Dysart board approves new locations for special-education programs and revises transportation boundaries

The Dysart Unified School District governing board on the evening of the meeting approved new locations for several Exceptional Student Services (ESS) programs and adopted revised transportation boundaries that will limit district-funded busing to the closest program serving a student’s needs.

District administrators said the change aims to keep more students at neighborhood schools, shorten bus journeys for medically fragile and otherwise vulnerable students, and reduce transportation costs. The board voted to approve the revision to policy 3-302 and to adopt ESS specialized program transportation boundaries; the motion carried.

Dr. Asai presented the ESS program plan and described the specialized program types — structured teaching classrooms (STC), STC 2, Aspire for medically fragile students and the FASE program for students with emotional/behavioral needs — and the recommended campus locations for 2025–26. Dr. Asai said the district will expand STC coverage from 18 to 20 schools to “help keep our kids in their local neighborhoods” and create more permanent program locations to improve stability for families. She identified Canyon Ridge and Willow Canyon as campuses that would lose or shift program placements because of footprint and high-school pathway needs.

Transportation administrator Mr. Musi outlined the proposed boundaries and rules for providing district transportation. He said the district will assign students to the program closest to their residence that meets their IEP requirements and will not provide transportation outside that program boundary for families who choose open enrollment. "We want to make sure that students are assigned to the school and the program that's based on their needs and where they live," Musi said.

Administrators gave multiple data points during the presentation: about 155 students currently attend out‑of‑district or off‑site placements (such as Desert Choice and Austin Centers) for which the district provides transportation; about 33 students from the Assante area are bused to another school; Canyon Ridge currently serves about 22 students who would be reassigned; and district staff estimated roughly 400 to 450 students would be affected by the revised eligibility/threshold changes that expand walking-distance cutoffs for regular transportation. Musi also presented fleet statistics: 134 buses in the fleet with 91 in routine use and 40 buses assigned to in‑district ESS routes.

Administrators estimated financial and operational benefits if the board adopted the change: reduced fuel costs (estimated roughly $180,000–$200,000), lower preventive-maintenance costs (an estimated $20,000–$30,000), fewer vendor contract payments (district staff estimated roughly $100,000 savings), and an overall preliminary target of about $500,000 in annual savings. They said savings would come from reducing some regular-education routes and reallocating drivers to ESS routes, decreasing ride time for students and improving driver workload and on-time performance.

Board members asked for and were promised follow-up detail on several points: a breakdown of how many of the 400–450 affected students are in elementary versus high school; the exact number of routes currently run by private vendors (administration said Desert Choice runs nine routes and that staff would provide totals for other vendors); and a timeline for parent notification. Administrators said communications to affected families would begin within about two weeks and include personalized phone calls by principals followed by letters and updated maps on the district website. They also offered IEP‑review meetings for families whose child will transition to a different campus.

The board formally moved to approve the policy revision and the ESS transportation boundaries; the motion carried. Administrators said the changes take effect for the 2025–26 school year and will be implemented with direct outreach to impacted families.

Ending: District staff said they will provide the board supplemental materials with exact counts by grade band and vendor-route totals and will post program-location maps online so families can see which program serves each boundary.