Keeping Up the Wave

I have a favorite story, though it might not be fair since I have read a lot of great ones. This story was about a man and his admirable attempt at embarrassing his 10th grade son. If you clink on this http://hoglundblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/do-you-wave.html it will bring you to the original article I wrote back in June of 2011. To sum it up, Dale wore a different costume everyday of the school year and waved at his son's school bus as it drove past their home.The son, Rain, took it with good nature, and the rest of the bus, along with the world sing Dale's praise.

Above is Dale Price, waving at the bus.

This is the follow up story.

Dale Price never really pondered over what the other kids thought of his costumes from day to day but he thought more than once about what the bus driver had to say about it. Price remembers specifically contemplating what the bus driver might think: "'I wonder if he is going to call the police or something, there's some kind of weirdo waving at the bus, but I saw him smiling and he would wave back."

Now Dale finally has his answer, Myron Carlson, who drove the bus down Price's street, met him and told him: "You lifted all of the spirits of all of the kids on the bus." Sorry Dale, but Myron was far from setting the cops on you. Just as the rest of our world did, he was laughing with you.

I'm happy Dale got his answer, but I'm even more excited that his story is know around the world! I look forward to stories like these when I'm reading through bus articles online, this one is my favorite.

Thank You,

Haleigh

Run Away Bus is Stopped

Two moms and a third grader stopped a runaway bus on Monday morning. The driver was pulling up to a stop and had a seizure--resulting in the bus rolling by and continuing down the road. Rhonda Carlsen's daughter pointed out that the bus driver looked strange. Carlsen then started running after the bus while another mom called 911.

Rhonda Carlsen is pictured above.

While running alongside the school bus, Carlsen was able to see that the driver was having some kind of problem. As she was trying to pry the door open, she noticed the students frightened faces, then making eye contact with a 3rd grader. Carlsen motioned for the student to release the door's lock. When the door opened, she immediately jumped on board. Reaching first for the buses steering wheel, then pushing the break to the floor, and finally turning off the buses ignition.

Carlsen later talked about how happy she was that this incident did not happen on a busy street, but in their quiet neighborhood. No students were hurt, and the driver is in the hospital. The driver's family says that his first concern upon waking up was his student's safety.

Applause is given to the two parents and the third grade boy for saving the day. We at Hoglund Transportation would also like to congradulate them as well! Good job for staying safe and thinking fast!

Thank You,

Haleigh

No More School Buses?

Lake Elsinore Unified School District (LEUSD) board members eliminated the home-to-school transportation program for students in LEUSD for the 2012-2013 school year. With schools' budgets being continuously cut, and busing being a major cost for any district, sadly, this is not an unforeseen turn of events.

The average cost for busing and special needs transportation is over $5,000,000 for the 2011-12 school year, and state funding for both programs only totaled $2,096,717. Anyone can see that there is a disconnect between what is given and what is spent. The law states that the district is required to provide busing for its special needs students, for which the cost is predicted to be around$2.5 million for the 2012-2013 school year.

Pictured above are some of the ditricts drivers who showed up to speak against the school bus cuts on Thursday evening.

Residents voiced their concerns over this change to the LEUSD school board Thursday night. Some concerns were about the students being too young to walk so far, and some mentioned that it is too dangerous to cross over some of the main highways. One man brought up the attemped kidnapping that happened on Monday, saying that it could be too much of a temptation to put all those children on the roads daily.

I hope that the board, somehow, is able to find room in the budget for busing, and that the children are safe either way. I was lucky enough to have had busing as a child and never had to worry about it being taken away. I only wish that I could say the same for these kids.

Thank You,

Haleigh

Man Sentenced to 15 Deserved Years in Prison!

Aaron Gunderson, a 32-year-old man, was finally sentenced for his actions taken on May 10th, 2011. On that day, just before eight a.m., Gunderson passed a stopped school bus; the bus had its lights on and its stop arm extended. Ignoring the obvious signs, he sped past and struck a 7-year-old Kadyn Halverson with his truck while she was crossing the street to board her bus. Then, for one reason or another, he fled the scene in his truck, leaving Kadyn on the side of the road where she died from her injuries.

With 12 students and bus driver serving as witnesses, Gunderson was eventually found and taken into custody. During the plea change hearing, Gunderson said that he never saw the stop arm or lights on the bus, and that he didn’t think the bus was stopped. In the end, since he plead guilty to vehicular homicide by reckless driving and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, he got a total of 15 years. Ten years for the murder, and five for fleeing the scene. The more serious charge of vehicular homicide while intoxicated was dismissed as part of the plea agreement with the prosecutors.



My heart goes out to Kadyn's family, as well as any others who have experienced a similar tragedy. I can only hope that Kadyn's Law comes through. Kadyn's mother, as well as others who support her, are lobbying for a new law. They are asking legislators to increase the penalty for motorists who drive by a stopped school bus that has its lights flashing and the stop-arm extended. The group also wants video cameras mounted in school buses to record violations.

Good luck with the law. I believe it is something that should have been done long before anything this tragic had to happen.

Thank You,

Haleigh