EPISD board hears transportation report after start‑of‑school delays

At the Sept. 16 El Paso Independent School District Board of Trustees meeting, Director of Transportation Cathy Cisneros and Executive Director of Operations Support Services David Ayala briefed trustees on a series of route delays and parent complaints that followed the start of the 2025–26 school year and described steps the district is taking to stabilize service. The discussion focused on staffing, route consolidation, communication, and technology to improve bus tracking and parent notice.

District transportation officials said the district adjusted and consolidated routes after some buses ran with low ridership and others experienced delays. “The projected 25–26 school year regular routes were 76 and SPED was 75,” said Cathy Cisneros, Director of Transportation. “The actual routes as of September 8, we had 75 regular routes and 73 SPED routes.” She added that the department reviews routes in the fifth to sixth week to remove stops with zero ridership and consolidate where appropriate.

The report described staffing and vacancy details that trustees said concerned them. Cisneros said the department currently lists 160 full‑time driver positions and 76 full‑time monitors, and “we have 18 vacancies for drivers and 28 vacancies for monitors.” She said supervisors and auto‑shop staff all hold commercial driver licenses so they can fill in when absences occur. Ayala said the department is interviewing weekly to fill openings.

Board members pressed district staff on causes and remedies. Trustees asked about the decision to consolidate long‑standing routes and whether the district had adequately communicated likely changes to families. Cisneros said some routes had not been updated in 15 years and that consolidations were intended to address inefficiencies; she also acknowledged heavier traffic and first‑week congestion complicated the rollout. Officials said they will work with campus administrators to improve pickup and drop‑off procedures and deploy supervisors to campuses when needed.

On technology and parent communication, Cisneros told the board the district plans to install Zonar hardware to track student scans on and off buses and to implement Transfinder with a parent app for real‑time route updates and notifications. “When the students … get on the bus, they scan; they scan when they get off,” Cisneros said of the Zonar plan. She said Transfinder will allow parents who opt in to receive up‑to‑date notifications about their child’s bus.

The report also described other steps to improve reliability: driver dry runs on new routes before service, revised employee schedules that guarantee six hours per day for drivers, ongoing recruitment and training (including helping monitors obtain CDLs), and a planned operational review with TASBO (Texas Association of School Business Officials) to identify efficiency improvements.

Trustees and staff discussed Fort Bliss gate delays affecting buses that serve Austin High School and other campuses. Cisneros said a previously removed stop was reinstated after complaints from families on post and that the district will seek to coordinate with Fort Bliss leadership on gate‑access timing. Trustee comments also raised the idea of recruiting from military transition assistance programs; officials welcomed the contact and said they would pursue the channel.

No formal board action was taken. Trustees asked for follow‑up reports as consolidations and new technology roll out and suggested a status update in the spring.

The board meeting transcript shows the transportation presentation and the subsequent trustee Q&A took place during the reports section of the Sept. 16 agenda.