Transportation No Service Zone (NSZ)

The Comal ISD Transportation Department continues to face challenges in recruiting and retaining enough bus drivers to maintain the number of routes needed to service morning and afternoon regular routes, Special Education routes, and extra-curricular activities. 

The reason behind this change is to relieve the transportation department’s challenges due to a shortage of drivers and an increase in student enrollment. This change will cut 12 to 14 routes, resulting in fewer drivers needed. 

Families can find out if they reside in a ‘No Service Zone’ by entering their address on the Transportation Department’s InfoFinder webpage. If your child is not eligible for transportation, it will say 'No Service Zone' below the campus. 

No. Students who receive Special Education transportation as a related service, McKinney-Vento Services, or are in a bilingual program that are being served at a campus other than their home campus will continue to receive transportation services regardless of where they live.

The No Service Zones focused on those areas that are closest to the campus. In creating the zones, the Transportation Department worked to ensure that neighborhoods were not split, where one side received service and the other side did not.  

Comal ISD has been actively recruiting drivers by holding job fairs, increasing pay to $16.16 per hour, paid training and incentives for attendance, referral and current CDL holders.   

This change will cut 12 to 14 routes, resulting in less drivers needed. 

For families, creating ‘No Service Zones’ allows for advance notice and long-term planning. In addition, ‘No Service Zones' provides a consistent and equitable determination of who does or does not receive transportation and continues to provide service to families who reside furthest from the campus. 

There are several issues that are contributing to the shortage of drivers: 

• Most drivers are retirees, who do not necessarily need to work. 
• CDL process can be an issue for some applicants.
• Working hours are a split between a morning and evening shift. 
• Wage scale is such that we are competing with other job opportunities. 
• Affordable housing is hard to find in Comal County.
• Increased fuel cost discourages commuting to district transportation stations.
• Overall employment rate is high – not as many people looking for jobs.
• Many potential drivers do not want to deal with student behavior issues. 

The inability to recruit drivers is not just a Comal ISD issue, but an issue that districts across the state and nation have been facing for the past several years. 

Some of the steps that the district has taken to reduce the number of routes, and the number of drivers needed includes:  

• Moving to a three-tier system and staggering school hours  
• Allowing buses to run the same route twice in the morning and in the afternoon 
• Lengthening route times 
• Performing double runs 
• Increasing ridership per bus  
• Canceling routes on a weekly basis, and alternating routes when possible
• Adding bus station hubs, allowing us to piggyback routes

The district is short of 25 drivers. By implementing no services zones, the district will eliminate the need for 12-14 drivers. The remaining routes will be driven by Transportation office staff. 
 
If one driver could be recruited from each elementary attendance zone, the District would be able to provide service to all students. 

To help accommodate families who live in a NSZ affected by this change and who may need to drop their children off early to make it to work on time, campuses will be open at the following times for students who reside in a NSZ: 

• Elementary: 7 a.m. 
• Middle School: 7:15 a.m. 
• High School: 7:30 a.m.