Parents and trustees press Hammond board for answers after bus-route cuts

Transportation dominated public comment and trustee discussion at the Aug. 20 board meeting after the district's financial report confirmed there will be no referendum renewal on Nov. 5, 2024 and that referendum revenues will not return until 2026 if a future question passes.

Several trustees and community members said children who previously rode buses now face long or hazardous walks to school due to recent redistricting. Trustee Blake King and public speakers asked whether a three-year notice statute on general transportation elimination applied in these situations; the superintendent and finance director explained that the statute covers general elimination of bus service but does not automatically cover students who were moved into a school's walking zone by boundary changes.

Community commenters described safety risks and urged immediate fixes. Wanda Puckett told the board, "We need them buses... Y'all better get them buses back for the kids before something happen," and other residents raised crossings across busy corridors and railroad tracks as specific hazards. One commenter and a trustee suggested a $175,000 figure could restore elementary routes; district staff said pickup points and boundaries have changed, so a fresh routing analysis would be required and could raise costs beyond the earlier figure.

Finance staff said the district is roughly $13 million below board cash-balance targets and must plan the 2025 budget without $15 million in referendum funding and the ending ESSER funds. The board directed staff to produce cost estimates and explore options—short-term fixes, rerouting, crossing guards and possible restoration of select routes—but staff cautioned solutions will require trade-offs elsewhere in the budget.

The record shows strong consensus among trustees and the public that the district must provide a clear, numeric cost estimate and a plan for immediate safety mitigations before the next meeting.