Conroe ISD faced a roughly $27 million gap last year between what it spent transporting students and what it received from the state. A recent KPRC 2 investigation detailed the shortfall across Houston-area districts.
The district spent $35 million on transportation last year and received just $7.4 million in state funding, the Houston Chronicle reported in July. The district serves The Woodlands High School, College Park High School and 65 other campuses.
Conroe ISD Transportation Director Juan Melendez told KPRC his department moves more than 33,000 students across 348 square miles. The district guarantees a bus ride to any student living 1 mile or more from their assigned school, a threshold that means it covers more students than the state will help pay for.
"I don't want to say we are overworking our workforce, but we are pushing them," Melendez told KPRC.
Texas reimburses districts $1 for every mile a general education student rides a bus and up to $1.13 per mile for special education students. A 2025 law added 5 cents per special education mile. KPRC found that state funds covered only about 15 percent of Cypress-Fairbanks ISD's transportation costs and roughly 13 percent of Alief ISD's.
Hazardous routes hit the cap
The funding squeeze is sharpest on hazardous routes, where students would otherwise walk along freeways, underpasses or roads with no sidewalks. Conroe ISD spent $2.9 million on those routes last year but received only $447,289 back from the state, according to the Chronicle. The district has reached the state's 10 percent reimbursement cap for hazardous routes, Assistant Superintendent of Operations Chris McCord said at a July board meeting.
Conroe parent Adriana Sandoval told KPRC her fourth-grade daughter's bus stop this school year requires walking beside a washed-out stretch of Crockett Martin Road with no sidewalks. Sandoval drives her daughter to school each morning but cannot leave work for the afternoon pickup.
"Around 3:40, when I get her bus notification, I am worried and constantly calling until she gets inside," Sandoval said.
Three weeks after Sandoval showed KPRC the route, the stop had not changed, but her daughter's bus driver from the previous year had begun picking the child up at the house.
Board pushes for state help
Trustee Melissa Dungan called the gap unacceptable at a July board meeting. "There is no way we should be operating at a $27 million deficit. Especially in transportation, that is ludicrous," Dungan said, as reported by the Chronicle.
McCord said at the same meeting that the district could not close the gap without legislative action and that he looked forward to sharing the data with lawmakers.
State Sen. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, told KPRC she believes transportation funding will get more attention in the upcoming legislative session as school closures force families to travel longer distances. Districts are also navigating how to fund stricter state requirements for buses with seatbelts.
Conroe ISD officials have said they plan to ask state lawmakers for additional transportation funding. No specific hearing date or legislative proposal has been announced.
