Katy ISD officials will be reaching out for input from the community and students' parents this week for ways to improve district transportation.
The ever-growing school district, which reached a student population of 70,000 this year, will email a survey that will also be available online as part of a search for "a more sustainable solution" to improve its growing pains, officials said.
The school district is urging parents to fill out the transportation survey to provide the feedback on current use and potential changes, such as new bus route modeling and modified school bell schedules. The survey will be available from Jan. 7 to Jan. 21.
"Our community and our families remain our greatest resource when it comes to issues that impact people's daily lives," Superintendent Alton Frailey said. "It's important that we understand their experiences and preferences, so we can build a sustainable transportation system that considers these values and that can effectively serve our students now and into the future."
The survey covers four topics: current transportation methods, utilization of district transportation, transportation preferences, and school start and end times. It will be open to all KISD parents and community members.
Every person with an email address on file with the school district will receive a survey invitation. Parents and community members will also be able to access the survey at www.katyisd.org. Paper surveys will be available upon request, and surveys in Spanish will be sent home with students at select schools across Katy.
Katy ISD's enrollment surpassed 70,000 students this year and is projected to top 90,000 by 2023, causing district leaders to characterize the current transportation system as "unsustainable." The key variable for providing transportation services is the availability of drivers—a challenge many school districts face, KISD officials said.
Once the survey closes Jan. 20, district leaders will use the results to provide transportation recommendations that will be presented to the Board of Trustees in February or March.
