Donated bus will take Gregori seniors who missed trip to Disneyland

Seniors who missed the Gregori High senior trip to Disneyland will get a trip of their own Friday, plus get to keep their refund from the bus company that “flaked,” to use their word, on the scheduled outing May 13.

On Tuesday, Principal Brad Goudeau announced Whitecastle Tours of San Ramon has donated ​a driver and use of one of their new buses to take 38 students to Disneyland. That number includes the 36 students who missed the trip plus two who were sick that day.

​“I think they felt really bad for our kids that couldn’t make it,” Goudeau said. He was contacted by Whitecastle representative Anthony Gerges after news spread of Gregori’s bus trip debacle.

“I realize there will still be some parents or students that feel the whole senior class should be able to be a part of this, but it was important to me that our students who never got to step foot in Disneyland get that chance,” he said.

Some 380 Gregori seniors paid $260 each for the school’s annual senior trip to Disneyland, one of hundreds of high schools sending the Class of 2016 to the park’s special nights open until 2 a.m. just for students. The nights sell out quickly, but because of the circumstances and size of the group, Disneyland agreed to allow the small Gregori contingent in this Friday, Goudeau said.

Who will pay for their tickets is still being ironed out, he said, but the kids will get to keep the $286 – full refund plus 10 percent – negotiated by the district on their behalf from Richmond-based Adventures America, the charter bus company the school paid for the May 13 trip.

Of the eight buses chartered for last Friday, one was hours late and one never came at all. Adventures America said it had subcontracted the trip to MGM Transportation. A customer-service employee with MGM, Christina Anderson, said MGM in turn subcontracts with several bus companies to deliver the transportation. One of those companies – she didn’t know which – “flaked” on the Gregori job, Anderson said.

Of those that did make the trip, one bus in particular had problems. Bus 6, multiple riders said, arrived with its check engine light on, a speedometer and tachometer that never left zero, an awful smell emanating from somewhere in the overhead luggage rack and air conditioning that never worked. After arriving at Disneyland, the bus was temporarily disabled because it had insufficient air in its brakes.

The driver texted frequently while driving and at times was seen with no hands on the wheel as the bus sailed down the freeway. At one point students said the driver was talking on one cellphone, texting on a second and driving with his elbows.

The California Highway Patrol pulled the bus over after it went over a quadruple solid yellow line to exit a carpool lane between entrance-exit points. It was not clear whether the driver was cited for the illegal lane change, but the bus continued, arriving at Disneyland after 6 p.m. Students also waited in the Disneyland parking lot until after 4 a.m. for a new bus to arrive to take them home.

The 48 students on Bus 6 got a full refund of $260. The 51 Gregori seniors on Bus 7, which arrived late and dropped off its charges at 5:30 p.m., will get a $100 refund, Goudeau told parents at a family meeting Monday night.

The money was not a perfect remedy, Goudeau said. “There’s nothing we are going to be able to provide that will fix what was broken on Friday for our seniors. It is what it is.”

This story was originally published May 18, 2016 at 3:16 PM with the headline "Donated bus will take Gregori seniors who missed trip to Disneyland."