Oprah leapt from her seat and bounded to the edge of the stage inside Southwest High School.
Well, not the actual former talk show host. But rather Vanessa Chapman, a Fort Worth ISD bus driver doing her best impression to rally the district’s transportation department ahead of the new school year.
“You’re going to have air! You’re going to have air! Everybody will have air!” Chapman cheered, as rows of bus drivers celebrated the news that almost all buses will have working air conditioning — which hasn’t always been the case.
Upgraded air conditioning and real-time bus tracking for parents are among the improvements FWISD leaders hope are a turning point after years of complaints about hot, late buses eating into class time and a shortage of drivers.
Staff in the Fort Worth ISD Transportation Department cheer and clap during an event celebrating the start of the new school year at Southwest High School in Fort Worth on Aug. 4, 2025. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report/CatchLight Local/Report for America)
Nathan Graf, the new executive director over the district’s transportation, laid out a sweeping transformation plan in the spring that he said included better ways to recruit, staff and route.
The real test comes Aug. 12 when classes begin and buses roll out across Fort Worth. Graf is confident everything is on track.
In May, a Fort Worth grandmother raised concerns after her grandson was dropped off more than a quarter of a mile from his home.
Now, families can track their children’s buses in real time through a new app called Stopfinder, which displays a little yellow bus crawling across a map as it travels to and from campuses.
The app will alert parents when their children get on and off the bus following a scan of the students’ school-issued badges when they initially hop on the vehicle. Graf expects all schools to have access to Stopfinder later in the fall.
The district has 235 bus drivers after ending last school year with a shortage of 50, Graf said. Schools nationwide have experienced similar shortages in recent years, largely due to compensation and work culture.
This school year begins with 194 bus routes, 24 fewer than the previous year.
“We have more drivers than we have routes,” Graf said. “We’re always going to be working on that cushion because we don’t know what our absentee rate will be.”
A fully staffed bus driver corps opens up new possibilities, bus driver Letisha Ginther said.
“I’m looking forward to us actually being able to get out there and focus on training and making sure all of our drivers and buses on the road are as safe as possible,” she said.
The district’s top priority is ensuring buses transport students in a safe and timely manner, bus operational manager Melisha Harrell said.
“Those babies are standing on the corner waiting for you to come pick them up,” Harrell told bus drivers. “That’s the main reason we’re here.”
Jacob Sanchez is education editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or @_jacob_sanchez.
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