S.P. Pearson, LA JOYA ISD chief operations officer, and Joe Alaniz, director of transportation, told the board that a Transfinder audit issued Nov. 6 found 46 areas of concern and 64 recommendations across operations, routing, fleet maintenance, facilities and safety.

"We have some work to do," Pearson said, summarizing the audit's scope and urgency. He and Alaniz said the district's routing and hardware/software for routing are outdated after roughly 20 years of incremental changes; they called for geocoding, mapping and routing optimization to begin in January with driver training and a pilot before school starts next fall.

Pearson and Alaniz emphasized safety and maintenance issues: the audit flagged a lack of ASE‑certified diesel mechanics, outsourcing of maintenance with high per‑trip costs, and buses reaching and exceeding recommended service life. Alaniz said "we have about 36 buses that are within 13 years" and that roughly 76 buses will exceed a 15‑year life expectancy in the next five years; he added the district currently has "about 9 to 10 buses" out of service for maintenance.

Board members asked how the district would mitigate risks for elementary students who may be dropped at main roads; Alaniz said routing optimization and geocoding aim to reduce crossings and improve stop placement, and that the corrective action plan includes immediate behavior‑and‑training changes. Pearson said behavior‑related safety measures were expected as early as Jan. 5.

The administration said it will submit a corrective action plan to HR and the cabinet, then present timelines to the board in February; geocoding begins in January and routing optimization is planned for mid‑to‑late February into March.

The board did not vote on a capital purchase at this meeting, but the presentation underlined a significant near‑term capital need for vehicle replacement and improved fleet maintenance capacity.