Austin leaders urge drivers to be cautious as school starts for Austin ISD

AUSTIN, Texas - City leaders are encouraging drivers to be cautious ahead of the first day of school for AISD students on Tuesday.

What they're saying:

"Folks, tomorrow we're rolling," AISD Transportation Director Kris Hafezizadeh said.

About 300 Austin ISD school buses are rolling out and hitting the roads starting at 5 a.m. Tuesday morning, as thousands of students head back to class. Police said that is why everyone behind the wheel needs to be a little more alert.

"A lot of these kids are walking to school, they're biking to school maybe for the first time, they're unaware of where or how they should cross the street, so it's important that we as citizens pay extra attention and watch out for them moving in between cars, possibly crossing where they shouldn't be," Austin ISD Police Interim Chief Lance Cox said.

City leaders are also reminding drivers to slow down, put the phone away, and never pass a school bus with its stop arm out.

"Keeping our city safe is not the sole job of government, it's not the job of the school district by itself or of our police officers, it's the responsibility that all of us bear.," Austin City Council District 7 Representative Mike Siegel said.

Dig deeper:

For some families, a big change this year is where their kids are waiting for the bus.

High school students will no longer be picked up on their neighborhood streets. Instead, they will use community hub stops at places like libraries, elementary schools, post offices, and CapMetro transit centers. AISD said this model will save the district about $2.3 million. Middle and elementary school students will utilize their neighborhood bus stops.

"We're going to have challenges the first two weeks to make sure it rolls as smooth as possible. But my team, they are, they have been working seven days a week, straight up and we are ready to roll, and we will make it happen," Hafezizadeh said.

AISD's latest TEA ratings

While AISD is working to get students where they need to go, the district is also heading into the new school year with some momentum in the classroom. The Texas Education Agency’s latest report card gave AISD an overall ‘B,’ which is its highest grade in four years, driven by a 42% jump in schools earning A’s and B’s.

"I think that it is undeniable that AISD is making the kind of improvement that we should all want and that the state of Texas wants," Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said.

But there is still work to do. Webb and Burnet Middle Schools received an ‘F’ rating for the fifth consecutive year.

"We have two schools that put us in by statute in a situation where you can look at the state wanting to take over, or puts the state in a position that it can do that, whether it wants to or not is a different story. And we have to address those two schools. There is going to need to be something done about those two schools," Mayor Watson said.

The Mayor said he could see the students at those two campuses moving to schools that have ‘A’ and ‘B’ ratings, but nothing has been set in stone yet between the TEA and district.

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