said. “Because this area is notoriously known for not having great traffic or great roads.”
The affected elementary and middle schools now have one remaining day in which they could close for bad weather or another emergency situation, Chief of Staff Sarah Grissom said.
The action taken
On Oct. 25, the district held a review of the incident with campus administrators. LISD is now looking to enhance resource coordination by meeting with the Austin Police Department to improve communication with the agency, said Miguel Escobedo, LISD director of emergency management.
Because the incident caused distress, LISD will continue developing its protocols to make sure they align with students' needs, he said. The district will work to improve its emergency preparedness through tabletop exercises with local agencies.
Something to note
District officials expressed their gratitude for bus drivers who worked extended hours to ensure all students returned home safely.
“The feat of these 30-some bus drivers was heroic on that day,” Hardie said.
