Across Texas, school districts are scrambling to keep yellow buses rolling while state money barely makes a dent in what it actually costs to run them. From the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs to Houston, leaders are cutting routes, dipping into savings, and rerouting local dollars to transportation – moves that squeeze students, families, and already-stressed classroom budgets.
State allotment covers only a sliver of real costs
In recent years, the state’s transportation allotment has covered only a fraction of what it takes to operate bus systems. The state has paid as little as 12% of Plano ISD’s actual transportation costs and 16% for Fort Worth, while Dallas received about 22%, forcing districts to backfill the rest with local funding, reserve…..