By Edmond Ortiz
The city of San Antonio is officially providing money for a pilot program designed to reduce student absenteeism by underwriting bus passes for middle and high schoolers who otherwise may have trouble getting to school.
What you should know
The City Council voted Jan. 15 to approve the District 7 council office’s allocation of $150,000 to fund semester-long bus passes for local students ages 12-18.
District 7 Councilmember Marina Aldrete Gavito announced in December that her office would contribute $150,000 in discretionary funds to kick off the pilot initiative.
Gavito and local education and community advocates have said absenteeism is exacerbated when at-risk students cannot get to school because of their inability to latch onto reliable transportation. Some local students, according to Gavito and advocates, live in areas outside of school bus circulation zones.
VIA Metropolitan Transit currently offers semester passes for $38, giving unlimited rides to middle and high schoolers throughout a semester. But through the program, VIA will offer semester passes for $28.50.
Interested students must go online to complete a form available at VIA’s website or in person at a VIA transit center in order to claim a semester pass. The student must also obtain the proper signatures from their educational institution.
Interested students must present a school identification card or a VIA ID. College, university, trade school, and homeschool students may also qualify with the appropriate ID or application, city officials said.
City officials said the seed funding of $150,000 will be enough to fund semester passes for 5,263 local students. After the completion of the spring 2026 semester, city officials will evaluate the program to see whether it should be expanded.
What they are saying
Gavito applauded the city and VIA for partnering on one way to crack down on chronic absenteeism among local middle and high schoolers. Some audience members at the Jan. 15 meeting also cheered on the launch of the pilot program.
“Nearly one in four San Antonio students misses at least 10% of the school year, which surpasses the state average. Chronic absenteeism is linked to lower literacy rates, lower graduation rates and other issues,” Gavito said. “One of the biggest barriers to get kids to school is transportation, and so this was our effort to tackle that head-on.”
