NORTH EAST ISD board approves 2025–26 bus-route changes, five-minute bell adjustments

The NORTH EAST ISD Board of Trustees approved recommended transportation adjustments for the 2025–26 school year, including five‑minute changes to school bell times, aligning the Northeast Alternative Center schedule with high schools, and reducing bus stops inside gated communities. The board voted 7 to 0 to adopt the recommendations after a presentation by the district’s transportation director.

Bill Harrison, executive director of transportation for NORTH EAST ISD, told trustees the key operational change is small shifts to start and end times: early elementary from 7:30 a.m. to 7:25 a.m. (dismissal 2:45 p.m. to 2:40 p.m.); middle school from 8:25 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. (day extended five minutes); and high school from 8:50 a.m. to 8:55 a.m. (dismissal moved to 4:20 p.m.). He also recommended changing the Northeast Alternative Center (NEAC) from 8:35 a.m. start/4:00 p.m. dismissal to match the high school schedule of 8:55 a.m./4:20 p.m.

Why it matters: Harrison said the timing shifts create additional travel windows between school tiers that allow routes to serve more stops and reduce route overlap. "The extra 10 minutes ... allows us additional stops to be added to our existing routes," he said. He told the board those changes would enable the district to remove at least three morning routes and two afternoon routes and improve on-time arrivals.

Harrison also proposed reducing stops inside gated communities. He said NORTH EAST ISD serves roughly 70 subdivisions with gated entrances; about 30% already have stops outside the gates. The presentation said the district transports about 250 middle school students and about 200 high school students from gated communities, and that removing stops inside gates would eliminate a little over 100 stops and reduce time spent inside gated communities, which currently ranges from about six to 15 minutes in individual neighborhoods.

Harrison gave specific examples from routing maps shown to the trustees. For one neighborhood cluster he proposed reducing six interior stops to two and consolidating others to a single stop outside the gate or on a nearby street such as Wilderness Oak. He acknowledged the change would increase walking distance for some students — "that's probably a third of a mile to maybe a half mile," he said — and described the reductions as proposals to be finalized with route-by-route analysis.

On performance, Harrison said SmartTag tracking shows the district is "on time 91% of the time for the elementary schools." He said his personal goal is 95% on-time arrivals for elementary campuses and that the district is "on time 90% of the time to the middle [and] high schools." He also noted district totals of roughly 217 afternoon routes and that staff will pursue additional consolidation over the summer.

Other items discussed and staff steps: trustees asked about communication and safety. Harrison said the district will use its SmartTag system and route finder to notify affected families and that principals were briefed and asked to help share the district communication. He said the district plans a pilot bus‑rider registration program for middle and high school students that will open around May 1. The transportation staff also reported evaluating 14‑passenger minibuses that do not require a commercial driver’s license; the district has four such vehicles in its fleet.

Cost and outcome: Harrison presented an estimated savings of about $83,735 tied to the recommended bell-time and stop consolidations. Trustees voted to approve the recommendations as presented. Trustee Villareal moved the motion and Trustee Landry seconded it; the motion passed 7–0.

Trustees and staff said they will continue route-level analysis, safety reviews for stops on major roads, and targeted communications to families before changes take effect in the 2025–26 school year.