EAST HOUSTON – Two weeks after Houston ISD welcomed students back to class, one East Houston Godmother says her goddaughter has yet to step foot inside a classroom because she wasn’t assigned a bus route.
KPRC 2’s Re’Chelle Turner spent the morning with the family, watching how their day unfolded and reached out to the district for answers.
After arriving at the apartment complex, Turner met godmother Tisha McCoullough and her 10-year-old deaf fifth-grade goddaughter, Khloe Godwin, at Gregory Lincoln. The two were waiting for the bus, which was scheduled to arrive at 6 a.m., in hopes of getting Khloe to school on time.
The pair waited by the curb, but the bus never showed up.
“It is 5:46, the bus is supposed to be here at 6 o’clock. The bus always picks her up at 6,” McCoullough explained.
Turner asked McCoullough, “As a godmother, how frustrating is this, knowing she wants to go to school but wasn’t assigned a bus route?”
“She wasn’t assigned a bus route. They said stuff was off balance right now. The bus is up and down. They don’t even know what’s going on,” McCoullough told Turner.
McCoullough, who is disabled and doesn’t have a car, says making sure Khloe gets an education is essential.
“This is a must. This is a must. Especially for deaf, mute, deaf-blind children, disabled, this is a must,” she said.
The transportation struggle has left Khloe out of class for more than two weeks.
“It’s depressing. That means I may have to homeschool her, but I can’t because I don’t know sign language,” McCoullough added.
By 11:31 a.m., HISD emailed Turner that Khloe had finally been assigned a bus route that would begin service on Thursday. Turner called McCoullough to share the update.
“Oh my God! You don’t walk that walk, girl, you talk that talk. Thank you!” McCoullough replied.
Turner will return to the apartment complex Thursday morning to make sure Khloe makes it onto the bus and into class at Gregory Lincoln Education Center.