Weekends Home Overview and Transportation Guidelines

Weekends Home Transportation Guidelines
2026–2027 School Year

Individualized Student Considerations

TSBVI believes it is in each student’s best interest to spend as much time as possible with their families and in their home communities. Each student at TSBVI travels to and from their home community each weekend. Given the size of our state, travel to and from TSBVI, and its potential impact on students and families, are important considerations for all parties involved. Careful examination of the travel implications in relation to the following factors should be provided before a Local School District refers a student to TSBVI:

• The student’s tolerance for routine travel for extended periods of time
• The social/emotional impact of being away from familiar and preferred persons and relationships for extended periods
• The availability of travel based on a specific geographical location
• The availability of a school district flight travel chaperone when needed around closure weekends

TSBVI Weekends Home Travel Stops

TSBVI Weekends Home buses travel on the following routes:

• Corpus Christi Route (stopping in San Antonio and Mathis)
• Dallas Route (stopping in Mesquite)
• Fort Worth Route (stopping in Belton, Waco, and Fort Worth)
• Houston Route (stopping in Sealy and Houston)
• Jacksonville Route (stopping in Hearne and Jacksonville)

TSBVI Weekends Home flight chaperones accompany students to the following locations on all non-closure weekends:

• Amarillo
• El Paso
• Midland/Odessa

TSBVI Responsibilities

TSBVI will provide weekly transportation to designated drop-off locations through TSBVI’s Weekends Home Program for all closure weekends (TAC Rule 89.1090). Closure weekends are defined as travel days that occur when the school closes for holidays and/or staff development days. There are approximately 10 closure periods during the school year, as indicated on the TSBVI Weekends Home Travel Calendar.

Weekends Home drop-off locations include designated bus stops and airports throughout the state. The stops and airport locations may change from year to year based on student population and staffing capacity. TSBVI Weekends Home Transportation will provide travel chaperones on the buses and flights to support safe and successful student transportation.

Family and Local District Responsibilities

Families are responsible for the transportation to and from the Weekends Home drop-off locations. TSBVI will reimburse families for gas mileage for these trips on non-closure weekends, upon request, two times per year, in December and July. The mileage is calculated using the student’s address of record and the address of the drop-off location (airport or bus stop). If a family is experiencing hardship in providing this regular and ongoing transportation, they are encouraged to request assistance from the Local School District. Failure to meet regular and ongoing transportation needs may require the ARD committee to meet and address transportation issues that may be affecting the student’s ongoing placement at TSBVI.

Families and/or Local Districts are responsible for bringing the students to TSBVI at the start of the school year and picking them up at the end of the school year. This allows families to bring the student’s belongings to personalize their dorm room and to meet members of the student’s educational team in person. All student belongings must be returned home at the end of each school year. If your student flies, please keep in mind that they will need to be picked up at the end of the year if they have a lot of belongings here at TSBVI.

The Local District is responsible for student travel during school closures, as indicated on the TSBVI Weekends Home Travel Calendar (TAC Rule 89.1090). There are approximately 10 closure periods over the course of one school year. For bus riders, the Local District may choose to have their student ride the Weekends Home bus on closure dates. TSBVI will bill the Local District for this transportation at the end of each school year using the current state transportation rate for mileage reimbursement.

For flyers, TSBVI will provide a flight chaperone and airline tickets for each weekend. The districts will be billed for the Closure weekend flights at the end of the year. For airline travel, a state ID is required for students aged 18 and older. Families are responsible for obtaining a state-issued ID prior to the student’s 18th birthday. If the student does not have a state-issued ID, they cannot fly. We recommend that students aged 16 and older apply for a state identification card.

Emergency or Health-Related Travel

Students may need to return home for unexpected reasons outside the usual travel times. TSBVI and the Local School District will collaborate to plan and arrange emergency travel with families. All families are required to identify emergency travel plans if their student needs to return home unexpectedly.

If it becomes necessary to transport a student to a hospital or medical facility, the parent/guardian will communicate directly with the hospital or facility. Parents/guardians will need to make immediate arrangements to come to Austin to be with their student at the hospital or medical facility, attend to their care, communicate with healthcare providers, make medical decisions, and take their student home. TSBVI is unable to assume this responsibility. Once the student is discharged from the hospital, parents/guardians will need to obtain follow-up care, which may include an examination with the student’s appropriate medical provider (neurologist, endocrinologist, primary care provider, behavioral health, etc.) and obtain a release to return to school.

A return to TSBVI will be addressed once additional follow-up information from the student’s appropriate health care provider is received. The TSBVI Health Center Director will review and determine whether any additional information is needed before making arrangements for the student to return to TSBVI.

Parents/guardians will be asked to keep the student at home if the student is ill or seriously injured, or when home care and supervision are required due to a medical treatment plan (e.g., starting a new behavioral health or seizure medication). The length of time that the student will need to remain at home will be determined by either the student’s health care provider or the Department of State Health Services School Communicable Disease Chart. This allows the family to carefully monitor the student and quickly follow up with the student’s healthcare provider in the event of medical complications or undesired side effects from a new medication or treatment plan.

Students with serious, ongoing, or potentially contagious illnesses/conditions will need to be picked up from TSBVI by the parent/guardian or designee. Depending on the severity of the student’s illness, they may not be permitted to ride the Weekends Home buses or planes and instead need to be picked up by a family member, emergency contact, or district staff.

Parents/guardians must ensure that TSBVI has a list of at least three reliable emergency contacts who can respond to TSBVI within 24 hours or sooner when emergency circumstances require parental consent for treatment or pick-up from TSBVI or a hospital. TSBVI requests that parents/guardians create a backup plan that includes alternates (family, friends, district) who can come to Austin to pick up the student in the event they are unable to do so. If problems occur with student pick up related to a medical issue, the student’s educational team, including the parents/guardian and the LEA, will need to meet to discuss eligibility.

TSBVI will provide mileage reimbursement upon request to parents/guardians traveling to pick up a student due to health reasons.

Local Students

Students living within 30 miles of TSBVI will attend as day students, traveling to and from the campus each day through Local District transportation means. Day students are invited to participate in evening activities and events with transportation and supervision by local district staff or a family member.