Thursday, August 30, 2018

MINUTES
SCRIPPS RANCH BUS COMMITTEE
August 28, 2018 @ 7:00pm
Scripps Ranch Library, Seminar Room

Present: T. Philips, P. Mills, M. Fetherling, W. Konold, G. Faber
Absent: D. Fetherling, C. Walbridge
Number in audience: 3

I. Welcome!
A. Call to order – T. Philips called the meeting to order at 7:02pm
B. Roll Call - T. Philips, P. Mills, M. Fetherling, W. Konold, G. Faber.
C. D. Fetherling sent his apologies. C. Walbridge was absent.
D. Modifications to the Agenda – P. Mills asked to add a review of non-utilized seats in the mornings which could possibly be used by other families.

II. Non-Agenda Public Comment.
T. Le-Nguyen voiced her concerns and frustrations regarding the lack of information sent to her and her neighbors regarding re-registration which resulted in her daughter not securing a seat this year. The efforts undertaken to contact everyone were explained - numbers called, SRCA Newsletter, website and Facebook page, SRBC meetings, blog and Facebook page and information to Elementary schools plus flyers handed to all riders over multiple days – but unfortunately, she was under the impression her seat would be held for the duration of middle school and would have liked contact from MMS which was not possible. There have been 6 children who did not re-register out of 240 and it was suggested that priority seating could be offered to these families in the future. It is the committee's hope that communication with MMS will improve and that now we have a public committee overseen by the SRCA, bylaws, shared documents and an extensive database of contacts this should not be a problem going forward. The wait list system was also explained – an available seat on any bus will be offered to the next person on the list irrespective of their first choice of bus route. If a family chooses to wait for a seat on their 1st choice and maintain their place on the list then then the next family on the list is offered the seat.

III. Approval of Minutes
The minutes from August 8, 2018 were approved 4-0-1 without modification. Motioned by W.Konold  and seconded by M. Fetherling.

IV. Discussion Items/Presentations.

A. Update on Communication:
1. San Diego Unified School District – The District has been very busy getting ready for the new year. Z-passes should be issued shortly and will be reviewed against current manifest before distribution as there have been a lot of additions and removals in the last few weeks.

2. Scripps Ranch Cluster Schools – Nothing to report.

3. Update on Registration, Lottery and Assignment of Seats – As previously mentioned 6 families missed registration. 76 children are currently on the waitlist.

V. Action Items
1. Discussion and Action Related to Bus Ridership Enforcement – We have had children registered on the Dingeman 2 (D2) bus who regularly ride the Dingeman 1 (D1) bus home in past years and violations have already been noted this year. Unfortunately, a D1 rider was unable to get home due to overcrowding on the first day of school so appropriate steps for enforcement were discussed. W. Konold motioned that the Committee should take action on any report of violation by notifying parents twice – strike 1 & 2 – and then on third violation withdrawing service, asking for Z-pass to be surrendered and advising the District for a prorated refund. Seconded by G. Faber and passed unanimously. P. Mills to write to all parents to explain ‘3 Strikes’ rule and also send details of bus departure times from MMS to help avoid confusion.

2. Non Payment Enforcement Guidelines – 6 families rode the bus last year without payment 4 of which paid when contacted prior to removal from manifest. 2 children have been removed from the manifest this year due to nonpayment in addition to one last year. It was felt that it is unfair that a child can ride without payment when so many families are waiting for a seat so it was agreed that P. Mills will contact the District to establish cut off dates for payments and guidelines will be discussed at next meeting. It was suggested that we should add an agreement to the application form for next year that families agree to pay in full, ride the right bus and adhere to the rules.

3. Increase in Bus Seating Limits – Due to the difficulties already experienced this year with overcrowding the committee agreed to discuss this at the next meeting.

4. Utilization of Empty Seats when Families Advise Us They Are Only Using Bus One Way – The District informed us that there is a family on the EBS route that will only use the bus from MMS back to EBS and we know other families who regularly only use the bus one way. The problem is that once a Z-pass has been issued it can be used at any time and the more Z-passes issued the greater risk of bus overcrowding as the current technology used by the District cannot differentiate between routes.  It was suggested that anything the committee can do to reduce traffic would be a benefit to the community and school and perhaps an option on the application could be for only mornings or only afternoons. More discussion and research would be needed on this before a decision could be made to ensure we were not creating a problem with overcrowding.

VI. Open Discussion
Bus arrival and departure times are being logged so the SRBC can review them with the District once the first few weeks of school have passed and hopefully the schedules have calmed down.

This evenings meeting was very rushed due to the new Library rules that the meeting must end before 8pm. T. Philips suggested reviewing bringing the meeting forward to either 6:30pm or even 6pm and agreed to add to next months agenda for discussion.

VII. Adjournment - Meeting adjourned at 7.59pm.





Saturday, August 25, 2018

Full Committee Agenda for August 28, 2018 Meeting

Scripps Ranch Bus Committee 
MEETING AGENDA
Thursday, August 28, 2018 at 7:00 p.m
Scripps Ranch Library – Seminar Room
10301 Scripps Lake Drive, San Diego, CA 92131

I. Welcome! 

A. Call to order
B. Roll Call
C. Modifications to Agenda

II. Non-Agenda Public Comment 

III. Approval of Minutes 

A. August 8, 2018 Special Meeting Minutes

IV. Discussion Items/Presentations 

Update on Communications
     1. San Diego Unified School District
     2. Scripps Ranch Cluster Schools
     3. Update on Registration, Lottery, and Assignment of Seats
           a. Non-re-registered families

V. Action Items 

A. Discussion and Action Related to Bus Ridership Enforcement
B. Non-payment Enforcement Guidelines
C. Increases in Bus Seating Limits

VI. Open Discussion 

VII. Adjournment 

Meeting Dates: 
September 25, 2018 – Monthly SRBC Meeting 
October 23, 2018 – Monthly SRBC Meeting 
December 11, 2018 – Monthly SRBC Meeting

Updated Wait List for 2018-19

Latest Wait List - August 25th 2018

OFFICIAL WAIT LIST FOR PARENT PAID BUS PROGRAM TO MMS
Updated August 6th 2018

The 7 digit numbers are the registration numbers families received once they completed their online registration. If a number is crossed though a seat has been assigned. If a number is half crossed through, an application has more than one child and only one of the children has been assigned a seat. Families may be waiting for a specific bus which results in gaps in the allocation process as seats may become available on a buses they do not wish to ride. Families who have asked to be added to the list after online registration closed have been allocated numbers beginning with 0000001.

If you have any questions please contact us at: mmsbus@scrippsranch.org


Lottery Pos. Registration No.

1.                    1774602
2.                    1772515
3.                    1773813
4.                    1774957
5.                    1818788
6.                    1772729
7.                    1773984
8.                    1781537
9.                    1774056
10.                  1774735
11.                  1774825
12.                  1789888
13.                  1775214
14.                  1778036
15.                  1801152
16.                  1774786
17.                  1773745
18.                  1774449
19.                  1793752
20.                  1774727
21.                  1774149
22.                  1772387
23.                  1809704
24.                  1781327
25.                  1806392
26.                  1801073
27.                  1785533
28.                  1774030
29.                  1773809
30.                  1774345
31.                  1774255
32.                  1801714
33.                  1778242
34.                  1773819
35.                  1773991
36.                  1774963
37.                  1774141
38.                 1774592
39.                  1775031
40.                  1821430
41.                  1775001
42.                  1775088
43.                  1774154
44.                  1774477
45.                  1774584
46.                  1774500
47.                  1774235
48.                  1775165
49.                  1774432
50.                  1817061
51.                  1775943
52.                  1774874
53.                  1821346
54.                  1773506
55.                  1813481
56.                  1773955
57.                  1774230
58.                  1774653
59.                   1774110
60.                   1785539
61.                   1775467
62.                   1785331
63.                   1820314
64.                   1774600
65.                   1773924
66.                   1777786
67.                   1774734
68.                   1773807
69.                   1774113
70.                   1774539
71.                   1774945
72.                   1821356
73.                   1774728
74.                   1775212
75.                   1780887
76.                   1775843
77.                   1779668
78.                   1774582
79.                   1774162
80.                   1793080
81.                   1821327
82.                   0000001
83.                   0000002
84.                   0000003
85.                   0000004
86.                   0000005
87.                   0000006
88.                   0000007
89.                   0000008
90.                   0000009
91.                   0000010
92.                   0000011
93.                   0000012
94.                   0000013

Thursday, August 9, 2018

Minutes from the August 8th 2018 Special Meeting

MINUTES 
SCRIPPS RANCH BUS COMMITTEE 
August 8, 2018 @ 7:00pm 
Scripps Ranch Library, Seminar Room 



Present: T. Philips, D. Fetherling, P. Mills, M. Fetherling, W. Konold, G. Faber
Absent: C. Walbridge 
Number in audience: 32

Welcome!  

Call to order – T. Philips called the meeting to order at 6.59pm

Roll Call - T. Philips, D. Fetherling, P. Mills, M. Fetherling, W. Konold, G. Faber.

C. Walbridge sent her apologies.

Modifications to the Agenda - None

Non-Agenda Public Comment. None

Approval of Minutes:The minutes from the June 26, 2018 meeting were unanimously approved without modification. Motioned by M. Fetherling and seconded by D. Fetherling. 

Discussion Items/Presentations:

Update on Communications -  T. Philips and P. Mills met with the District’s Transportation Director and Manager of Transport, Operations on July 25, 2018 to gain a better understanding of the bus process, safety issues and to answer questions raised at previous committee meetings. Minutes have been prepared and sent for review by the Transportation Department and will be available at the next scheduled committee meeting on August 28, 2018.

Scripps Ranch Cluster Schools – Nothing to report. 

Update on Registration, Lottery and Assignment of Seats – Nothing to report.

Action Items:

Bus Stop Schedules – T. Philips explained that following the meeting with the District Transportation representatives, it was suggested that changes be made to the current schedule to alleviate possible overcrowding due to children riding the wrong buses, especially on the Dingeman routes – children are known to catch the late bus in the morning and the early bus home. 

The changes suggested are:  Have both buses pick up at Dingeman at 6.33am and travel to MMS. These buses would then complete their second round going to EBS and Swan Lake. 

It was noted that this change would affect 2 routes, the 2nd round Dingeman bus would leave at 6:33am instead of 7.08am. The EBS bus would leave at approx. 7.08am instead of 6:38am. A detailed discussion with all present took place with many questions including:

Why are schedule changes needed? To ensure that overcrowding does not become a problem, especially on Dingeman buses. 6 or 7 children often ride the wrong bus and although a registered rider has never been turned away from a bus because of this, there is a risk that this could happen if a newer bus with lap/shoulder belts were used which would restrict riders to 64 Middle school students. 

How many kids can ride the bus? This depends on the type of bus and whether lap/shoulder belts are installed. The District advised us that for Middle School students 64 would be the maximum on a bus with lap/shoulder belts however more can be carried on a bus with no restraints as long as no one is standing and the center aisle is clear. 

Could both Dingeman buses leave late (7:08am)? If the Dingeman buses were to pick up during the second round this would cause additional problems at MMS after school as the Swan Lake Bus is likely to arrive back at MMS ahead of the EBS bus and the chances of overcrowding would be increased as kids would fill the first Dingeman bus to capacity, leaving the second bus potentially half empty. 

What can we do to prevent kids riding the wrong bus? It is possible to identify kids who regularly ride the wrong bus and at the last committee meeting it was suggested that we write to the parents of these children to ask them to ensure that the correct bus is used. At the meeting with the District they agreed that it would be acceptable for us to do this and to revoke bus privileges if the system is abused. The Committee will relay this information to all families in the e-mail that will be sent out to all riders during the week of August 13, 2018 which will also include a temporary pass to help those new to the bus know which bus they are to ride.

Do we need to make a decision on this tonight? The schedules can be changed at any time during the school year. Changes take approx. 3 weeks to take effect. We can discuss again for the 2019/20 school year if no action is taken tonight. 

Many felt that schedules had already been set for the coming school year and that changes this late would be very difficult on many families. Families have already chosen the route based on the published times and already arranged after school activities based on this. 

It was noted that changes to the EBS Schedule would create additional parking issues as the Elementary school would be dismissing at the same time as the bus arriving and there is insufficient parking at present for the elementary families let alone an additional 60 kids being picked up from the MMS bus.

It was also suggested the 2nd Dingeman bus could pick up somewhere else which could be discussed at a later date although many families live very close to Dingeman making this a convenient pick up point.

After hearing everyone’s questions and comments M. Fetherling motioned to not make any changes to the schedule for the 2018/19 school year. Seconded by P. Mills. Approved 5 to 1 

Increase in Bus Seating Limits – P. Mills explained that there are 2 families who currently have 1 child on the bus and 1 child on the waitlist because only one seat became available on the Dingeman 1 bus and the Swan Lake bus. In view that the District advised that 64 seats was the maximum that would be carried, she suggested that we approach the District and ask if it was possible to add an additional rider to the Dingeman 1 bus and an additonal rider to the Swan Lake bus.

A suggestion was made to expand the request to cover all four bus routes increasing the ridership from 60 to 61. T. Philips mentioned that the committee should treat everyone the same and by adding seats for these families sets a precedent to make exceptions for other families with unique circumstances.  It was confirmed that this discussion was only to ask the District whether this was possible and not to agree to adding additional riders at this time. If the District agreed a further vote would be needed before any action would take place. 

After discussion P. Mills motioned to ask the District if one additional child could be added to the Dingeman 1 bus and 1 added to the Swan Lake Bus to accommodate families that already have one child on the bus. Motion failed for lack of a second. 

G. Fabe rmotioned to ask the District if all 4 buses can add one additional rider for the 2018/19 school year. Seconded by W. Konold. Passed 5 to 1. P. Mills will contact the District to see whether this is possible. 

Open Discussion:

Many questions were raised this evening and T. Philips reminded everyone to keep up to date through the blog, SRCA website, Facebook page and to come to meetings. Our next meeting will be August 28, 2018, 7pm at the Library. All are welcome. 

 Adjournment - Meeting adjourned at 7.54pm. 









Sunday, August 5, 2018

Agenda for SPECIAL Meeting on August 8, 2018

Scripps Ranch Bus Committee

SPECIAL MEETING AGENDA
Wednesday, August 8, 2018 at 7:00 p.m.
Scripps Ranch Library – Seminar Room
10301 Scripps Lake Drive, San Diego, CA 92131

I. Welcome!
    A. Call to order
    B. Roll Call
    C. Modifications to Agenda

II. Non-Agenda Public Comment

III. Approval of Minutes
    A. June 26, 2018 Minutes

IV. Discussion Items/Presentations
    A. Update on Communications
        1. San Diego Unified School District
        2. Scripps Ranch Cluster Schools
        3. Update on Registration, Lottery, and Assignment of Seats

V. Action Items
    A. Bus Stop Schedules
    B. Increases in Bus Seating Limits

VI. Open Discussion

VII.Adjournment


Meeting Dates: August 28, 2018 – Monthly SRBC Meeting
September 25, 2018 – Monthly SRBC Meeting
October 23, 2018 – Monthly SRBC Meeting