Clear Creek ISD outlines summer facilities work, food service changes and transportation rollouts ahead of school year

Assistant Superintendent Paul Miller presented a comprehensive support services update to the Clear Creek ISD Board of Trustees at the Sept. 8 meeting, outlining summer facilities work, child nutrition changes, maintenance and HVAC work, school safety staffing and transportation system rollouts.

"We started the year off ... had 250 of our employees greet all of the students on that first day with smiles," Fred Walker, the district's child nutrition director, said as he described menu changes driven by student taste tests and a parent survey that yielded nearly 4,000 responses. Walker said the department expanded menu choices — while keeping elementary pizza Wednesday — and restarted the district catering operation tied to the new culinary arts kitchen.

Facilities work described by Alex Aragon, facilities services, included bond‑related renovations at several campuses (Bowerschlag, Falcon Pass, Gilmore, Goforth, Robinson and Weber elementary schools), priority repairs at Westbrook Intermediate with AC replacement, central plant/chiller upgrades at Clear Creek High School, roof replacements at multiple campuses and playground installations at more than a dozen schools. Aragon credited a small project management team with completing the bulk of the summer projects.

Maintenance director Chris Pitts reported extensive HVAC work: annual inspections completed on 83 of 89 chillers, contractor cleaning of 61 of 67 cooling towers, backflow preventer inspections and restorative carpet cleaning at every campus. Pitts said targeted heat‑exchanger replacements and coil cleanings at several campuses have improved unit reliability.

On safety and school resource staffing, Cameron (Safe and Secure Schools) said the district partnered with local law enforcement — including deputies and police officers from the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, League City PD, Pasadena, Seabrook, UTMB Police and Webster — and deployed 14 outside agency officers for the opening week. Cameron said the office also handled a high volume of residency affidavit appointments (about 2,600 appointment slots; 1,528 affidavits processed as of Sept. 4 this year compared with 1,413 at the same point last year).

Tammy Pickett, director of transportation, discussed a multi‑phase rollout of new routing and rider systems. The district moved from barcode badges to a TAP (contactless) system; a phased rollout began Aug. 25 with 11 campuses and will continue with additional phases, with district officials forecasting full implementation by Thanksgiving. Pickett said bus fleet readiness improved after focused preventive maintenance and that air‑conditioning issues on buses were addressed so drivers could focus on routes and new technology.

Miller and other presenters acknowledged staffing challenges in several operational areas. Miller said maintenance skilled‑trade vacancies remained about 10 positions, the child nutrition program about 30 vacancies and crossing guard vacancies around 10. He noted transportation vacancies have fallen from 55 in February 2024 to about 18 at the time of the meeting after targeted recruitment, pay adjustments and signing bonuses.

Trustees repeatedly praised support services employees for the volume of work completed during the summer and for ensuring a smooth start to the school year. Trustee Cunningham, Trustee Sanchez and others asked that the district continue communicating progress on facility projects to the community and thanked the teams for their work.

Why it matters: The summer work and operational changes — from meal options and catering to HVAC reliability, safety staffing and a new bus rider TAP system — directly affect daily operations, student experience and district logistics as the school year begins.

Next steps: Transportation will continue phased implementation of the TAP badge system with additional campus rollouts; facilities and maintenance will continue summer follow‑ups and planned replacements; the district will continue recruitment efforts to reduce vacancies in skilled trades, kitchens and crossing‑guard positions.

(Reporting note: Quotes and attributions are taken from district staff and trustees recorded in the meeting transcript.)