The San Marcos CISD board of trustees met Monday to discuss changes to the state’s accountability system for school districts and transportation issues within the district.

State accountability

SMCISD is gearing up for the implementation of House Bill 2804, a bill passed in 2015 that takes effect in the 2017-18 school year. Among the bill’s provisions is a change to the way public school districts are held accountable to the state.

Under HB 2804, which amended a bill from the 2013 legislative session, districts and campuses will be assigned A-F letter grades based on how they meet specific criteria. Among the criteria districts will be graded on are community engagement; college and workforce readiness; reducing or eliminating achievement differentials between students from different socio-economic, racial and ethnic backgrounds; and performance on standardized tests.

Monica Valadez, district attendance officer and community liaison, said campuses throughout the district have formed committees to self-evaluate how the school is performing in different areas of study.

“Really before [passage of HB 2804, community engagement] was something that was done, but it’s something that now that’s going to be counted toward our overall performance,” Valadez said.

Valadez said community engagement will require the district to work on “fostering interaction with parents and the community around issues they care about.”

“We’re moving away from the word involvement and the concept of involvement and more toward the concept of engagement and what does that mean?” Valadez said. “A lot of folks are using the word engagement but are still really describing involvement when it comes to parents and students and community.”

As an example, Valadez said in the area of fine arts, the district could make an effort to partner with a local art gallery to allow students to present their work to the public.

Transportation

Trustee Miguel Arredondo said the board has heard from parents within the district that some students are spending an outsized portion of the day on school buses. Arredondo requested a presentation be given on the issue, and on Monday night, officials showed board members data indicating round-trips on some bus routes take more than three hours.

“I think having the conversation is a big step, because we hear about it from parents that, ‘My son is on the bus for an hour,’” Arredondo said. “We hear it in passing or at H-E-B, but now that I have the information from staff, we can actually empower the administration to do something.”

According to the presentation, students spend as long as three hours and 14 minutes on buses to and from school. Transportation Director Carter Hutson said the district aims to have ride times below 45 minutes each way. About 76.5 percent of bus trips achieved that goal, according to the presentation.

The district is challenged because the market for workers in the salary range of bus drivers has become very competitive, Hutson said. SMCISD is competing with Hays CISD, the new Amazon fulfillment center and other transportation companies, he said.

Adding to the issue, SMCISD is currently 13 drivers short of a full staff, Hutson said, and two drivers have submitted notice that they will not return in the spring semester. If the driver shortage gets bad enough, the district may have to "double up routes," he said. In that scenario, one bus would have to handle two routes, which could lengthen trip times.

Trustee Lupe Costilla said she would like to see a recommendation from the superintendent as to how to handle the district’s transportation situation.

“It’s like teaching with your back to the class while going through an obstacle course,” Assistant Superintendent Karen Griffith said.

The board will discuss the issue further at a future workshop.

Those interested in applying for open bus driver positions can do so here.