Parents say Visalia Unified’s Oak Ranch bus stop is a tragedy waiting to happen

For fifty years, Visalia Unified provided three bus stops inside the bucolic Oak Ranch development, just north of the St. John’s River – until now. Beginning this year, children in the development will be picked up and dropped off at a busy intersection.

The children attend Elbow Creek Elementary, Valley Oak Middle School, and Golden West High School, and beginning this academic year, the Visalia Unified School District’s Transportation Department eliminated all stops in the neighborhood with no advance notification to the parents. The buses now pick up and drop off students at a busy intersection outside of the neighborhood on Ave 313 and 148.

“Parents didn’t even know what was going on,” said longtime resident Randy Qualls. “We had to hold onto the kids until the parents figured out where they were. There was no way they were able to walk home.”

Elbow Creek has a Pre-K class, so some of the students who ride the bus are only 4 years old.

“I’m worried,” said Randy Qualls, whose grandson is 4, “because he is a darter.”

The Transportation Department responded in a written statement to the parents that Oak Ranch is “considered a Non-Eligible Zone” for bus service, and that Visalia Unified “has been going above and beyond its required service by providing transportation to the neighborhood.”

In the statement, Visalia Unified Transportation Director Luis Dominguez said the reason for the change was to prevent damage to the buses and residents’ personal property such as mailboxes.

Parents said that it was hard to believe Visalia Unified’s first concern wasn’t child safety.

Qualls, one of the residents leading the effort to restore the three bus stops, said the bus now stops at an intersection where cars routinely speed and blow through the stop sign.

“It’s an unmarked rural road, so the speed limit is 55 miles per hour,” said Juan Alvarez, a parent collecting signatures to protest the change, “but they go 60 or 65.”

“Cars also go through the bus’s red flashing lights without stopping while kids are getting off the bus or crossing the street.” Qualls said.

“A dozen or so cars wait for their kids at the entrance of Oak Ranch creating a bottle neck” added Qualls, “making it very difficult if an emergency vehicle needed to get in or out of the neighborhood.”

“People won’t even walk their dog through that intersection let alone their children,” another resident said.

50 years of safe service

Alvarez’ first call was to Visalia Unified  Trustee Paul Belt, the representative for District 2 that includes Oak Ranch. Belt told Alvarez that he had to take the issue up with the Transportation Department.

Alvarez then called Dominguez to ask how the district can make a change that affects dozens of children’s safety without community input or a formal notice.

Dominguez told Alvarez over the phone and in a written statement that the change was made because Oak Ranch streets are too narrow and the buses might get damaged or damage personal property.

“Let that sink in,” said Qualls. “After 50 years of safe, incident-free bus service, the district is now saying it had to eliminate three internal stops — not because they were unsafe or unworkable — but because buses might be damaged or potentially damage a mailbox or parked vehicle.”

Alvarez said that Dominguez told him there were two incidents of property damage in Oak Ranch involving a bus. But when asked to provide the incident reports Dominguez did not respond.

Alvarez then called the main Visalia Unified office to ask for a meeting with Superintendent Kirk Shrum. What Alvarez received was a redirection back to the Transportation Department and he was eventually connected to Administration Assistant Lisa Wheelock.

Alvarez ended up having the same conversation with Wheelock as he did with Dominguez. She reiterated the potential of property damage and informed him their complaints about the lack of sidewalks at the intersection of Ave 313 and 148 was the city’s responsibility, not the school district’s.

Wheelock then looked up Alvarez’ grandson in their system and told him he wasn’t the child’s legal guardian, so he was not eligible to lodge a complaint.

In an interview with Wheelock, the Valley Voice asked what the parents’ next step could be to resolve the issue and how can they arrange a meeting with Shrum.

She told the Voice that the parent group cannot meet with their childrens’ superintendent.

“They are welcome to come to the board meetings and bring their petitions,” said Wheelock.

VUSD Transportation Department responds to the parents

In response to the parent group’s concerns, Dominguez sent Alvarez a written response.

“The VUSD Transportation department’s policies, as outlined in our Board policies and Administrative Regulations, guide all of our decisions regarding bus routes and stops. We want to be transparent and let you know that the Oaks Ranch development is actually considered a Non-Eligible Zone (NEZ) for bus transportation according to district policy. This is based on the walking distances specified for student eligibility.

“However, the district has been going above and beyond its required service by providing transportation for your neighborhood. We made this decision to provide a bus stop for the development because we recognize that the walk path outside the neighborhood is not currently suitable for students.

“The recent change to move the stop to the outside of the Oaks Ranch development was a necessary decision made to prevent potential damage to personal property. Our school buses require significant space for maneuvering, and the tight turns and narrow streets within the development create a high risk of damaging vehicles, mailboxes, or other property. By moving the stop to the outside, we can ensure the safety of our students while also protecting the property of residents.

Rodriguez finished his statement saying, “We appreciate your understanding as we work to balance our commitment to student safety with the practical challenges of operating our fleet. We will continue to provide service to your neighborhood, and the new stop location allows us to do so responsibly.”

Cristina Gutierrez, VUSD Public Information Officer, emailed a statement to the Valley Voice from the district concerning the new bus stop.

“We are proud to have expanded transportation services for VUSD families during this 2025-26 school year. At this time the Oak Ranch bus stop meets all VUSD Board Policy and safety regulations. We value community feedback and review bus stops annually, with every decision guided by our commitment to student and staff safety,’ added Chief Business Officer Nathan Hernandez.”

Gutierrez didn’t say the parent group could get a meeting with Superintendent Shrum, but suggested they request a meeting with him through his Executive Assistant, Lesha Weatherford at [email protected].

She added that “Petitions can be dropped off at the District Office at 5000 W. Cypress Ave. Visalia, CA 93291 or emailed to the superintendent.”

The rebuttal

The parent group started their rebuttal to VUSD, “If Oak Ranch has received transportation services for 50 years, how is it suddenly ‘non-eligible?’”

“The fact that VUSD maintained three bus stops inside the Oak Ranch Development continuously for 50 years, acknowledges the school district considers it a necessity,” the statement read.

Qualls said that families have structured their children’s education around the bus service for generations.

“This service was not a courtesy, it was essential,” said Qualls.

Qualls added that Elbow Creek Elementary is a 3.5 mile walk on rural roads with no barriers between pedestrians and cars and thus well beyond the distance or safety for any school district.

The problems outlined in the parent’s rebuttal were

• There are no sidewalks — children are forced to walk in the street.
• There are speeding vehicles — with no crosswalks, signage, or safety barriers.
• Documented traffic violations — video shows a car running flashing bus lights.
•  Hazardous environmental exposure — students must walk through a dust cloud stirred up by buses, adjacent to pesticide-treated agricultural fields.
• Professional concern — a former Tulare County pesticide inspector witnessed the cloud and raised legitimate concerns.
• Improper drop zone — the bus drops them off in a dirt lot with no loading unloding area designation.

The parent group also contend that the Oak Ranch streets are wide enough for school buses. They are in fact wider than many other neighborhoods where there is VUSD bus service, says the group.

What the Oak Ranch Resident want

The parents’ rebuttal states, “We, the residents of Oak Ranch, are not asking for a favor — we are demanding the restoration of a safe, long-standing, and necessary service that our families have relied on for nearly five decades.”

They are also asking for full transparency from the Transportation Department, including the data used to make the decision to change the bus stop and Community consultation before any future transportation changes affecting safety.

“You know what,” said Alvarez, “if they don’t move that bus stop one of the kids is going to be hit by a car. God forbid, but that’s what I think is going to happen, especially with the bad weather coming.”

Qualls said, “We are all just hoping they come to their senses.”