Tomball ISD transportation leaders on Aug. 11 told the school board they expect to run all regular routes on the first day of classes despite ongoing staffing vacancies and that new tracking tools will let parents follow buses in near real time.

The transportation presentation, delivered by Chief Operating Officer Dr. Steven Gutierrez and Director of Transportation Sandy Dillman, highlighted that "our ridership is about 50% of our student population," with "over 10,000 students utilize[ing] transportation," and that the district will deploy parent‑facing and staff tools collectively described as Wayfinder/Stop Finder/Viewfinder.

Why it matters: The changes affect how families monitor bus arrival, how drivers navigate unfamiliar routes and how the district responds to delays and staffing shortages. Officials said the new features should reduce uncertainty for parents and give campus leaders visibility into bus status.

What officials told the board
- Dr. Steven Gutierrez, Chief Operating Officer, said Tomball ISD offers transportation "to any student and all families who desire to utilize this service," which explains the unusually high ridership compared with state and national averages. He asked families for patience during the first week.
- Sandy Dillman, Director of Transportation, described the new tools: Wayfinder provides turn‑by‑turn navigation for drivers; Viewfinder is a staff management view that shows bus status at campuses; and Stop Finder is the parent app that allows geofence notifications and real‑time bus location tracking. She said parents will not be shown precise student stop locations "for the safety of the students," but they will see a moving bus icon and a circle indicating the subscribed stop area.

Key numbers and logistics
- Fleet and staffing: 206 buses total (147 general‑ed, 34 special‑needs, 6 microbuses, 19 trip buses). Staffing reported: 142 drivers (98 gen ed, 36 special ed, 8 standby), 44 special‑needs bus attendants and 8 mechanics (5 at the Baker facility, 3 at TIC). Standby drivers fill open routes as needed.
- Mileage and trips: The department reported about 950,111 miles (1,300,000 gen ed miles, 610,000 SPED miles) and nearly 200,000 miles logged for field trips on the reporting year noted.
- Vacancies: The department began a school year projection with roughly 12 open positions but said every route will have a body tomorrow, sometimes staffed temporarily by office staff.
- Parent app adoption: Transportation staff reported more than 22,000 invitations sent and almost 12,000 app subscriptions active as of the presentation.

Air conditioning, safety and expectations
Dillman reminded the board that school buses are designed to keep interior temperatures roughly 10–15 degrees cooler than ambient temperature and that frequent stops, open doors and metal bus shells limit cooling effectiveness. She urged parents to have students bring water and pack patience during the hot early days of the term. When asked by board members whether any route buses tomorrow would lack air conditioning, Dillman said, "Right now, that answer is no. Every route bus currently right now, the mechanics confirmed..."

Operations and next steps
- Drivers in onboarding and training were reported to be in the pipeline, and the district is running driver education and recruitment programs.
- For parent support the district has opened a dedicated email, bushelp@tomballISD.net, and launched a survey and outreach after summer school to gather feedback.
- Board members asked for follow‑up reporting after the first few weeks about route performance, app adoption and vaping or discipline incidents connected to transport.

Discussion vs. action
This workshop item was a report; no board action was taken. Several agenda items related to transportation (e.g., purchase of new buses and charter contracts) were on the business agenda for the regular meeting the next day.

Ending note
Transportation leaders asked the community to plan for heavier traffic during the opening week and to use the new parent tools once they receive invitations.