Spring-area families face potential bus route cuts as Texas school districts absorb transportation costs the state barely reimburses.
An investigation first reported by KPRC 2/Click2Houston on Friday, Oct. 2, found that state funding covers as little as 13 to 15 percent of what Houston-area districts spend on busing students. Texas reimburses districts $1 per mile for each general education student on a bus and up to $1.13 per mile for special education students.
Those numbers add pressure to Spring ISD, which was facing a projected $9 million deficit for the 2026-27 school year as of April. The district has placed Proposition A on the Tuesday, Nov. 3, ballot. If approved, the Voter Approval Tax Rate Election (VATRE) measure would raise the maintenance and operations tax rate by two cents, to $1.1569 per $100 of property valuation, generating an estimated $15.5 million in new revenue. Transportation is among the categories the district says the money would fund, along with teacher pay, student programs and utilities.
Voters rejected a similar tax rate increase in 2024. Spring ISD is one of five Houston-area districts asking voters for a combined $137 million in new revenue on Nov. 3, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Spring ISD Superintendent Dr. Kregg Cuellar said the measure is about protecting the district's progress and ensuring schools have the resources to keep operating. The district has not publicly detailed how much of the Proposition A revenue would go toward transportation.
Spring ISD did launch a "No Badge, No Ride" bus safety program on Sept. 14, giving families real-time bus tracking through the Smart Tag app.
Nearby districts show the stakes
The KPRC investigation focused on neighboring Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, where state funds covered only 15 percent of a nearly $60 million transportation budget. Cy-Fair eliminated almost 80 bus routes in 2024 to close a budget shortfall. After community protests and 33 auto-pedestrian crashes, the district restored those stops.
Cy-Fair parent Jarred Hostetler told KPRC he has been watching the school board closely since the cuts. "I realized they are drawing from their savings to keep paying for the bus every year," Hostetler said. "Eventually that money was going to run out."
Cy-Fair Superintendent Dr. Doug Killian warned at an August 2026 board meeting that transportation would be the first budget cut if voters reject the district's own tax rate increase in November. Cy-Fair is also asking voters to approve a $1.6 billion bond that includes life-cycle bus replacements.
Klein ISD votes to maintain bus replacement schedule
Klein ISD's Board of Trustees voted unanimously on May 11 to continue its life-cycle bus replacement schedule to ensure compliance with Senate Bill 546, which sets stricter requirements for school buses. No Klein ISD officials have publicly addressed transportation funding pressure or potential route changes.
What's ahead
State Sen. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, told KPRC she believes transportation funding will be a higher priority in the upcoming legislative session because school closures across the state are forcing families to travel longer distances.
Early voting for the Nov. 3 election runs Oct. 19 through Oct. 30.
