Northwest ISD lists hazardous routes to school to access state funds for busing students

The Northwest ISD board of trustees approved a resolution Aug. 8 identifying 27 hazardous transportation routes around its school campuses.

The designation allows the district to receive state funds to help with busing students who would encounter hazardous traffic conditions if they walked to school, according to the approved resolution. Examples of hazardous conditions include areas where students must walk along a freeway or travel through an industrial or commercial area.

The state will reimburse the district for up to 10% of its total mileage to help fund bus routes to transport students facing hazardous conditions, according to a district memo. NISD officials estimate more than 2.74 million miles will be logged this year, including nearly 160,000 miles for hazardous areas.

In the 2021-22 school year, NISD bus drivers drove more than 2.66 million miles and traveled 158,240 miles to bus students in hazardous areas, the memo stated.

NISD transportation staff surveyed road conditions around all of the NISD facilities using the hazard identification criteria originally created by Safe Routes to School, the memo stated. The criteria, which is used by neighboring districts, has been modified to fit the rural communities in NISD, according to the memo.

The identified hazardous routes include three high schools, six middle schools and 17 elementary schools. See the full list in the resolution below.