Madera County Grand Jury • 2017-2018 • Agency Response

Overview of District Response The Board of the Golden Valley Unified School District concurs in the Grand Jury's*

Published: July 05, 2018 4 pages
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Findings and Recommendations 6 findings

F1
Because senior management at MUSD and GVUSD was unaware of the requirement to provide written bus safety information for parents, there is a potential violation of Education Code section 39831.5(a)(A, B, C, D, and E)(2). Response to Finding F1: Superintendent: There was confusion about the inquiry related to this topic. Upon reflection, the District does provide this information to families in the notice of rights and obligations issued to parents annually, pursuant to Education Code section 48980.
No recommendations for this finding
F2
Because the Findings of the study done in 2014 and 2015 regarding Webster Elementary School have not been implemented, congestion problems continue and unsafe conditions persist. Response to Finding F2: Superintendent and Board President: The District is aware that there are times of the school day when traffic and thus vehicle congestion occurs. It is an issue that District and site administration have always recognized must be monitored on a regular basis.
No recommendations for this finding
F3
There is a need for a crossing guard on Ruth Avenue at Webster Elementary School to enhance student safety. Response to Finding F3: Superintendent and Board President: We recognize that a crossing guard is one way to address student safety. We are open to exploring this, as well as other modes of keeping students safe when crossing streets adjacent to Webster School.
No recommendations for this finding
F4
Because of the large number of breakdowns, the older, high-mileage buses need to be replaced. Response to Finding F4: Superintendent: The use of the term "breakdowns" related to the District's school buses is ambiguous but, in any event, maintenance and repair of school buses is a fact of life for most school districts and is not a symptom of a problem. Nevertheless, we are always exploring ways to update our fleet. Board President: The Board is committed to having staff takes steps to update the District's school buses and to explore funding sources to defray impacts on the District's General Fund.
No recommendations for this finding
F5
Transporting special needs preschool students in a large yellow school bus with no seat belts creates a potential for danger even if a paraprofessional sits with the students. Response to Finding F5: Superintendent and Board President: We are sensitive to issues related to the transportation of special needs students and will give this item priority.
No recommendations for this finding
F6
The use of three or more white vans instead of large buses to transport large groups could negatively impact student safety. Response to Finding F6: Superintendent: The point in this finding is well-taken and we can remain cognizant of how a particular vehicle used for extracurricular activities may impact safety. However, we believe that we are able to observe safety standards by addressing the needs of various groups on a case-by-case basis. RESPONSES TO GRAND JURY'S RECOMMENDATIONS
No recommendations for this finding

Conclusions 1

* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.