HEMET — The California Highway Patrol is reviewing complaints that Hemet Unified School District bus drivers have repeatedly worked longer than state safety rules allow, raising concerns among transportation employees about fatigue behind the wheel of buses carrying students.
The allegations were made in complaints submitted March 28 and April 18 to the CHP’s Motor Carrier Safety Unit by whistleblowers in the district’s transportation department. The employees allege the district has routinely scheduled or permitted drivers to exceed legal limits on daily and multi-day work hours.
The complaints cite information the employees said came from Hemet Unified’s digital timekeeping system. In the March complaint, employees alleged that more than 40 drivers exceeded state limits hundreds of times between July 2025 and March 2026.
According to that complaint, employees identified 247 primary violations, including 227 instances in which drivers worked between 80 and 85 hours during an eight-day period, above the state limit. The complaint also alleged 19 instances in which drivers worked more than 90 hours in an eight-day span and 20 cases in which drivers exceeded the 16-hour daily on-duty limit.
A second complaint, dated April 18, alleged that from January through April, at least 16 drivers worked more than 16 hours in a single day. It also cited more than 100 cases in which drivers worked beyond 80 hours during a rolling eight-day period from Jan. 5 to April 17, including nine employees who allegedly surpassed 90 hours.
The April complaint warned that fatigued commercial drivers pose a serious safety risk and said the numbers, if accurate, suggest the district could be operating in violation of transportation safety laws. The complaint said its purpose was to bring attention to the issue before a serious crash or injury occurs.
CHP Sgt. Omar Morales of the agency’s Border Division said the investigation began in mid-April and is being handled jointly by the motor carrier safety units in the Border and Inland divisions. Morales said Thursday that he could not discuss details of the inquiry but expected it to be completed within the next couple of months.
One employee who spoke on condition of anonymity said more than six workers turned to the CHP and the media after they believed internal concerns were not addressed by district transportation leadership and an administrator. The employee said the alleged violations are considered significant in the commercial driving industry because state law places strict limits on school bus driver hours.
California rules generally limit school bus drivers to 10 hours of driving in a day, prohibit them from remaining on duty more than 16 hours after starting work, and bar them from driving after accumulating 80 on-duty hours during any eight consecutive days.
District spokesperson Brenda Aguirre-Hassan said the claim that employees previously reported the concerns to district officials has not been substantiated. She said Hemet Unified has not received formal complaints directly tied to the allegations, but is reviewing personnel-related issues connected to the CHP investigation.
Aguirre-Hassan said the district follows safety procedures intended to comply with pupil transportation laws and regulations, including recurring training for employees. She said Hemet Unified uses both digital time records and manual logs to track driver service hours, and that those records are reviewed internally and made available to the CHP during terminal inspections.
The district is also considering improvements to its auditing software that would provide real-time warnings when drivers approach legal service-hour limits, Aguirre-Hassan said. She added that Hemet Unified has historically received “satisfactory” ratings, the highest available, during CHP inspections before the current investigation.
Hemet Unified operates one of the larger school bus fleets in Southern California and has served as a regional transportation provider for other school districts and agencies since 2014, when former Transportation Manager Michael Fogerty expanded the department’s outside busing services. District officials have said those contracts help cover operating costs, support fleet improvements and keep transportation financially self-sufficient.
The district did not provide a full list of agencies for which it provides transportation. The April complaint, however, said Hemet Unified serves districts including Perris Union High School District, Perris Elementary, Nuview Union Elementary, Romoland, San Jacinto Unified and Val Verde Unified, among others.
The complaint alleged that the volume of outside work brings in millions of dollars and that some employees believe the district is prioritizing contract demands over safety. Aguirre-Hassan said Hemet Unified currently employs 239 professional school bus drivers.
The April complaint also raised concerns about leadership turnover in the transportation department, saying two executive directors, three transportation managers and one coordinator have left in recent years. It alleged that some newer managers lacked sufficient knowledge of pupil transportation regulations.
The anonymous employee said the department has struggled with management and communication since Fogerty retired about five years ago. The complaint also noted that Jeff Keeney, previously principal of Valle Vista Elementary School, was appointed executive director of transportation, and alleged that leadership placed too much emphasis on morale-building rather than regulatory expertise.
Aguirre-Hassan said student safety remains the district’s top priority and that Hemet Unified is committed to transparency, accountability and continued compliance with transportation safety requirements.
