SAN ANTONIO – With classes starting back up this month, school districts are concerned about keeping students cool in the classroom and on the bus.
August is living up to its reputation for being brutally hot. After a slow frequency of triple-digit heat, temperatures have been hitting the hundreds lately, making bus rides without air conditioning uncomfortable.
The transportation directors for North East Independent School District and San Antonio Independent School District state that 100% of their respective bus fleets are equipped with air conditioning.
Tesilia Soliz, Northside ISD’s director of transportation, said the district is moving to make sure its buses are comfortable too.
The district just recently finished retrofitting 75 of its older buses with air conditioning ahead of the start of the new school year, which begins Aug. 19.
District leaders hope the cool air can impact students positively throughout the day.
“It can make a big difference for the driver and absolutely for the student. And we also hope it will be able to help with some of the behaviors that we have seen on the buses,” Soliz said.
Northside’s new superintendent, Dr. John Kraft, initiated the retrofitting project. Soliz said that one month after Kraft came on board, he learned that multiple bus routes had buses without AC.
Kraft then asked Soliz to put together a plan to begin retrofitting their older buses. This particular project was funded using district bond money.
Soliz said the 75 older buses now equipped with AC have been equally spread out through Northside ISD’s bus routes.