Hemet High School bus plans

Thanks to Superintendent Pendley and Trustee Bill Sanborn for providing this information for those who may have missed the parent link call or other reasons:

The Hemet Unified School district Director of Transportation, Michael Fogerty, has shared the district’s transportation plan until Highway 74 is repaired:

1) For Monday, February 8, 2010, the home to school bus servicing Hemet High School will depart the transportation facility one (1) hour prior to it's normal departure time. This bus will be re-routed via either Highway 243 or Highway 371 and will arrive to it's bus stops approximately one (1) hour earlier than normal for the morning pick ups and arrive one (1) hour later for the afternoon drop offs.

A parent link regarding these different pick up times was sent to the affected student's residences at 11:08 am on Sunday, February 7, 2010.

The message sent on Parent Link is as follows:

"Highway 74 has been closed. We anticipate the closure to continue for an extended period of time. As a result, on Monday, February 8th your student will be picked up at their bus stop approximately one hour earlier and dropped off at their bus stop approximately one hour later. A temporary schedule will be distributed to your student when they disembark from the bus on Monday. In addition, there will be no late activity bus available until further notice. If you have any questions, please contact the Transportation Department at (951) 765-5100 extension 5880. Thank you."

Additionally, there are three (3) students who ride this bus from the Cranston Ranger Station and Lypp's Ranch. These three (3) students have been notified that they will be required to utilize the Shultz and Highway 74 bus stop until further notice due to the closure of Highway 74.

This route also services HAAAT, APA and Alessandro students. Instead of transferring these students at Hemet High School onto other buses in the morning, the route bus will transport these students to these additional sites directly after delivering students to Hemet High School. I have included the administrators of these sites in this e-mail to ensure that they are aware of the road closure.

2) The late activity bus out of Hemet High will be canceled until further notice. Notification was given to parents via the parent link.

3) I will meet with my staff on the morning of February 8, 2010 to discuss any further necessary changes to the home to school bus servicing Hemet High School students. A new schedule will be created and parents will be notified of the pick up and drop off times to be in effect February 9, 2010 via a written memorandum to students as they disembark from the bus on Monday, February 8th.

4) The two (2) special education students residing in the Idyllwild and Pine Cove areas will be transported in a District vehicle to be driven by Priscilla Larsen. Ms. Larsen has more than 20 years experience driving in the Pine Cove and Idylwild area. I have notified both of the parents of these students regarding these arrangements. The drivers of the routes that these students normally ride have been notified that they will not be transporting these students. Hence, there will be no impact to these routes.

5) All drivers who utilize Highway 74 have been notified to report to work 1.5 hours earlier than normal so that they can re-route to Garner Valley and Anza via Highway 371. There will be no impact to the Anza schools due to the road closure and all Anza transportation schedules will remain the same for the students.

6) I have also identified a Mt. San Jacinto College student who is transported home on Wednesday afternoons via school bus to an address on Tollgate Rd. Every other day of the week the student is transported to and from Bautista Creek Elementary by the parent who is a teacher at that site. This student will be transported home on Wednesday afternoons by Priscilla Larsen in the District vehicle until Highway 74 is re-opened.

7) Transportation office staff will be reporting to work at 3:00 am on Monday, February 8, 2010 to ensure that all transportation runs smoothly and seamlessly.

The goal of this planning is to ensure that there is minimal impact to students, parents and site staff due to the road closure. Undoubtedly, this plan will evolve and incur changes. I will keep you informed with any new information as it becomes available.

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me.