A public commenter at Thursday’s Deming Public Schools board meeting pressed administrators to explain why dozens of buses run daily from the Columbus port of entry to district schools while some in‑district families have had out‑of‑zone transportation requests denied under the district’s new turf application process.

Russell Johnson told the board he was frustrated that the district had known since June that the 5‑0‑1T exceptions process would be replaced by a new “turf” application system but families could not see or file the new paperwork until the first day of school. “It’s unacceptable that the transportation department knew back in June ... yet families were not permitted to see, much less submit the new paperwork until the first day of school,” Johnson said.

Johnson said his child, who lives within the district, was denied transportation because the student does not attend the boundary school, while bus service is provided to students boarding at the port of entry (POE) in Columbus, Chihuahua, Mexico. He told the board there are currently seven buses taking students from the POE to Columbus Elementary and 15 more transporting students to secondary schools in Deming — “22 buses daily” — and said he was told as many as 800 students board at the POE.

School operations staff described the district’s handling of turf requests this year: staff reported 59 initial staff turf requests that dropped to 34 after routing changes; 48 community turf requests were approved and accommodated, with 32 served by direct busing and 16 requiring transfers. Administrators said IEP (special education) students and McKinney‑Vento eligible (unhoused) students receive transportation accommodations under separate rules.

Board members asked staff for comparative data. One trustee asked how many 5‑0‑1T requests occurred last year; staff said they did not have the exact staff‑only number available at the meeting but reported that the prior year’s combined total (staff plus community) was about 195 and that this year’s combined total is about 107. Administrators said they would verify and return with specific counts for staff and community 5‑0‑1T/ turf requests.

Superintendent Goldman and staff said the district’s priority is to route in‑zone students first because state funding supports in‑zone transportation, and that exceptions can cause routing delays. Officials did not provide a policy reason that would explain cross‑border service levels at the meeting; they said they would revisit transportation policy next year and provide clearer data to the board and public.