McKinney ISD updates hazardous-route list for 2026-27 school year

McKinney ISD approved 13 hazardous areas for the 2026-27 school year, a change that can determine which students in walk zones still qualify for bus service and which families must absorb a longer daily commute.

The district’s basic rule remains the same: students who live more than two miles from campus receive bus transportation, while students inside that distance are usually expected to walk unless the route is deemed hazardous. Under district and state rules, hazardous routes include places where children must walk along or cross freeways, expressways, major roads, overpasses, underpasses or bridges, or pass through industrial or commercial areas without sidewalks. McKinney ISD’s route materials also point to corridors involving US 75, US 380, SH 5, SH 121, Virginia Parkway and McKinney Ranch Parkway, underscoring how quickly growth can turn a normal commute into a safety issue.

The policy carries a financial consequence as well as a safety one. Texas rules allow districts to apply for additional transportation funding for students within two miles of campus who face hazardous traffic conditions or a high risk of violence, with the added amount capped at 10% of a district’s regular transportation allotment. State rules also require districts to identify the specific hazardous areas and, when violence risk is part of the concern, consult with local law enforcement.

Superintendent Shawn Pratt directed staff to review the hazardous routes as McKinney ISD prepared for a new school-zone configuration in 2026-27. The district closed or repurposed Eddins Elementary, McNeil Elementary and Wolford Elementary, and the board later approved a comprehensive realignment plan on Dec. 15, 2025, setting new elementary, middle school and high school attendance boundaries. That means the transportation map had to be redrawn around new campuses, new boundaries and continued development across McKinney and Collin County.

McKinney ISD says the hazardous-route list changes when new construction creates additional bus needs or when pedestrian improvements, such as sidewalks, remove the danger. The district’s transportation operation is already large, with 155 buses in service through Durham School Services, including 84 regular routes and 42 special education routes. About 10,600 students are scheduled for transportation each day.

The district’s hazardous-route resolution, campus area descriptions and map now carry more weight than a routine bus update. For parents living near the city’s fast-changing road network, the list will help decide not just how children get to school, but whether the district and the state pay for the ride.