Transportation Director Nathan Graf for Fort Worth ISD is in Hot Water After Student Put on the Wrong Bus

By Nisie

August 27, 2026

Transportation Director Nathan Graf for Fort Worth ISD

When your child is missing, every moment that passes can feel like an eternity. Last Week, a Fort Worth ISD parent said she was terrified when a teacher placed her 6-year-old daughter on the wrong school bus. According to Jaria Branch, the mother of the student, her terror turned to sheer panic when she called her daughter's elementary school, and they seemed just as confused as she was. Ms. Branch said that when she spoke with a faculty member, she was placed on hold twice for extended periods, which made her even more panicked. Finally, she spoke with a staff member who explained that her daughter was on the wrong bus and was rerouted to the correct bus stop. Although the child was safely reunited with her parents, losing a child is a serious mistake. How did this happen?

           According to the parents, they did everything they could to prepare their young student for her bus route. Their daughter was told her bus number, and as an extra precaution, the parents wrote down her bus number and their home address on a piece of paper so that, if she or anyone else were unsure, it would be available to them. But despite their precautions, a teacher still walked her onto the wrong bus. Ms. Branch said when she asked the school how this kind of mistake could happen, they didn’t want to take responsibility and tried to blame the six-year-old for not knowing her bus number. Now, Jaria Branch and her family have incurred even more costs to send her daughter to school after having to buy two AirTags and consider a cell phone as an extra safety measure. But the burden of these costs on the parents and the mistake of losing a student was never supposed to happen. Transportation Director Nathan Graf for Fort Worth ISD has not delivered on their promise after taking over in 2025. 

Graf, the Director of Transportation, promised that by this fall, families using the Fort Worth ISD bus system would receive text alerts if a bus is late, track routes in real time, and get updates about lost items. But instead, some parents are paying out of pocket to track their student’s bus. With groceries and necessities at an all-time high, this is not an expense most families can afford. And, 3 weeks into the school year, buses are still arriving at least 20 minutes late. Another Fort Worth ISD parent complained this week that her student’s bus was supposed to arrive at 6:20 am but didn't arrive until 6:40 a.m., and parents received no notice. Graf also introduced a new organizational chart for the department, streamlining reporting lines and assigning transportation managers to specific geographic zones. That means schools are supposed to have a single point of contact when problems arise. But parents’ main complaint is poor communication. Like Jaria Branch, who said when she called the school about her missing student, she was placed on hold twice and spoke to two different faculty members who took over 10 minutes to find her child. Other students who waited so long for the bus became unsure whether it was arriving at all. What is the plan for now to remedy this issue? 

Fort Worth ISD responded to the incident last week by saying they will change the bus numbers to colors to make it easier for students to remember. But frustrated parent Jaria Branch feels changing the bus numbers to colors still places responsibility on her child for getting on the wrong bus. It doesn't make her feel any more secure about her child riding the bus, and she called the response “pathetic and lazy.” Transportation Director Nathan Graf says students will eventually scan on and off the school bus. Is this another empty promise? 

As for Jaria Branch and her family, they are strongly considering leaving Fort Worth ISD to go back to Crowley ISD. She does not feel her small child is safe on the bus or at school, and added, “Fort Worth ISD left a bad taste in my mouth.” 

Click Here for the full response from fort worth ISD on this incident

 References:

“New FWISD transportation director rolls out fewer routes, and a new dispatch center” KERA | By Matthew Sgroi | Fort Worth Report

Published April 21, 2025 at 10:02 AM CDT