Banning Unified outlines transportation plan, faces driver complaints as board approves van leases

The Banning Unified School District board on March 13 approved its annual transportation plan and a five-van long-term lease while hearing public complaints from drivers about workplace conduct and calls from employee groups for management changes.

The board voted 5–0 to adopt the transportation plan after Director (Herrera) and Transportation Director Kenneth Page outlined priorities required by state guidance — first providing service to students with individualized education programs, students in specialized education, homeless (McKinney-Vento) students, preschool and kindergarten, and then unduplicated pupils and other students. Page said the district operates 21 buses and 7 vans, has 12 bus-driver positions with four vacancies, and is pursuing EV grants and infrastructure to meet air-quality mandates.

Why it matters: Transportation carries students to school and extracurriculars and is now eligible for additional state reimbursement (staff said the district can claim roughly 60% of certain transportation expenditures under new rules). The board’s decisions affect field-trip access, special-education compliance and driver workloads.

Staff described operational steps including a transition to Traverse routing software (pilot this spring, full implementation planned by fall), a recruitment and driver-training program, and work to audit curb-to-curb special-education transportation requests to ensure services are required under IEPs. Herrera said the district completed 324 field trips in 2023–24 out of 344 requests and projected an increase in charters and total miles in 2024–25.

During public comment, bus driver Juana Lopez told trustees she has experienced repeated harassment and intimidation in the transportation yard and alleged a supervisor accessed bus video without proper cause; she urged the board to hold management accountable and to address communication, supplies and working conditions. Jennifer Serrano, president of the local CSCA chapter, and the Banning Teachers Association (comments submitted by President Anthony Garcia) also urged the board to listen to drivers and address working-condition concerns.

Board members asked detailed questions about funding sources for chartered trips (Herrera said sites received allocations and the district increased a distribution from $50,000 to $120,000 districtwide), mandates on vehicle electrification (Page said the district is working with the South Coast AQMD requirements and is out of compliance without recent van leases), and student counts for curb-to-curb service (Page said roughly 260 eligible students with 159 currently receiving curb-to-curb service; those numbers were cited from a recent special-education presentation).

The board also approved a long-term lease of five new vans through Enterprise/SourceWell, a $403,874 contract that includes a lease-to-own option, monthly maintenance fees (excluding tires and brakes) and a delivery charge. Staff said two of the vans are EVs; trustees asked about mileage caps, the final buyout payment and maintenance exclusions. Staff explained leasing lets the district replace EVs at five years rather than incur large battery replacement costs.

What’s next: Staff said they will continue recruitment and training efforts, implement the new routing software, pursue EV and infrastructure grants, and conduct audits of IEP transportation requests. The board did not take separate disciplinary action in open session on the personnel concerns raised by drivers; staff and unions asked the board to investigate transportation management matters raised during public comment.