The Castaic Union School District governing board is set Wednesday to have a discussion about transportation for the district following the decision to no longer provide home-to-school transportation for the remainder of the school year due to staff shortages and personnel matters.
Charmin Ortega, executive assistant to the superintendent, and Irene Boden, assistant superintendent of business and administrative services, confirmed last week that there was a message sent to Castaic district families through ParentSquare alerting them the district could no longer provide general education students with home-to-school transportation.
Boden said the district has been discussing this issue for some time now openly with parents and has been updating them along the way during meetings as the department navigates the unforeseen circumstances.
The meeting agenda does not include a summary of what will be discussed. However, Ortega said in a phone call on Tuesday that both Boden and Superintendent Bob Brauneisen are expected to speak to the board to discuss an update on the situation.
She said they will most likely be discussing the current state of the district’s transportation situation and how they will be moving forward to solve the issue going into the next school year.
Boden said in a phone interview last week that, at the beginning of this school year, the district had a total of seven bus drivers. Due to personnel issues, the district is now down to two bus drivers with the potential of a third after the new driver completes the training process, but it isn’t enough to open all the routes.
Before spring break, approximately in February, she said the district began telling families about the transportation issues coming up because the number of staff was reducing and it could affect transportation
She added that the district recognized this is not an ideal situation and praised the families for being understanding about the situation. She said the district will continue to update parents as officials come up with a solution for the next school year.
Wednesday’s meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at the district’s administration office, located at 28131 Livingston Ave.
