MINUTES
SCRIPPS RANCH BUS COMMITTEE
June 26, 2018 @ 7:00pm
Scripps Ranch Library, Community Room
Present: T. Philips, D. Fetherling, P. Mills, M. Fetherling, W. Konold, C. Walbridge
Absent: G. Faber
Number in audience: 1
I. Welcome!
A. Call to order – T. Philips called the meeting to order at 7pm
B. Roll Call - T. Philips, D. Fetherling, P. Mills, M. Fetherling, W. Konold, C. Walbridge.
G. Faber sent her apologies.
C. Modifications to the Agenda - None
II. Non-Agenda Public Comment.
None
III. Approval of Minutes
The minutes from May 22, 2018 were unanimously approved without modification. Motioned by D. Fetherling and seconded by M. Fetherling.
IV. Discussion Items/Presentations.
A. Update on Communications - T. Philips confirmed that the MMS Bus Facebook Page is now up and running and asked everyone present to like and share it. P.Mills agreed to send out details to everyone so hopefully we can get at least 250 likes and use it as an effective communication tool.
The
MMSbus@outlook.com is now all set up and from here on out will be used for all communication.
B. San Diego Unified School District – A meeting with Gene Robinson, Transportation Director, has been scheduled for July 25th 2018 and will be attended by T. Philips and P. Mills. It was agreed that the following questions would be asked …..
# of seats max on a bus – can there ever be more than 60 – what happens if more than 60 kids show up?
Bus evacuation training - None provided previously yet Transportation Safety protocol states everyone using bus must complete yearly?
Ensuring correct kids on bus – this has been a bigger problem since z-passes taken off kids during last few weeks of school. Why take z-passes so early? How is system set up to know who is on a bus? Could routes be changed so the 2 buses we use both pick up at Dingeman first (or second) and the 2nd round of these buses service EBS and Swan Lake? This would solve the issue of kids wanting to catch the later Dingeman bus in the mornings but catching the early bus home??? W. Konold suggested that committee could write to parents of children using incorrect buses and ask them to ensure correct buses are used with continued miss use resulting in bus services being withdrawn – would Transportation support this?
What happens in case of accident – who has list of exactly who is on the bus that day? How are parents informed? How are students logged prior to z-passes being issued. Do kids need temporary passes?
Travel Pathway – Who decides the route the buses will take? Is there a set route – we have had reports of kids directing new drivers??? Helpful for parents to know usual route obviously subject to road delays etc.
Punctuality – How are pick up / drop off times calculated? 2nd round buses often late in the mornings and afternoons. Do we need to log and report times at start of school year, throughout year etc. Does District log times? T. Philips added that Late Bus link is now on the Blogspot.
Update on Phone use by drivers – a picture of a driver using their phone was sent to T. Philips earlier this year who forwarded it to the District. The District spoke to the driver who then apparently complained to the kids on their bus and told them that she is specially trained to use a phone and it was OK??? What has happened with this?
P.Mills will minute responses and have available at next meeting for discussion.
C. Scripps Ranch Cluster Schools – on summer break so nothing to report.
D. Update on Registration, Lottery and Assignment of Seats – T. Philips confirmed that registration is now closed and all 240 seats have been assigned. Committee does need to look into feasibility of offering 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th choices for bus stops as this has caused complications with allocating seats from wait list. It was suggested that next year people would choose only one stop and that wait lists would then be created for each stop rather than one large list which this year was complicated to compile and to read. A disclaimer is on the wait list to help families understand why family 1 and 10 have been crossed off but not 2-9 (who are waiting for a specific location) but by creating separate lists we could possibly avoid this problem. Full discussion to take place before registration in 2019.
T.Philips mentioned that regrettably one existing rider family missed registration and therefore lost their spot on the bus but felt the committee should be commended on their good work getting hold of the other 239 families. We are now in a much better position going forward with contact lists and up to date manifests so hopefully this will not happen again and thankfully the family were very understanding.
V. Action Items
Monthly meeting Schedule – T. Philips informed us that a new library policy will take effect on July 1st preventing meeting from continuing past library closing time, which on Tuesday’s is 8pm. Two options were suggested – meeting at 7pm for 1 hour or bringing meeting forward to 6.30pm allowing a maximum of 1 ½ hours. All agreed to continue to meet at 7pm and to make it clear at the beginning of each meeting that we have to leave by 8pm.
A list of future meeting dates was distributed, and it was agreed to skip the regular 4th Tuesday meetings in July and as the November and December meetings usually fall around the holidays to hold a Nov/Dec meeting on Dec 11th. The March 2019 meeting will also be brought forward by one week to March 19th as the 4th Tuesday falls during Spring Break. T. Phillips will make arrangements with the library.
Frequently Asked Questions for Website – A comprehensive FAQ list has been created and it was unanimously agreed to post on the Blogspot and Website in one week subject to any suggested edits. Proposed by C. Walbridge and seconded by M. Fetherling
VI. Open Discussion
W. Konold asked about the making of the temporary passes used by the kids during the first few weeks of school. T. Philips explained that the committee had previously agreed to send out a temporary card with a final confirmation at the beginning of August if required by the District which we will find out about at the meeting on July 25th.
C. Walbridge asked the committee to consider offering multiple choices for bus routes at registration rather than just one as suggested earlier but to ask families to choose which wait list they wanted to go onto. After discussion is was agreed that this would complicate the process further and that by publishing the availability on each bus prior to registration, families could make their decision based on location and the probability of getting a seat making it fair for all and hopefully simplifying the seat allocation process. This will be discussed again and voted on prior to registration in 2019.
VII. Adjournment - Meeting adjourned at 7.30pm.
