A total of 173 school buses in the Austin Independent School District (AISD) are operating without working air conditioning, affecting roughly 8,000 students.
Christopher Wade, an AISD bus driver, spoke with KXAN about the issue. He said longer routes are more difficult without AC.
“You hear a lot from the kids. Like, it’s hot, turn on the AC, and it is hard to tell them we don’t have AC on this bus,” he said.
Some of the buses that do not have air conditioning had fans added to try and help lower the temperature. They often operate with the windows down.
“The ones with AC, you don’t really notice the temperature at all, but the hot ones are very noticeable,” said Benjamin Grubert, a kid who rides a bus without AC, speaking with KXAN.
Grubert added that the windows and fans sometimes make the ride bearable, but it does not do much on hot days.
Kris Hafezizadeh, Austin ISD’s executive director of transportation and vehicle services, said the district plans to replace all affected buses if voters approve a $2.4 billion bond package in November. Around $25.74 million of the funding would be put toward new buses.
In an interview with KVUE, Hafezizadeh stated that all of the special needs buses in the district have air conditioning.
“When we don’t have AC, then you roll the windows down. We have 550 buses. Seventy percent of our total fleet have air conditioning, which includes 100% of our special needs buses that always had air conditioning,” he assured.
He went on to tout some of the perks the new buses would come with, assuming Austin residents vote for the bond.
“When we purchase new buses, they all come with the air conditioning, lap, shoulder belts, digital cameras, and, of course, lower emission standards,” Hafezizadeh said.
