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.