MUSD president agrees to review busing survey results

MUSD Superintendent Steve Kennedy, Board President Bob O'Donnell and Vice President Ron Ulibarri have heard a lot from parents recently about the elimination of busing in the district. Menifee 24/7 photo: Doug Spoon

The president of the Menifee Union School District Board agreed Tuesday to review results of a survey being conducted by a concerned parent to assess the feasibility of a "pay to play" school bus system.

Following Tuesday's board meeting, in a conversation with parent Greg Shaw with Menifee 24/7 present, Board President Bob O'Donnell said he was willing to accept results of Shaw's survey for district officials to review. Shaw, who has two sons attending MUSD schools, has been circulating an online survey to determine whether parents affected by the district's decision to eliminate busing for general education students would be willing to pay an annual fee of $600 per student to receive bus service.

Four days after a July 28 meeting including Shaw, Superintendent Dr. Steve Kennedy and Assistant Superintendent Ambur Borth that Shaw described as encouraging, Borth informed Shaw that the district couldn't comply with his request to post a link to the survey on the MUSD website. During a nearly 20-minute presentation to the board on Tuesday, Shaw continued to argue that the district would be wrong to ignore such feedback from parents.

During his comments to the board, Shaw accused Kennedy of ending communication with the parents' group and criticized O'Donnell for not speaking to the press. The Brown Act prohibits board members from responding during the public comments portion of the meeting, but O'Donnell sought out Shaw after the meeting to dispute the comment about not responding to the press.

O'Donnell, who does not have a cell phone, said he didn't receive two messages left on his home phone voice mail by Menifee 24/7. He said he wants the dialogue to continue and he listened to all of Shaw's comments after the meeting.

"I definitely would consider the data Mr. Shaw is gathering up so we can look at it," O'Donnell told Menifee 24/7. "I believe the data will give you a good idea of how many people would like to pay. But I want to really find out also if there are individuals that would be able to qualify for a lower amount. You're saying $600 and if they have three children, that's $1,800."

State law requires MUSD to offer free busing to special education students and homeless students. One of Shaw's goals is to clarify the district's position on whether low-income families would qualify for free busing and if not, whether the district would allow them to pay some amount if they were willing.

"We'd have to look at how much that actually is, how much those parents are willing to pay and how much we'd have to make up," O'Donnell said. A report by Borth during the Aug. 25 board meeting stated that the district was forced to make budget costs and will save $700,000 by discontinuing busing for general education students.

Hemet Unified School District provides buses to MUSD through a contract between the two districts. Alex Sponheim, public information officer for Hemet USD, told Menifee 24/7 on Aug. 3 that MUSD had requested 11 fewer buses for this school year, but she didn't specify when that reduction was made. In his comments to the board during Tuesday's meeting, Shaw said he was told by a representative of the Hemet Unified School District that they were informed of the reduction in May.

"I have no knowledge of that," O'Donnell said. "I would be very surprised if it was canceled before we made the determination. We were looking at alternatives."

MUSD board members didn't vote on a change in the bus service until June 12, when it was part of a study session in which, according to the board minutes, Borth "shared a digital presentation on the General Fund Budget seeking Board direction/input to move forward on suggested reductions." Cuts to transportation were part of that presentation. Board members voted to "concur with the changes/reductions presented."

Shaw (right) and other parents have questioned whether the agenda for that meeting adequately explained to the public what was going to be discussed. According to the minutes of that meeting, there were no requests from members of the public to speak. Only five people signed the voluntary log-in sheet. Menifee 24/7 did not cover that meeting.

"You could say there could've been more notification, but when we were looking at the budget, we decided to have a separate meeting," O'Donnell said. "We had a public hearing. A lot of people did not get the word. Possibly, with having more stuff going on in social media now, that may help."

During Tuesday's meeting, board members voted to approve automated phone calls to parents notifying them of special meetings in the future. They also voted to approve the use of Facebook and Twitter to post board meeting agendas to a wider audience. However, during the Aug. 25 meeting, board member Jerry Bowman failed to receive a second to his motion to move the meetings from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. -- a switch that would allow more parents to attend.

Meanwhile, the school year will begin on Monday without any additional bus service. O'Donnell said that even if the district receives the survey results soon, the matter would not be placed on the next board meeting agenda.

"Do the survey," he told Shaw. "Bring it to the superintendent and Ambur. Show them what you have and we'll go from there."

Through his comments of the last few weeks, Shaw has made it clear he won't stop until he feels board members are listening. He pointed to an empty seat on the dias (Randall Freeman was absent) during his comments to the board and referred to it as "my seat" in the future.

He also referred to efforts being made by a parents' group to explore the possibility of recalling board members. Menifee 24/7 has confirmed that such a group has scheduled an informational meeting on the subject next week with representatives of the Riverside County Registrar of Voters.

"At your last meeting, you guys voted to approve a contract with an attorney," Shaw said. "We're going to put him to work."

As of 9 p.m. Tuesday, the survey had received 184 responses. Of those, 85 percent said they would be willing to pay a $600 annual fee for busing. Also, 54 percent said they would be able to make the first semester's payment by Aug. 15.

Shaw said he would keep the survey open until the end of the week. Parents willing to express their opinions about paying an annual fee for busing may take Shaw's survey at the link below:

MUSD Paid Transportation Survey