Understanding Bus Service & Hazardous Routes

  • Students who live farther than two miles from school receive bus transportation. In most cases, students who live within two miles of their school are considered to live in the walk zone and do not receive bus service. However, there is an important exception to the walk zone requirement for students living within two miles of their school. Students who live on what is considered a hazardous route will receive bus transportation.

    Each year the Hays CISD Board of Trustees declares which routes in Hays CISD qualify as hazardous using the criteria they are required to use in state law (Texas Education Code, Sec. 42.155). The law says a hazardous condition exists where no walkway is provided and children must walk along or cross a freeway or expressway, an underpass, an overpass or a bridge, an uncontrolled major traffic artery, an industrial or commercial area, or another comparable condition. 

    As Hays CISD grows, the hazardous routes list changes. Sometimes new home construction requires the addition of new bus routes. Other times, improvements to the district's pedestrian infrastructure eliminate what the state considers to be hazardous conditions, allowing more children to walk to school. 

    School districts receive funding, or transportation allotments, to operate bus service. The regular portion of this allotment is for students who live more than two miles from school. The state also provides funding of up to 10 percent of a district’s regular transportation allotment for the transportation of children living within two miles of the school they attend who would be subject to hazardous traffic conditions if they walked to school. If a bus route loses the conditions that allowed it to qualify as hazardous, that route is no longer eligible to receive hazardous route funding from the state.