Transportation

Recommendations

Devin Vodicka, EdD

March 14, 2013

Background and Context

• Informational presentations to School Board

on January 17and February 21

• Projected deficit spending of $14 million

(2013-14) and $19 million (2014-15)

• Three Categories:

– Special Education (Mandated)

– No Child Left Behind/McKinney Vento (Mandated)

– Home To School (Optional)

Current Reality

• Home To School (HTS) Services have been

reduced over time due to budget cuts

• 8.9% of students use HTS and Mandated No

Child Left Behind (NCLB) transportation

services

• 3.6% of students use Special Education

transportation services

• Fleet is aging and in need of improvements

3

Composition of Bus Fleet

18%

39%

43%"New"

"Seasoned"

"Retirement"

New: Purchased since 2006

Seasoned: Purchased 1993-2005

Retirement: Purchased prior to 1992 and/or those not compliant with air pollution laws 4

5

Doing It Right: Necessary Investments

• None of these expenses are currently included in

budget assumptions

• Adding these expenses to budget will require cuts

in other areas

Item Cost

New Busses $4,000,000

Replace California Natural Gas

(CNG) Fuel Tanks (2016)

$180,000

CNG Fuel Station Replacement $500,000

Radio System Upgrades $54,000

TOTAL $4,740,000

6

Annual Revenue and Expenses

Transportation Program Revenue

(Rounded)

Expenses

(Rounded)

Impact on

Unrestricted

General Fund

Special Education $700,000 $3,600,000 -$2,900,000

Home To School $700,000

(flexible)

$1,700,000 -$1,000,000

• Given projected deficit spending, these are not

sustainable expenses

• CA Base Revenue Deficit Factor is 22.272%

• Governor’s Proposal restores an estimated 1.65%

• Impact of almost $4 million to unrestricted general fund

= Approximately 2% of total budget

7

Routes

Mandated Optional

47 Special Education Routes 15 Home To School Routes:

• Alamosa Park

• Breeze Hill

• Mission Meadows

• Monte Vista

• Empresa

• Hannalei

• Rancho Minerva Middle (shuttle)

• Madison Middle (shuttle)

• Mission Vista (shuttle with stops at

RBV, Washington, Vista High, Mission

Meadows)

13 McKinney Vento/NCLB Routes

1 NCLB Route for Breeze Hill Elementary

2 NCLB Routes for Madison Middle and

Roosevelt Middle

1 Mission Vista Shuttle (Settlement

Agreement with City of Oceanside)

8

Comparison School Districts

• San Marcos Unified eliminated Home To School transportation

in 2008

• Oceanside Unified eliminated the majority of Home To School

transportation in 2010

• Carlsbad Unified eliminate Home To School transportation prior

to 1999

February 21: Proposed Next Steps

• Define target savings

• Refine proposed level of services to reach savings

target

– “Neighborhood School” Special Education Analysis

– Home To School Sites

• Community Meetings in English and Spanish

• Walk Affected Routes

• Propose Solutions to Anticipated Issues

• Recommend Action Item for Board on March 14

10

Impact of Next Steps

• Special Education Analysis and cost savings

estimate now available

• Site Meetings surfaced many issues and

potential solutions

• “Walking” affected routes increased

leadership knowledge and empathy

• Additional Steps:

– Meeting(s) with transportation to gather input

Special Education: Quick Facts

• 10% = The average rate of Sp. Ed. student population

transported in districts across the state of California.

• 21% = The average rate of Sp. Ed. student population

transported in VUSD.

• 872 = The total number of Sp. Ed. students who have

transportation written into their Individualized Education

Programs (IEP) in VUSD.

• 700 = The total number of students who currently use

transportation services in VUSD.

• $3,600,000 = Total cost of transportation for Sp. Ed. students.

Special Education: Next Steps

• Incorporate the use of a transportation

decision tree into the IEP process.

• Develop and utilize a Transportation

Checklist during IEP meetings.

• Base IEP decisions related to transportation

on Least Restrictive Environment for each

student (Ed. Code 41850).

• Revisit the determination of transportation

needs at each annual IEP meeting.

• Recognize that not all students require

specialized transportation to receive

educational benefit.

• Provide staff training in the process for

identifying transportation as an appropriate

related service based on student need.

Sp. Ed. Transportation Decision Tree

Special Education: Reductions

• Set a three year goal to align Sp. Ed. transportation caseload to the

state average.

– Reduce transportation demand from 21% to 10% of total Sp. Ed. student

population.

• Analyze current transportation caseload (700) to identify areas

where transportation can be consolidated, reduced, or eliminated

through the IEP process.

• Begin the process of moving student case load to a neighborhood

service delivery model.

• Identify students who could return to district programs currently

being serviced outside of the district.

• Realistic Savings Estimate for 2013-14: $350,000

Community Outreach: Site Meetings

• Conducted in English and Spanish at the following sites– Alamosa Park

– Breeze Hill

– Mission Meadows

– Monte Vista

– Empresa

– Hannalei

– Rancho Minerva Middle

– Madison Middle

– Mission Vista

Input: HighlightsSchool Issues Potential Solutions

Alamosa Park Elementary Crossing Hwy. 76/Safety Charge Fee

Carpool

Morning Only Bussing

Breeze Hill Elementary Intradistrict transfer timeline

Distance from Breeze Hill

No car in family

Charge Fee

Expand AM/PM

Carpool

Change boundaries

Morning Only Bussing

Mission Meadows Elementary Extreme distance for some families

Eliminating bus routes would decrease diversity of school

Charge Fee

Change boundaries

Carpool

Morning Only Bussing

Monte Vista Elementary Lack of sidewalks/Safety

No car in family

Difficulty for families with students in K and 1st-5th

Charge Fee

Change boundaries

Expand AM/PM

Empresa Elementary Lack of sidewalks

Impacted AM/PM program has wait list

Charge Fee

Afternoon Only Bussing

Expand AM/PM

Carpool

Do not change boundaries

Hannalei Elementary Crossing railroad tracks

Lack of sidewalks

Dangerous neighborhoods

Charge Fee

Carpool

Crossing Guards

Rancho Minerva Middle Windy Roads/Lack of Sidewalks/Safety

Long distances to cover

No car in family

Charge Fee

Carpool

Change boundaries

Madison Middle Start Times (especially RBV)

Increased traffic

Limited public transportation options

Charge Fee/Fundraising

Carpool

Expand AM/PM

Mission Vista High School Crossing Hwy. 76/Safety

Eliminating bus routes would decrease diversity of school

Reduced enrollment (55% of survey respondents indicated they

would send child to another VUSD school)

Negative effect on family work schedules

Charge Fee

Outsourcing

Expand public transportation options

VUSD Bus Fees 2012-2013

• Revenue budgeted: $126,450

• Revenue collected to date: $25,238.12

Walking Routes: Mission Meadows

Walking Routes: Breeze Hill

Walk San Diego

Carpools and the “Walking School Bus”

Home To School Level of Service

• Currently 15 routes

• Recommend eliminating 11 routes

• Recommend maintaining Breeze Hill and Mission

Meadows

• Continue analysis and maintain option of

maintaining two additional routes

• Realistic Savings Estimate for 2013-14: $770,000

Admin Reorganization

• Recommend transition to more efficient

software to increase efficiencies

– Trans Track

• Eliminate 1.0 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) Office

Assistant and 1.0 FTE Vehicle Maintenance

Supervisor

• Realistic Savings Estimate for 2013-14:

$100,000

Financial Summary

• Special Education Savings: $350,000

• Elimination of 11 Home To School Routes: $770,000

• Admin Reorganization: $100,000

• Total: $1,220,000

• Recommendation is to use $1,000,000 to reduce deficit spending and allocate remainder to ongoing vehicle replacement allocation

Next Steps

• Immediately implement Special Education

recommendations

• Implement Admin Reorganization July 1, 2013

• Promote safe walking routes

• Promote carpooling

• Anticipate Boundary Study 2013-14

Additional Guidance for Families

• Intradistrict transfer requests are due March

31, 2013

• If in doubt, please submit the intradistrict

transfer request

– Easy to “withdraw” the request if needed

– Applications will not be accepted after the

deadline

Summary

• Recommend approval regarding proposed

transportation savings of $1,220,000 in 2013-14

– Special Education improvements

– Admin Reorganization

– Reduction of 11 Home To School Routes

• Recommend allocating $1,000,000 of savings to

reducing projected fiscal deficits with remainder

to be allocated for vehicle replacements