Transportation Letter to MUSD Parents

[Maricopa360]

7/15/2010

Dear Parents and Guardians,

As you know, Maricopa Unified School District, along with all other school districts, has faced great budget reductions, thus guiding many decisions for the 2010 – 2011 school year.  These decisions have affected everyone in the district, including the Transportation Department.

As a result of budgetary cutbacks, the Transportation Department has employed the use of a software system that improves the efficiency of bus routing.  Therefore, there are many changes in bus stops, as well as routes and pick-up times.  It is our goal to make this information available to you by July 20, 2010.  You will be able to pick up the information at your child’s school on Meet the Teacher Night.  There will also be a link put on the district web page, as well as each school site’s web page, that will allow you to look-up your child’s walk/ride status along with their pick-up and drop-off locations, times and their assigned school.

In addition, we have brought the district into compliance with the legally allowed student walk boundaries.  The walk boundary for elementary and middle school students is one (1) mile and one and a half (1.5) miles for high school students.  The district does not receive a reimbursement for transportation costs from the state if the walk boundaries are less than required by law.  If you live within the stated radius, your child will be assigned a walk status. 

You can look up your child’s bus stop at www.maricopausd.org.  The link to the bus stop locator can be found on the Transportation Department web age, as well as each school site web page.  If you have problems accessing your child’s bus stop, please contact:
   Janelle Mason at jmason@musd20.org or 520-5100 ext. 1160
   Shannan White at swhite@musd20.org or 520-5100 ext. 1037

We appreciate your support and understanding.

Sincerely,

Fred Laguna
Transportation Director

[the.pixie.stick.chick]

the  Versatrans e-link still isn't working. wish they'd make sure it's fixed before doing a press release. sigh.

[the.pixie.stick.chick]

i still haven't been able to get the vesratran link to work. i've tried it on 3 different browsers.
 

so i called butterfield today. those of us living in acacia will have a bus number, bus color, route number, just like last year. and a TOTALLY DIFFERENT bus number, bus color, route number for evening. there will be only one bus stop in the subdivision. morning and evening locations are NOT in the same location.

makes sense, right? no? well of course it does! MUSD paid good money for this versatran service to learn the most effective way to run their (now very few) bus routes!!

((if anyone is an acacia butterfield parent and wants the more specific info, PM me.)

[Tigg]

i still haven't been able to get the vesratran link to work. i've tried it on 3 different browsers.
 

so i called butterfield today. those of us living in acacia will have a bus number, bus color, route number, just like last year. and a TOTALLY DIFFERENT bus number, bus color, route number for evening. there will be only one bus stop in the subdivision. morning and evening locations are NOT in the same location.

makes sense, right? no? well of course it does! MUSD paid good money for this versatran service to learn the most effective way to run their (now very few) bus routes!!

((if anyone is an acacia butterfield parent and wants the more specific info, PM me.)

I see kids being dropped off in wrong subdivisions, wandering lost in their subdivisions and kids refusing to get off busses (because they know they're in the wrong subdivision, despite the driver telling them it's their stop).  These are all things that used to happen around here at least once every few months. . . Sounds like we'll be returning to having lost kids floating around the city

Kids can figure out a lot of things better than a lot of adults give them credit for, but changing up the bus numbers/colors for getting to & from home on the same bus route is just looking for trouble.

[Chunk]

I think we should petition all MUSD students with Facebook accounts to change their status to "I didnt run away, I just ride the busses in Maricopa"

[-]

Hey I can't even get the school to call me back even after going IN to get R registered! And yes the freakin link doesn't work either!

[the.pixie.stick.chick]

the link is working!!!

http://musdversatrans.musd20.org/elinkrp/Students/BasicTransBoundarySearch.aspx
AND, we now have ONE bus stop for morning and evening. thanks carrie, for looking into it. 

[Scorpio]

How do I get in? the login/password is hanging me up. I tried my son's last name and student id from last year but it is not letting me in. What am I doing wrong?

[Desert Dweller]

If I would have written that letter, it would have been worded more factually.  Something like,

Dear Parent,

Thank you for supporting Proposition 100, the one cent sales tax increase that went primarily to support Arizona schools.  Despite the fact that we were the beneficiary of one of the largest sales tax increases in Arizona history, we are still unable to provide for the basic needs of students, i.e., transportation to and from school.  We find it easy to base our incompetence on the budget despite the fact that our economic situation has impacted every business and individual in the community.   Somehow we thought we were immune.

[mallardisme]

I have to jump in here for a sec....

ALL busing was on the cutting block. Transportation is not required under AZ law, except for Special Ed students.

That being said, much of the cuts that were done were done before the tax passed. Had the tax not passed, we would have lost all transit as well as MWMS. Desert Wind would have changed to a 2 grade school and all elementary schools would have become K-6. 

No, I am not in favor of the tax that was passed.

The thing is that the budget really has been that tight. Overspending may have been to blame in the past, but, during these meetings it was made very clear that 'this' is how much money we have and 'that' is how much money we spend.  Those 2 figures have to match.

With that reality, many that actually went to the meetings were asked to come up with a way to spend less, keep what was needed and figure out what we would have to lose.

The Ad Hoc committee was formed for just this purpose. I did have an opportunity to watch the process. It was brutal. If you have 75 cents, you can’t spend a dollar. Everyone was challenged to find places where cuts could be made that would have the least impact on children’s education and well being.
The transportation was a simple one. It does suck, but that was a lot better than having 45 students per teacher.

My point being, I wish more folks that had ideas on this balancing act would have come forward when decisions were still in the planning stage, not 3 weeks before school starts. There were a LOT of people that did… And this is the result.

[the.pixie.stick.chick]

How do I get in? the login/password is hanging me up. I tried my son's last name and student id from last year but it is not letting me in. What am I doing wrong?

go to the MUSD website, http://www.maricopausd.org/. a big yellow box pops up. click "Transportation Parent Letter" to download (adobe) the letter. it contains instructions.

or, if you don't want to read the letter, the login and password are both "Guest".

[Scorpio]

Thanks very much!

[mallardisme]

BTW, Scott Bartle is running for school board, this time around.

He will probably win.

Does anyone want to get involved now? LOL