Parents and provider urge Pasadena ISD to address special-education transportation and to explore on-site medical daycare partnership
Summary
Two public commenters at the Pasadena ISD board meeting asked trustees to investigate repeated transportation failures affecting a special-education student and to consider an on-site medical daycare partnership to serve medically complex students.
At its Oct. 21 meeting, the Pasadena Independent School District Board of Trustees heard public comments asking the district to investigate repeated special-education transportation failures and to consider partnering with a nearby medical daycare for students with complex medical needs.
The requests came during the public comment portion of the meeting. The board did not take formal action on either request during open session before adjourning to closed session.
Shamia Zahari, an emergency physician at St. Luke's Hospital, told trustees her facility offers “a special needs, medical center for kids from 6 weeks to 20 years of age” and asked whether Pasadena ISD could allow teachers to deliver district curriculum on-site for students who cannot easily attend a campus. Zahari said the center provides ICU nurses, physical and occupational therapists and transportation options, and that sister operations in Dallas ISD have allowed teachers to go into comparable facilities to provide instruction.
Parent Wendy Oliver described repeated service failures she says have denied her daughter a free and appropriate public education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Oliver said she filed a due process request on Aug. 30 and again on Nov. 22 after district staff attempted to remove special-education transportation listed in her daughter’s individualized education program. She said the parties appeared in March 2025 and reached a legally binding agreement, signed by the superintendent, calling for transportation through HopSkip Drive to begin this school year.
Oliver told the board that HopSkip Drive has missed five pickups for her daughter so far this school year, which she said “represent 13.5% of the instructional days that she has taken a ride through the service.” Quoting state law, she noted that Texas Education Code 25.087 requires students to attend at least 90% of instructional days to receive credit for a class, and asked the board to “direct an investigation into the transportation department’s handling of special education transportation services and ensure immediate corrective action.” She also said a district teacher breached confidentiality by discussing her case publicly, increasing her call for transparency and accountability.
Trustees did not make a public decision in response to the requests during open session. The meeting record shows the board adjourned to closed session under Texas Government Code sections 551.071, 551.072, 551.074 and 551.076 and reconvened later in the evening.
Why this matters: Reliable transportation and appropriate in-district instructional access are central to compliance with special-education law and to students’ daily instructional time. The parent described a mediated agreement and ongoing missed trips; the physician described a potential on-site instructional model that would affect families whose children cannot safely attend campus every day.
Trustees did not announce follow-up actions in open session. The speaker who described the on-site medical daycare asked the district for guidance on how to build the partnership; the parent asked the board to investigate and correct service lapses affecting her daughter and other students who rely on special-education transportation.
