Parents and city leaders meet to brainstorm restoring school bus service

Lack of drivers is obstacle in getting SMMUSD general education buses rolling again

Malibu parents and city leaders are collaborating on finding solutions to getting public school students to campus now that the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District can no longer provide bus service. While the district does not provide general education students transportation in Santa Monica, that lack of bus service was announced to Malibu last month due to a severe bus driver shortage. Special education students will not be affected, but for the nearly 100 Malibu students who rely on the bus to get to school, their families are desperate to find a solution.

Malibu City Councilmember Marianne Riggins, who serves on the School District Separation Ad Hoc Committee, and Councilmember Paul Grisanti, who serves on that committee and also on the School Safety Committee, attended a meeting July 15 with parent leaders exploring various strategies to restore bus service. With school starting again Aug.22, there isn’t much time to figure out a solution to get kids safely to school.

Malibu High School/Malibu Middle School PTSA President Kevin Keegan shared the meeting was productive even though this pressing problem has not been solved yet.

“The city is supportive and wants to offer their assistance in whatever way is feasible to come up with a short-term solution,” he said. “We have a short-term problem we’re trying to solve. Longer-term, we want to confirm that the service will be not only reinstated, but be more reliable in the future. We’re working on both fronts.

“Clearly, the bus driver shortage is the primary issue. Since we met with the district July 10, I think there’s been a surge in effort to seek alternative potential pools of candidates by both parents and the district,” said Keegan.

At the July 10 meeting, SMMUSD officials said the problem is not the budget for general education bus service that already offers a competitive salary and benefits. The district has been actively recruiting new drivers but is faced with potential hires’ ineligibility, SMMUSD staff turnover, California State school bus driver certification standards, and Malibu’s distance from eligibility pools. Many drivers choose to work in Los Angeles, closer to their homes.

The group of parent and city leaders are exploring the possibility of hiring a bus service separate from the district that could service students coming from Santa Monica, Sunset Mesa, Big Rock, Las Flores, and a few other local neighborhoods for transportation to Webster Elementary, Malibu Middle, and Malibu High. While trying to solve this problem however, they are likely to face the same issues as the district.

Under the tight time frame before school starts, there is currently no feasible solution on the table yet.

“There are a lot of factors that have to be taken into play. First and foremost, the fundamental cornerstone into establishing that kind of service in ensuring that it’s safe for students,” Keegan said adding that the service would have to be of “the highest quality.”

Whether this problem can be solved by school’s Aug. 22 start is the big question. Keegan said, “There is hope. That’s obviously mixed with concern. The city is a partner in this. They want to be resourceful and supportive.”

The parent group sent an email this week saying, “Bus service is important for parents whose children do not use the buses because having this fundamental school service operational helps to maintain and boost enrollment in our schools. Increased enrollment in Malibu public schools can benefit all our students and specifically your child or children because it ensures our public schools’ funding is sufficient and growing.

“This should not be parents’ problem. We (the Malibu PTAs and AMPS) believe this is a fundamental school service essential for our school district, especially considering the unique nature of our transportation environment. The primary access road is one of the most dangerous highways in California. Also, the commute time from some of our neighborhoods can be between two-to-three hours daily, which, for many families, is almost impossible to schedule.

“Based on the July 10 SMMUSD presentation by Superintendent Dr. Shelton and his team, we do believe SMMUSD is dedicating time and resources this summer trying to restore general education bus service as soon as possible.  SMMUSD has followed up with us since the in-person meeting last Wednesday (July 10) and, while no promises were made, SMMUSD conveyed a sincere desire to stay on top of this issue until it is resolved.”

The parent group hopes to provide a status update so “parents in August can plan accordingly,” Keegan stated. “Our intention is to keep parents updated with any breakthroughs and regular messages.”

At press time there was confirmation that a formal short-term solution was submitted to the district for their consideration. A reply is expected from the district by next week.

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