La Joya ISD proposes bus-route overhaul, new tracking apps to speed arrivals and cut costs

SB Pearson, chief operations officer for LA JOYA ISD, told parents the district will redesign its 20‑year‑old bus network and roll out new tracking and routing tools in an effort to improve safety, reduce late arrivals and rein in rising transportation costs.

"We have to change in order to create something that's reliable, that's more safe for our kids," Pearson said at a community briefing. He and district transportation staff framed the project as a response to a multi‑year pattern of operational cuts, declining enrollment and growing overtime and fuel bills.

Transportation Director Joe Alanise said the district currently operates about 160 buses with roughly 137 drivers assigned to routes and has not significantly updated routing in two decades. Staff presented three cost figures as part of the case for change: year‑to‑date fuel costs of about $680,000 (projected to exceed $1 million by fiscal year end), overtime running roughly $700,000–$750,000 YTD, and fleet maintenance of about $500,000 annually.

Alanise described "route optimization" as using modern routing software to find the most efficient paths from homes to campuses and back. He said the district will use several software platforms for planning and operations (staff named Transfinder among the tools) and previewed two parent‑facing products: InfoFinder, a web lookup for school zones, routes and assigned stops, and a StopFinder mobile app that will allow parents to track a bus in real time and receive multilingual notifications when a student boards or leaves the bus.

"The moment your student gets on the bus, you're going to know," Alejandro Flores, assistant director, said while demonstrating the apps' tracking and notification features. Staff also said the systems will support emergency notifications and an evacuation workflow tied to students' bus badges.

District staff emphasized student safety as the top priority. Edith Gonzalez and Ashley Chapa described coordination with campus police and consultants, a focus on loading and unloading procedures (identified in the presentation as the most dangerous times), and community input to identify hazardous pickup or drop‑off locations.

To gather input, the district will run a community survey April 7–24 and hold cluster town halls where parents can get school‑specific route information and help installing the apps. Staff gave the following cluster dates: April 7 (La Joya/Coyote cluster), April 20 (Coyote cluster listing), April 23 (cluster for Huar…/Lincoln listed in presentation), and April 30 (Palm View cluster). Staff said route models are not yet finalized and that the district will return with model demonstrations at later sessions.

Officials outlined a rollout timeline: March — technology launch and route preparation; April — community feedback and town halls; May 20, 2026 — continued communications; June–July 2026 — finalize and communicate bus routes; August 2026 — soft launch with summer programs and preparation for full implementation by the start of the next school year.

Pearson acknowledged community anxiety around changes but stressed the district's goal of minimizing classroom budget impacts and restoring reliability so students arrive on time. "We don't have the routes created today," he said, promising follow‑up town halls, live demonstrations and multiple feedback channels including QR codes, phone and email.

Next steps: parents are encouraged to complete the April 7–24 survey for their cluster and attend the scheduled town halls to view route models and receive app setup help. The district said it will publish finalized routes after the June–July review period.