Farmersville board hears staffing concerns from transportation supervisor; parent urges bus-schedule changes

The Farmersville Unified School District board heard extended public comment Oct. 28 about transportation staffing, driver overtime and bus schedules.

Jason Miller, Farmersville’s transportation supervisor, recounted an incident illustrating the experience of veteran driver Victor Flores and asked the board for more support for the transportation and maintenance (MOT) team. “He got a watch from the county kind of thing from the CHP,” Miller said about Flores’s recent recognition. He described one trip where “this is a 120 car pile up on 99, in the fog,” and said Flores “drove around the wreckage to keep the children on his bus safe.”

Miller provided the board with recent trip sheets and staffing numbers and said the district currently “officially have 6 bus drivers and 2 maintenance crew” plus a ninth staffer who drives a van. He told the board that frequent field trips and extra runs are taking drivers away from routine grounds and maintenance work and leading to sustained overtime: “Bus trips every with bus trips every day, guys are working 40 to 60 hours overtime every month.” Miller said that level of overtime raises the risk of driver fatigue and asked board members to “talk to us when you see us” and consider support measures for the department.

Parent Greg Gomez described a separate scheduling problem that left his seventh-grade daughter stranded after dismissal. Gomez said his daughter was dismissed two minutes late and “she missed the bus,” and he asked the board to review the district’s bus timetable so brief classroom delays do not cause students to miss transportation. “My request is that you guys look at the bus schedule and make sure that it makes sense,” Gomez said, noting a requested hold time of 02:35–02:40 would still conflict with the route timetable.

Superintendent Manuel Mendez thanked Miller for his remarks and said he had received calls from other superintendents praising Miller’s presentation. Board members indicated they would invite Victor Flores to be formally recognized; no formal board action or policy change was taken at the meeting.

The transportation issues raised include staffing levels, high overtime hours for a small driver pool, and a parent-requested review of route timing to reduce missed pickups. The board did not vote on scheduling changes at this meeting but accepted Miller’s materials and public comment for future consideration.