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.