Due to the financial challenges of being a large rural school district, the River Delta Unified School District (RDUSD) in northern CA does not provide transportation to allow students to attend academic and athletic events at other schools and sites. Participation in off-site scholastic events is vital to the development of the students’ social knowledge and skills. Rio Vista is a geographically isolated agricultural community so it is critical for students to have opportunities to experience more socially and economically diverse areas of our state. Currently, parents, teachers, and coaches must transport students in their personal vehicles to attend such events. Limited seating capacity and a lack of qualified drivers makes it difficult for parents, teachers, and coaches to reliably and efficiently transport students to these events, many of which are 50 to 100 miles away. Due to the above mentioned challenges with transportation, the Rio Vista High School booster club started fundraising to provide the High School with several 8 passenger vehicles that could be used to safely and reliably transport students to off site events. As long as the vehicle holds no more than 8 persons, then it is legal for an adult with a regular driver license to operate it. Having vehicles that can be driven by volunteers greatly reduces labor costs and wear and tear on the existing bus fleet. One advantage to using a smaller capacity vehicle is that it’s much more cost effective when transporting smaller groups of students. 8 passenger vehicles require less fuel, and they are less costly to maintain and operate than a school bus. Organizations such as Lions, Soroptimist, RioVision, and the Rio Vista Foundation (RVF) held numerous fundraisers throughout the year and the RVHS booster club was able to purchase the first 8-passenger vehicle last Fall. Our goal is to partner with some of the above mentioned local non- profits in order to purchase an additional vehicle this year. The Rio Vista Rotary Club will be partnering with Rio Vision and participating in their annual Hog August Bites fundraiser to help raise money for this project. the Rio Vista Foundation will donate a portion of the money raised at their annual fundraiser dinner to support this project the RVF has made a commitment to donate money from its general fund should the fundraising fall short of the expected $2500, the additional funds required to purchase the 8 passenger vehicle will be provided by the RVHS booster club in cooperation with their individual donors and other supporting organizations. the Vehicle will be under warranty but any routine maintenance will be done by the RDUSD with oversight provided by the Boosters Club, the Rio Vista High School Administrator, and Rio Vista Rotary. The vehicle will be stored at Rio Vista High School or at The RDUSD bus garage when not in use.
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