All Gus Almquist Middle School students to be eligible for bus service

Students attending Gus Almquist Middle School this fall will be able to receive bus service even if they live within 2 miles of the school, as the district has determined some existing infrastructure might make the walk to school unsafe on foot.

What you need to know

The Hutto ISD board of trustees approved on May 22 a transportation eligibility determination for students of Gus Almquist Middle School living in the immediate area that will allow the district to be reimbursed by the Texas Education Agency for providing bus service to students who live within 2 miles of the school.

Generally, students cannot receive bus service unless they live more than 2 miles from their school, or they reside in areas designated by their school board as high traffic or at high risk of violence, according to the TEA's school transportation allotment handbook.

This allotment makes up about a third of funding for the district's transportation department, HISD's Assistant Superintendent of Operations Henry Gideon said.

What they're saying

Gideon said this designation is required because infrastructure around the school and in some surrounding communities is insufficient to provide safe passage to school due to the lack of sidewalks and the presence of bar ditches in several areas.

"Some of those neighborhoods are county roads with no sidewalks, mainly bar ditches, and so therefore there is no place for children to walk other than in the roadway," Gideon said.