Industry expert, NAPT Hall of Famer, TSD Tenured Faculty Member, and consultant Linda Bluth, Ed.D joins us for the first time on the podcast to share insights on students with special needs. She addresses the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), departmental collaboration, aides, alternative transportation, substitute drivers, training and more.
New Zonar CEO Charles Kriete discusses the technology provider’s combination with GPS Trackit, as well as efficiencies and innovations planned for the future.
Meeting the daily challenges of transporting children with disabilities is real and
complex. These challenges are not new, but they are increasingly multifaceted. On top of the challenge list in many school districts is driver shortages, followed by the cost of transportation services. What can be overwhelming is the increase in competing priorities to safely transport children with disabilities.
The pressure resulting from how to accomplish safe transportation for these children can result in inadequate decision-making. Guided by the principles of safety, responsibility and entitlement under federal and state law it is imperative to aspire to respond to challenges for safe transportation of children with disabilities by timely addressing the “Do’s and Don’ts” under pressure. I am realizing more and more about the importance of knowing what is and is not required under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
In addition to federal law, it is critical to be well-versed about state law pertaining to the related service of transportation for eligible children under the IDEA. Under the
IDEA Part B regulations, transportation is defined as a related service that includes: “(i) Travel to and from school and between schools; (ii) Travel in and around school buildings; and (iii) Specialized equipment (such as special or adapted buses, lifts, and ramps), if required to provide special transportation for a child with a disability.” (34 CFR §300.34(c)(16).
At first glance, this IDEA definition appears clear. In reality, unique individual child transportation requirements necessitate extensive knowledge about the related service of transportation and its explicit requirements.
Understanding the role of the individualized education program (IEP) team’s responsibility under the IDEA to develop, approve and implement the related service transportation is essential. Approved transportation services should always be documented in the IEP to avoid misunderstandings and potential IDEA compliance violations. The IEP team meeting should always include all the qualified personnel necessary to make an informed decision, including the parent.
Don’t make unilateral transportation decisions without the attendance of all stakeholders that are required for implementing an IEP. The following is an example of a costly mistake that happened multiple times during my career. The IEP team, under pressure from a single parent, required that a child be picked up first and dropped off last.
This was solely based upon the parent’s work schedule and not the needs of her child, based upon their disability. Unknown to transportation, the IEP team approved the request. It was not feasible to implement but still approved and written into the child’s IEP. The parent emphatically stated her request was “required under the IDEA.” The IEP team was intimidated and believed her.
This IEP decision resulted in a hearing officers’ requirement for the school district to add a new route to implement the approved IEP service. Can you imagine the unintentional effect of this IEP team’s unilateral decision? Make sure that the IEP team is fully knowledgeable about the IDEA transportation related service requirements, and do not make a decision based upon false information.
Another example of a costly mistake is when a parent at an IEP meeting claims, citing IDEA, their child is required to be transported to after-school care 17 miles away from
their home address. The IEP team unwisely believes the parent and approves their request.
The lesson to be learned is don’t believe everything that a person says without knowing how the IDEA addresses a specific issue. Be knowledgeable about what state law says on a specific topic and how the school district’s policies and procedures address the issue. In the previous example, it is likely that if the school district transports children without disabilities to requested after-school care or daycare, the school district will also be required to do so for children with disabilities as a matter of equity. These are just two examples of challenges whereby poor decision-making resulted in an avoidable costly error.
It is essential to know federal and state laws pertaining to transportation service eligibility requirements for children with disabilities. It is wise to rethink in advance
how to best provide these transportation services for children with disabilities. Utilizing school transportation data can improve decision-making. Accessing all funding sources helps to offset costly transportation services. One example is billing Medicaid when it is an allowable transportation expense.
Communication and coordination between multiple school district departments is key to problem-solving. It is key to be knowledgeable and current about best practices and school transportation literature concerning safe transportation of children with disabilities.
Editor’s Note: As reprinted in the November 2024 issue of School Transportation News.
Linda F. Bluth, Ed.D. is a national compliance and regulatory expert on IDEA transportation law and provisions. She is a tenured faculty member of the TSD Conference, a regular STN contributor, and a Hall of Fame member of the National Association for Pupil Transportation.
Keynote trainers and conversations at the TSD Conference and Trade Show last week focused on seeing students with special needs as people first and consistently supporting them in their distinctive requirements.
“I always ask: ‘Is this in the best interest of the kid?’” Dana Rosen, TSD keynote speaker and assistant director of transportation services for student safety and support for Cypress-Fairbanks ISD in Texas, shares how she uses her special education background to support both transportation staff and students with special needs on the school bus ride.
A family in Memphis, Tennessee, is suing Germantown School District after Dogwood Elementary School allegedly prohibited their son’s service dog from returning to school, reported WREG 3.
Their 9-year-old son is nonverbal, has physical and intellectual disabilities, and suffers from 10 to 15 seizures a day, among other conditions.
The boy, who is not identified in this writing, reportedly received a service dog named Herbie in the spring. The dog is trained to alert others when the boy is about to have a seizure.
According to the lawsuit filed on Nov. 8, the school claims Herbie spent most of his time at school not in the presence of the boy, sniffing others, eating their food, and ignoring commands. The school also claimed that the dog had caused the boy to fall twice.
The article states that the parents, who claim Herbie is well behaved at home, tried to work with the school but the principal told them that the dog was no longer welcome. This would be a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
The district stated via the article that it has allowed service animals in its schools for several years and will continue to do so. Additionally, the district denied any allegation of violating ADA and Section 5
Tony Corpin sat down with Laura Greene-Halley, First Student’s senior director of student services, to discuss the company’s “First Serves” program that is designed to partner with transportation to create an successful learning environment for students with special needs and disabilities.
FRISCO, Texas — School transportation professionals face unique challenges in keeping students safe from sexual abuse, especially those who have disabilities.
“Students are at greater risk of sexual abuse during transportation due to factors like access, privacy, and power dynamics,” explained Christy Schiller, the vice president of consulting for abuse prevention firm Praesidium during a Sunday general session at TSD Conference. “Drivers and aides have a lot of unsupervised contact with students, and there are often opportunities for privacy that predators can exploit.”
Schiller has over 30 years of experience in this field. She emphasized the importance of strategic supervision.
“If you’re not exhausted at the end of the day from vigilantly monitoring students, you’re not doing it right,” she added.
The session covered statistics on the scope of the problem, the dynamics of both adult-to-student and student-to-student abuse, and practical strategies student transportation providers can implement to mitigate these risks. Schiller urged attendees to also educate parents on the warning signs and importance of prevention.
“This abuse is preventable if we’re proactive about creating the safest possible environment,” Schiller said. “Student transportation providers play a critical role in protecting this vulnerable population.”
The discussion focused on enhancing abuse prevention and safety culture in organizations. That includes training and retraining staff to ensure that no actions with students can be misconstrued.
“Just because an adult shows a red flag behavior does not necessarily mean they’re grooming a student. It may just mean we need to remind them that we have a new normal now,” she added.
Meanwhile, she addressed the evolution of understanding grooming tactics, moving away from the “dangerous stranger” framework to recognizing the “skilled predator.” Schiller shared research indicating that survivors often reported an average of 14 unique grooming behaviors prior to the abuse occurring.
“It’s very common that we see these behaviors, I would argue, though not all of these behaviors have the same type of intent,” she noted.
Schiller emphasized the importance of conducting thorough background checks and screening, not only for transportation staff but volunteers who may have high levels of access to students.
“When there’s an incident, the plaintiff’s attorneys are saying, we want to see their personnel file, and so documenting that you have screened, you’ve talked to former employers” is crucial.
The discussion also highlighted the need for training on boundaries, separating the behavior from the person, and proactively monitoring high-risk situations. “If we can manage boundaries, we’re going to prevent a lot of abuse because we want to interrupt those behaviors early, and we want to teach people to separate the person from the behavior,” Schiller said.
She emphasized that creating a supportive environment where staff feel comfortable reporting concerns without fear of repercussions is essential. By addressing these issues, schools and districts can work to ensure the safety and well-being of students while fostering a culture of trust and accountability.
Parental involvement is also important, she said, in setting boundaries and reporting concerns as is the need for swift, compassionate responses to allegations, and the role of leadership in maintaining vigilance.
The conversation highlighted the challenges of “pass the trash” laws, which rely on self-disclosure by job applicants that they have not been previously charged or accused but perhaps not convicted of a prior crime, and emphasized the necessity of thorough screening processes and continuous monitoring. Schiller also discussed the importance of a culture that values safety, clear standards, and effective communication across all levels and with external partners was underscored, along with the necessity of addressing the forgetting curve to sustain safety initiatives.
FRISCO, Texas — With more school districts turning to private companies to provide non-school bus transportation for students with special needs, the time is now for public-sector professionals and non-profit safety advocates to develop standards for service, driver training, background checks, oversight and more, according to panelists who discussed essential considerations when contracting with such firms.
That was the message from a panel that discussed necessary considerations for selecting non-school bus vehicle providers to open Monday’s agenda at TSD Conference.
While several states have developed regulations governing these services, consistent standards are lacking nationwide amid a lack of school bus drivers and the school buses themselves not always being the most feasible vehicle, or the one that provides the least restrictive environment. As a result, the National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT) issued a statement earlier this year that it is “important to enumerate clear and reasonable criteria to help school districts assess these services and ensure that they meet their operational needs and the needs of their children.”
And the National Congress for School Transportation has brought the topic to its state delegations to vote on potential guidelines next May in Des Moines, Iowa.
“We’re not used to options,” said Launi Schmutz-Harden, a TSD Tenured Faculty member and retired director of transportation for Washington County Schools in St. George, Utah, during the general session sponsored by EverDriven. “They came in very quickly and they transported students quicker than we were able to put policies in place, procedures in place, training. I think the cart was before the horse and now we’re [playing] catch-up. As a transportation community we have new partners and we need to grow together.”
NAPT public policy liaison Peter Mannella, who moderated the panel discussion, said the pupil transportation industry is “in a grown-up moment having a mature conversation about what do we want for the kids.”
“The lobbyist in me always looks for opportunities for people I work with, my clients, to advance themselves to empower themselves. I think that’s kind of where we’re at with this,” he continued. “When you’re empowered, you don’t let things happen to you. You get involved in making what’s supposed to happen, happen. Your voice is there, your strength is there, your knowledge is there.”
He added that the industry now has “some amazing services that are being provided, that cropped up because we’re an entrepreneurial economy. … This community is saying, that’s good but it would be better if we could shape it differently, if we could put some restrictions or regulations or requirements around it to help us be sure we’re doing the right thing.”
Susan Shutrump, also a TSD Tenured Faculty member president and a recently retired supervisor of occupational and physical therapy services for the Trumbull County Educational Center in Niles, Ohio, said the discussion was a recognition that the conversation about transporting students with disabilities and special needs has “finally gotten to the point where we are looking at individualized transportation plans that go beyond a child’s individual education plan.”
“We’re calling groups together, we’re getting everyone to the table to sometimes write very complex individual transportation plans, and what I’ve heard for many, many years is when we talk about the vehicle, the transporter will say, ‘That’s not the purview of the IEP team. You don’t have that say. That’s one of the things we keep to ourselves.’
“But what we’re finding, as we know, is there’s certain equipment that can’t be used in all these different vehicles,” she continued. “And, so, in some sense, if we have to have certain specialized procedures, certain equipment, it is vehicle specific.”
She said the industry must work together to make appropriate, safe decisions, and alternative transportation is just another tool in the tool box to consider.
“It can work toward the needs of our children. So, thank goodness, we have this option,” she added.
Still, Shutrump said one districts are especially vulnerable when private companies believe that because they are transporting students they are exempt from safety restraint laws that apply only to yellow buses.
“It was never intended to be utilized or waived in these other vehicles where it’s even more important because they aren’t big and yellow and [aren’t] going to push anything out of their way in a crash,” she said. “You’re going see incredibly more high forces, G-forces and injury-producing forces in a smaller vehicle.”
Alexandra Robinson, the third TSD Tenured Faculty member and former executive director at the New York City Department of Education, expressed concern about the potential pitfalls of districts entering into agreements without the full involvement of transportation professionals.
“I get worried that we have people who are not experts in the room making decisions for us and then, while we are technically meeting the law because we are getting students to school, we are not meeting the intent of the law,” she said.
She warned school districts are being sued by parents of children with disabilities or special needs because transportation departments aren’t aware of contract details with alternative service providers.
“Often times, your contracts are written at your procurement and purchasing level or written at your (community-based organization) or superintendent level, and the department for which the contracting services are being purchased aren’t even at the table,” Robinson said. “You need to know for what you are contracting and do you have any input. … Our performance expectations should not be any different than the (key performance indicators) we set up for our own fleets.”
She insisted that monitoring and compliance of alternative transportation services needs to “hands on, observable, in person, being able to actually screen a wheelchair, meeting with parents, all of that stuff before a child even begins a service.”
“You need to build into compensation that when there is a lack of performance there is a violation or a liquidated damage because that will encourage your contractor, if at all possible, to be on time,” she continued. “You need to make the violation and/or liquidated damage important enough that the contractor will not just say, ‘It’s only $250 today if we don’t have a driver. We’ll take the hit.’ You want to ask for enough indemnity, liability, damage and property insurance that would cover not just you, not just them, but all of the neighbors, families and rest of the district because it will get expensive if something happens. If a company cannot get bonded and/or insured for the amount you’re asking then that might be a problem because they don’t have a track record with their carrier to get that kind of coverage.”
Along that line, Schmutz-Harden said transportation departments professionals need to make sure that alternative companies train employees to the district’s standards “because that kid deserves the best driver.”
“They need training on what to do on a day-to-day basis, but they also need to know what to do in an emergency. There’s a big difference in what to do what to do when evacuating children,” she said, emphasizing the importance of annual fitness tests.
Robinson also said districts should insist upon complete, regular updates from alternative providers about the number of hours their drivers are logging not only with them but in other jobs to prevent accidents caused by fatigue.
From left, TSD Tenured Faculty members Alexandra Robinson, Susan Shutrump and Launi Schmutz-Harden address attendees on considerations to be made when selecting alternative transportation providers, as while NAPT Public Policy Liaison Peter Mannella facilitates.
STN Publisher and President Tony Corpin sat down with a few special guests at this week’s Transporting Students with Disabilities & Special Needs (TSD) Conference and Trade Show.
Gregg Prettyman, vice president of FirstAlt by contractor First Student, shares the program’s successes in serving students with special needs or disabilities and dispels myths about the alternative transportation industry.
Mike Ippolito, general manager of School Radio by Diga-Talk, shares how product developments like a new Wi-Fi-enabled radio can increase school bus connectivity and student safety.
Transfinder’s Vice President of Marketing John Daniels and client Annette “Kecia” Ling, transportation director of operations and planning for Savannah-Chatham County Public School System in Georgia, discuss leveraging technology to provide uniquely customized transportation service for students with special needs.
Hear soundbites from some of our attendees as they share what they found useful amid the learning, training and networking at the TSD Conference and Trade Show.
The 2024 Transporting Students with Disabilities and Special Needs (TSD) Conference in Frisco, Texas featured a full schedule of educational sessions, empowering keynotes, hands-on training, a product demonstration and onsite Ride and Drive event and more! Check out these daily recap videos from the conference.
FRISCO, Texas – The Hands-on School Bus Evacuations for Students with Special Needs & Preschoolers class took place on both Friday and Saturday at Frisco ISD. Instructors included industry veterans and consultants Denny Coughlin and Launi Harden; Aaron Harris, national sales manager for seating manufacturer BESI; and Diandra Neugent, transportation manager for the Community Council of Idaho.
Classroom instruction and quiz time was followed by hands-on practice with fire extinguishers. Fake smoke was used to fill a bus on which were placed hidden dolls representing student riders. Participants braved the smoke to “rescue” the students, with some becoming emotional.
The day opened with special education attorney Betsey Helfrich’s keynote on “Avoiding the Bumps and Legal Hazards” in the transportation of special education students, followed by a general session on preventing sexual abuse during transportation led by Christy Schiller, vice president of consulting at Praesidium, Inc.
More sessions were held on technology usage, driver training, risk management, and transporting medically fragile students. The day closed with a tailgate-themed reception and dinner held on the trade show floor, providing attendees and vendors with a casual and interactive networking event.
FRISCO, Texas — Craig Beaver of Beaverton School District near Portland, Oregon, was awarded the STN Transportation Director of the Year award. Behavior specialist Patrick Mulick presented a morning keynote exploring strategies for helping students with autism bring out the best in themselves every day.
Offsite, the roadeo and training competition and the Hands-on School Bus Evacuations for Students with Special Needs & Preschoolers class took place at Frisco ISD locations.
Sessions continued on topics including positive behavior interventions and supports (PBIS), parent communication, school bus Wi-Fi, student transition plans, wheelchair crash test research, the impact of driver and budget shortages, understanding the federally recognized 13 disabilities, and more.
FRISCO, Texas — Plano Independent School District located just miles from the TSD Conference this weekend claimed the top two spots in the annual roadeo and training competition as Texas continued its dominance of the event.
The team of Andwain Coleman and Mohmed Omera tied coworkers Mohsen Al Asad and Nabila Audi with scores of 889 out of a possible 1,020 points. Alexandra Robinson, the lead coordinator for the roadeo organizer Women in Transportation. (wit.) group and a TSD Conference Tenured Faculty member, said during a banquet Saturday night hosted by lead sponsor Q’Straint/Sure-Lok that the roadeo judges broke the tie by comparing times for finishing the event.
Coleman and Omera clinched the victory as their time was six minutes faster than that of Al Asad and Audi. Robinson said it was the first time in the roadeo’s 30-year history that such a tiebreaker was needed. It was the fourth consecutive win for a Texas team over the dating back to 2019. The competition was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The team of Elizabeth Berninger and Jennifer Gue representing the Washington Association for Pupil Transportation took home third place with a score of 885 points. Ten teams competed at host Frisco ISD in 9 events or stations and also took a written test.
Coleman finished second in last year’s competition and said he partnered with Omera earlier this year after his previous partner was promoted to a different position. It was Coleman’s third consecutive year competing in the event. This was Omera’s second national competition.
When asked about their confidence following the competition, Coleman said, “Ain’t nobody perfect, I know we had some mess ups there, but I know overall we did pretty good.”
Coleman and Omera both have been driving for Plano ISD for the past six school years, with Coleman previously driving a truck for 20 years.
Looking ahead, Coleman and Omera confirmed they plan to compete at the roadeo competition and training next year, as they already won their Texas district competition. The next step is competing in regionals in March.
When discussing the challenges of their Plano ISD school bus routes, Coleman and Omera cited student behavior and other motorists on the road as the biggest daily challenges they face.
FRISCO, Texas – In a proactive move to address growing concerns over incidents of abuse and neglect on school buses, transportation leaders from across the nation gathered for a training seminar focused on building effective programs for school bus attendants and monitors.
The TSD Conference “Best Practices for the Training of School Bus Monitors & Aides” seminar on Friday, led by Launi Schmutz-Harden and Randall Crawford, brought together a room full of transportation professionals eager to learn, problem-solve and share best practices.
“Safety has to be the top priority, and that starts with ensuring our bus attendants have the right training, tools and support to handle any situation that may arise,” said Schmutz-Harden, a TSD Tenured Faculty member who retired after 30 years as a school transportation director in Utah. “We can’t afford to underestimate the abilities of these students or the importance of having qualified, well-trained staff on our buses.”
The training covered a range of critical topics, from understanding the unique needs of students with disabilities to mastering de-escalation techniques and emergency preparedness. Attendees also discussed the challenges of hiring qualified candidates and the importance of ongoing collaboration with human resources, special education departments and other key stakeholders.
“It’s not enough to just provide the bare minimum training,” said Crawford, director of transportation for Clay County Schools in Jacksonville, Florida. “We have to be proactive in equipping our bus attendants with the knowledge and skills to handle the real-world situations they’ll face on a daily basis.”
One key takeaway from the three-hour seminar was the need for hands-on, scenario-based training that allows attendants to practice skills like properly securing students in wheelchairs or responding to behavioral outbursts. Attendees also emphasized the value of learning from past failures and using those experiences to continuously improve their training programs.
Schmutz-Harden and Crawford provided attendees with several real-life scenarios to discuss and problem-solve.
“There’s no one-size-fits-all solution, but by sharing our challenges and successes, we can all learn from each other and raise the bar for student transportation safety,” said Harden.
As school districts across the country grapple with staffing shortages and budgetary constraints, the TSD Monitor Training Seminar underscored the critical importance of investing in comprehensive training programs for school bus attendants. With the safety and well-being of students at stake, transportation leaders are committed to making this a top priority.
Schmutz-Harden and Crawford discussed with attendees the challenges of hiring qualified attendants, including physical fitness requirements and communication skills. The discussion covered the importance of comprehensive training covering student behavior management, emergency preparedness, understanding disabilities, the need for collaboration with HR, special education departments, and other stakeholders to develop robust training programs and identifying any gaps or needs, sharing of real-world examples and failures to learn from and improve training, emphasis on ongoing communication, monitoring, and continuous improvement of training efforts.
The session also discussed the legal and compliance requirements for training monitors, including CPR and first aid certification. The attendees shared their experiences with training requirements and the challenges of finding time to conduct training.
Harden-Schmutz and Crawford emphasized the importance of meeting legal requirements and the potential financial implications of not doing so. The group discussed the need for better training on legal requirements and the importance of ongoing training and support for monitors. This, they concluded, should include a process of conducting ride checks, either in person or using video monitoring to ensure protocols are being followed.
“Checks and balances –if you don’t have that, put it in place because you can find those actionable items that are there,” Crawford added.
The main action items for attendees at the conclusion of the seminar were to evaluate their current practices, advocate for increased training resources, and explore partnerships to enhance their bus attendant training programs.
Randall Crawford speaks during the TSD Conference monitor and aide training seminar on Nov. 8, 2024. Photo by Vincent Rios Creative.
FRISCO, Texas – Stressful situations and conflicts involving students with disabilities or special needs are best de-escalated with dignity by “remembering that these children are individuals first” and understanding how the human brain works, consultant Jo Mascorro said.
“I want you to walk out of here seeing and thinking just a little bit differently … about how you’re going to choose to respond to challenging situations,” she added during the Friday opening training session at the Transporting Students with Disabilities and Special Needs Conference held at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Dallas Frisco Hotel and Convention Center.
Mascorro, a child behavioral expert, explained that the part of the brain known as the amygdala — which is Greek for the word “almond” — is found in all brains. Emphasis was placed on its role as the emotion center when she shared the phrase “screaming almonds” as a reminder of its intense response during challenging behavior demonstrations. “When the brain is anxious or angry, the screaming almonds experience a huge chemical release that results in the executive functioning of the frontal lobe to be highly affected, and it may start to shut down,” she noted.
That result is more acute in children since their frontal lobes are not fully developed, resulting in their thinking and reasoning through the screaming almonds, Mascorro added.
“Why is this such a big deal? Because children are not fully myelinated yet and still learning how to understand the long-term consequences of their behaviors. When you add the complications of a disability, the results can be devastating,” she continued.
She said there was not a brain in the room that doesn’t want to anticipate, to know what is expected, who, what, when, and how. She told the attendees they could count in double digits the things they had control over when they woke up Friday morning.
“Think how important control is to you,” she said.
She shared there are two primary things that, universally, all brains want and need and that is the ability to anticipate and control some aspect of what is happening in our daily lives.
“On the other hand, think about children with special needs. Typically, they don’t get to decide when they’re getting up, what they’re going to wear, what they’re going to have for breakfast,” Mascorro observed. “The second their day begins, an adult is more than likely determining their life choices. What is the one thing they can control? Well of course, It’s their behavior, so why would they want to give that up?”
Because children’s brains are constantly changing, both drivers and educators should have daily conversations with children about expectations for bus behavior. One point to ponder, said Mascorro, would be that when a behavior simply won’t go away, consider giving it a time and place where it CAN happen.
She shared one driver’s successful ploy. He was trying to determine the “loudest group ever” and challenged the children to sit quietly, save their loud voices, and pay attention to traffic along most of the route. They were to watch for a specific cue, and when given the signal, could scream their loudest at a designated spot the driver predetermined each day.
Approximately 80 percent of what we communicate is through nonverbal visual expression, she added, so to assume that a student who is nonspeaking is not communicating efficiently is false. Children who struggle with expressive/receptive language skills are extreme communicators if educators would learn to listen to what their body and/or vocalizations are saying.
“Whenever a student who is nonverbal makes vocalizations, that is a cue for the driver or aide to acknowledge and engage with that student,” Mascorro said. “Perhaps, validate their feelings by saying things like ‘I’m so sorry I need to be so close while I help buckle your seatbelt.’ Or, ‘This will just take a minute. I need to keep you safe” when you’re securing their wheelchair”
“If we get in there and just start manipulating the child with no regard to proximity or not speaking to them first to explain what is happening, we’re just fueling the ‘screaming almonds to release chemistry and elevate the emotional response. You must listen to their behavior because behavior is communication.”
She shared that research bears out that anger is the emotion that humans recognize first and hold onto most firmly. Children who face communication challenges understandably may feel angry when they’re frustrated, resulting in outbursts that may seem baffling but shouldn’t. For example, drivers and aides can contribute to helping students alleviate some of the more stressful moments requiring compliance by clearly communicating to the student what they’re about to do, are doing, when it will almost be over, and when they are done.
“Talk to the student using verbal artistry,” Mascorro recommended.
Every time a child misbehaves, she told her audience to respond as if they see a “Y in the road.” The bottom of the “Y” is the targeted behavior. The middle of the “Y” is the fork in the road. She said some adults choose one way that begs the question of what immediate, negative consequences should the child face as a result of their noncompliance?
“Consider that it should prompt a bigger question. Is there a void in the skills of what the child SHOULD do so they wouldn’t have gotten into trouble in the first place? In other words, I wonder if they know how to … and how do we TEACH to that void?” she said.
She recalled the story of a man with autism who explained his emotions when, as a 12-year-old, he got into trouble for throwing rocks after the teacher told him at recess to go out and play. In his mind, and since he had no friends, he was playing, by throwing rocks! She confronted him to stop, he was then confused by the mixed message, and as a result, hit the teacher. “When I asked him, at that moment, what was he thinking, he responded by saying, ‘I didn’t hit the teacher because I was mad at her. I hit her because she didn’t know I couldn’t find my words, She was the adult, she was the teacher, and since she knew I had autism, she should know I couldn’t find the words,” Mascorro recalled, noting that the man provided a profound moment of clarity.
She also recounted the story of adults who had transported a girl for 10 years and emphasized her cognitive impairment instead of recognizing her abilities. In just one bus ride with the child, Mascorro saw that she knew and reacted preemptively to turns on the route and her approaching home, and even raised her feet before the bus reached a set of railroad tracks.
In another case, Mascorro found a solution for a boy with autism who was constantly disciplined for hitting others and running. She learned he was fixated on farm-to-market roads, so she requested a schematic of the school campus, renamed all the hallways farm-to-market roads, then taught the staff to change their directives from “remember, no running” to “head down farm-to-market road such and such to get to music class.”
This resulted in the student imprinting in his brain every day what to do instead of what not to do.
Mascorro said the words chosen during a conflict can make all the difference in whether a difficult situation escalates or is defused, noting that all too often adults, with the best of intentions, make statements where their intent does not match the outcome they wish to experience.
“A lot of the times we make statements that make us the bad guy and we don’t even know it. … When someone’s angry, what in heaven’s name possesses us to say, ‘Calm down?’ Calm down is not a de-escalation phrase. It’s an escalation phrase,” she added. “We’re the adults. We need to have a better understanding of how to step up. We need to land on what we want, not what we don’t want.”
The environment of any human interaction also plays a role in how it plays out.
When it comes to the transportation environment, Mascorro said there are “three guarantees” whenever a driver steps on a bus to transport children. “Every day, you’re always going to be older than the kids on it. By default, you’re smarter. And, third, everybody’s got a brain. … You need to use that information,” she added.
Children, like adults, alter their behavior based on where they are and who they’re with, which means they may act differently on the school bus than elsewhere. “Parents say, ‘They don’t do that at home.’ There’s a remote possibility they don’t, so why are you comparing the two environments?” Mascorro said.
As a result, she said it should come as no surprise that children who come from homes where routines and rituals don’t match those of the school environment, react negatively on the bus when they’re expected to wear a seatbelt, speak quietly and follow the rules. Consequently, a situation with a swearing child may best be dealt with by teaching that “there are school words and non-school words … non-bus behaviors and bus behaviors,” Mascorro added.
Among Mascorro’s other advice:
Validating an individuals’ feelings first is of paramount importance. (“When a student tries to punch, the adult may attempt to say instead of no hitting, ‘Hitting says you’re really mad right now.’When a student is crying, rather than the adult say stop crying, they may try and say, “I’m so sorry you’re sad. Crying tells me you’re really hurting right now!” Also, she recommended telling students what behavior you want to see happen, rather than what you don’t want or saying things like no, don’t and stop.
Distraction and disengagement are the greatest methods to defuse a brewing conflict. “The minute you draw your line in the sand and have your Davy Crockett moment, something bad is more than likely going to happen,” she said. “Try instead to say things like, ‘You really need to see this!’ ‘Oh, wow! You’re not going to believe what I have in my office!’ or “’You’re not going to believe what you’ll get to see sitting in this row. Sometimes you can generate distractions by using imagination, music, or mystery moments.”
Jon Boyles, a driver/trainer with the Montana Association for Pupil Transportation, said he learned a number of new ideas from Mascorro’s presentation and looks forward to testing and sharing them with colleagues. “I’ve made a list. I think the best think people can do is implement one thing at a time. Don’t try to change three things at once,” he said. “I’m a bow hunter and when I’m changing the way I shoot, I try one thing at a time. If I change everything at once, how do I know what worked?” he said.
Specialized hands-on training that day included: the NHTSA Child Passenger Safety on School Bus Training, the Wheelchair Securement Boot Camp Training & Certification hosted by AMF-Bruns of America, and the Wheelchair Securement Training plus Special Needs Roadeo presented by Q-Straint. Classes on driver and aide training as well as the foundations of special needs transportation were led by industry veterans Launi Harden and Alexandra Robinson, respectively.
The day closed with a Safety & Technology Product Demonstration and Special Needs Ride & Drive where attendees got up close and personal with buses and technology that could help in their operations.
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A TSD panel consisted of (from left): Steven Whaley, alternative fuels manager for Blue Bird; Tom Hopkins, business development manager for ROUSH CleanTech; Diana Mikelski, director of transportation for District 211 in Illinois; and Brian Raygor, national autogas business manager for Ferrellgas.
A TSD panel consisted of (from left): Steven Whaley, alternative fuels manager for Blue Bird; Tom Hopkins, business development manager for ROUSH CleanTech; Diana Mikelski, director of transportation for District 211 in Illinois; and Brian Raygor, national autogas business manager for Ferrellgas.
“Everything we do here impacts the life of a child” is Joshua Wilson daily mantra.
“I personally had my life turned around because of the intervention of my childhood bus driver (shoutout to Ted Bair), so I know how much a good driver can matter,” added Wilson, one of this month’s Rising Stars who is featured in the November edition of School Transportation News magazine. “Conversely, when drivers do a bad job, setting up adversarial situations, berating students, or getting emotionally drawn into saying or doing things that are harmful, it can be very damaging to students’ ability to be successful in the classroom.”
Wilson started his career in pupil transportation as a special needs school bus driver for Teton County School District in Wyoming in September 2008. He served in this role for nine years before moving to Colorado to become a CDL examiner for Durango School District and the surrounding districts, as well as any CDL applicant in southwest Colorado including: Budweiser, Coca Cola, whitewater companies, logging trucks, and lumber delivery companies. Four and a half years ago he and his family moved to Tucson, Arizona, where he became the transportation supervisor for Vail School District — marking 16 years in pupil transportation.
Each year, School Transportation News chooses 10 Rising Stars based on nominations submitted by school districts and companies around the industry. These individuals have shown exemplary commitment and dedication in the student transportation industry and continue to demonstrate innovation in their roles. This year’s Rising Stars are featured in the November magazine issue.
In September, Wilson accepted a job offer from Specialized Education Services, Inc., as the national director of student transportation. Specialized Education Services operates over 95 schools and in 90 district classrooms across the U.S., with a focus on students who need academic, emotional, social and behavior support. Not all schools operating transportation, but Wilson will oversee the ones that do. He is responsible for the transportation of all alternative vehicles, from vans to minibuses. He also oversees training, compliance and KPI monitoring for schools in multiple states.
STN spoke with Wilson regarding his previous responsibilities at Vail School District, as he hadn’t started at Specialized Education Services at the time of being interviewed.
“I love to serve others, both our staff, and our community,” he said of his favorite part of the job, adding that while a supervisor isn’t always a fun job, it’s rewarding. “Helping set up staff for success is something that really gives me joy. Every time I see one of our drivers behind the wheel of their first route, I feel proud of what we have been able to do for them.”
He added that if transportation can provide a safe, respectful and nurturing environment for students, then they can arrive at school ready to learn. “I’m very passionate about the importance of pupil transportation, and I really work hard to instill that passion in our staff,” he continued. “I like to refer to bus drivers as the offensive line of a school district. It’s not a sexy job, and it doesn’t get all the praise and shine of the quarterback, but no team can win a Super Bowl without good linemen. When a school excels, receives awards or accolades, we like to celebrate that with our staff because those are our awards too.”
Updating Training
Some recent projects Wilson worked on for Vail School District was ramping up the district’s training program, ending the driver shortage at Vail and renewing their focus on providing exceptional service to families with special needs. In terms of revamping training, he said transportation created its own proprietary training manuals and materials, and the shop staff built training models and cutaways to help new trainees understand the challenging inspection items.
Joshua Wilson became the national director of student transportation at Specialized Education Services, Inc., after previously supervising transportation for Vail School District in Tucson, Arizona.
“Once we dialed in the format under the new [entry-level driver training] regulations, we were able to share that program with other smaller districts who were not as fortunate,” he shared, adding that they provide CDL training, consulting, and examination services to 23 school districts, tribal and government entities.
“We have also developed several fresh and contemporary presentations so that staff, both new and experienced, will be exposed to recent, relevant, and realistic training each year,” Wilson continued. “We are currently working on additional training models and technologies like training aps, augmented reality and A.I.”
Jerry Brown, Vail’s director of transportation, said that under Wilson’s supervision the district training program underwent a “remarkable transformation.” Brown said that Wilson was “instrumental in ushering in the FMCSA’s ELDT regulations that fundamentally changed the way we trained not only our own bus driver trainees but several others from neighboring school districts,” he wrote in his nomination. “Joshua has introduced comprehensive, hands-on training modules that encompass not only the technical aspects of bus operation but also the critical components of student safety and well-being.”
Brown said Wilson integrated state-of-the-art technology and real-life scenarios to help ensure that drivers are equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary to handle any situation with confidence and competence. “His efforts have resulted in a noticeable improvement in driver performance, safety records, and overall satisfaction among our staff and students,” Brown noted.
Navigating the Driver Shortage
To combat the driver shortage, Wilson said Vail district personal worked to attract high quality people to provide a positive, healthy and supportive environment for the entire staff.
“We are proud to be one of the few districts in our area not to operate with a shortage,” Wilson said. “Starting with all of us on the management team being focused on bringing in only the highest quality people, giving them great training, paying a competitive wage, and giving them a great place to work. One of the things I like to tell applicants is that we can train anyone to be a bus driver, but we can’t train someone to have a good work ethic, to have a calling to serve their community, and to be focused on providing for the needs of our students.”
He said that being a school bus driver is too important of a job, to just “hire anybody.” Instead, he noted that it takes someone “really special to be a bus driver for us.”
Working with Special Needs Students
When transporting Vail students with special needs, Wilson said transportation worked to develop a close working relationship with the district’s SPED staff and medical team. “Our SPED drivers are well informed of their students’ behaviors and conditions,” he said. “I know that a lot of districts have issues getting information regarding IEPs, but we have worked really hard to improve that. We have a great relationship with the case managers and behavior specialists in our district, and have constant communication with school medical staff regarding student conditions and medication.”
Additionally, he said transportation provides monthly training, individualized medical training and behavior management training to all SPED staff. Brown said in his nomination that working with the special needs’ bus team has been one of Wilson’s most significant achievements. “Recognizing the unique challenges faced by these students, Joshua has implemented specialized training programs tailored to the needs of both the special needs drivers and the students they transport,” Brown wrote, adding that Wilson has fostered a culture of empathy, patience, and understanding with his team, ensuring that every student receives the care and attention they deserve. “Additionally, Joshua has collaborated with parents, school staff, and special education professionals to ensure that our department carries out individualized transportation plans that prioritize safety, comfort, and consistency for our special needs students.”
Navigating Challenges
Wilson said one challenge and benefit is that Vail operates on a year-round schedule. In terms of training and the special education department teams, he said the biggest challenge is getting everyone up and running in time for the first day, which was July 15 this year.
“Our trainers and training coordinator were working hard to get new drivers ready for the new year, not only for us, but for two of our surrounding smaller districts that we trained drivers for over the summer,” he shared. “The new drivers were practicing dry runs of routes and doing everything they could to be prepared for kids. Our SPED team only has about two weeks to route and communicate out to parents regarding the hundreds of curb-to-curb requests that we receive every year.”
Personally, he said, he works to develop new driver presentations each year so that they have a fresh, valuable training to look forward to each in-service. “Year round schooling has a ton of advantages, but it also gives us a truncated period of time to prepare each year,” he added.
Going forward, Wilson said Vail’s goal is to continue to the raise the bar for pupil transportation and help to put the word “professional” in transportation professionals. By sharing training programs with neighboring districts, he noted that they are a lighthouse district to smaller districts that don’t have the facilities and resources to invest in expensive training, professional speakers or full-time trainers and examiners.
“We are always looking for ways to improve our communication, and the quality of what we do for our community,” he said.
While he has moved on, Wilson said the next five years will show tremendous growth in the Vail community, and in the service provided to parents and students. “I see us providing training presentations to schools across Arizona, and even states beyond,” he added. “I see our transportation department being at the forefront of service, communication, and quality in Arizona, the same way our district is in the education space.”
He noted that Vail School District will open a new school, which will bring in additional busing, staff and families to their communities, along with the logistical challenges that come with it. “Tucson is experiencing tremendous growth, and it is exciting to be a part of,” he shared.
Brown concluded his nomination by stating that Wilson embodies the qualities of a true leader.
“His proactive approach to problem-solving, well-crafted training programs, and his unwavering commitment to excellence has inspired the entire transportation team,” he wrote. “He has encouraged open communication, teamwork, and continuous improvement, creating an environment where team members feel valued and empowered. Through his innovative ideas and strategic vision, Joshua has contributed significantly to the setting of a new standard for school transportation management in our district.”
On a personal level, Wilson’s oldest daughter is starting college, his son is a junior in high school, and his youngest daughter was in middle school at Arizona State Schools for Deaf and Blind.
“It makes for a pretty busy schedule,” Wilson shared of life outside of work. “My wife and I also enjoy selling herbs and seasonings at our local farmer’s market. When things aren’t so busy, I love going up in the mountains above Tucson. It reminds me a little of being back in Wyoming again.”
Read the profiles on the Rising Stars in the November issue of School Transportation News.
At the 2022 Transporting Students with Disabilities (TSD) Special Needs Conference, I
had the opportunity to facilitate a presentation on “Navigating the IDEA: Implementing
Appropriate Transportation Services for Children with Disabilities.” This presentation included three distinguished panelists, my fellow TSD Tenured Faculty members Launi Schmutz-Harden, Alexandra Robinson and Susan Shutrump. It was during this presentation, I passionately advocated for the provision of safe transportation in all modes of school transportation for children with disabilities.
I emphasized there was an urgent need for the next meeting of the 17th National Congress on Student Transportation (NCST) in May 2025 to adopt standards for all allowable school transportation vehicles serving children. The importance of alternative school transportation standards being adopted at the next NCST should not be underestimated.
A few days prior to attending the TSD Conference, a parent called me and asked, “Now that my child is no longer assigned to a yellow school bus and is transported in a van, can you assure me that this vehicle is as safe as the yellow school bus?” My answer, with zero reluctance, was “No.”
She went on to ask who can assure her that the van that her child was being transported in was as safe as the yellow school bus. I replied, “I don’t know.” Politely, she commented she was shocked that a long-time supporter of school transportation safety had no response or contact information to address her concerns. Consequently, my journey to establish the necessity for NCST to address the matter of alternative transportation vehicles and school transportation safety begun. Meeting this goal was an unyielding commitment.
In the January 2023 School Transportation News issue, Ryan Gray’s Editor’s Take, titled “Yellow or Not, Uniform Minimum Standards Are Needed,” also addressed the need. He stated, “Linda Bluth advised the [TSD Conference] audience during a Nov. 11 general session on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and transportation as a related service that the National Congress on Student Transportation (NCST) must take up the issue and set standards that these alt transportation providers are all beholden to. After all, she noted, nowhere in the IDEA is school bus mentioned, only transportation. There is a place for these companies to supplement the work of school buses, Bluth added.”
Ryan’s article provided encouragement to contact the NCST leadership and make a strong case for the inclusion of a new committee to specifically address alternative school transportation vehicles. After multiple efforts, I was pleased to learn that the Non- Traditional Vehicle Writing Committee, now referred to as the NCST Alternative Transportation Committee, was in place under the leadership of Tyler Bryan, the education associate for school transportation at the Delaware Department of Education. I was pleased to be informed that I was one of the committee’s writing team members. The membership of this writing committee includes diverse stakeholders with multiple perspectives on alternative school transportation.
Simultaneously, the National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT) under the leadership of Peter Mannella, public policy and communications liaison as well as chairperson of the public policy committee, wrote a paper approved by the NAPT Board on Alternative School Transportation Services. This paper contains the following statement. “NAPT believes that every entity which intends to transport children to and from school needs to meet certain standards of safety. Given the well-documented safety record that the school bus has attained, we believe that alternative transporters must rise to the same or similar standards to achieve that record for the children being transported.”
This statement is a part of the NAPT position paper on Alternative Transportation Services that is available in its entirety on the NAPT website and at stnonline.com/go/k9. As a member of this committee, I was pleased to have the opportunity to provide input. My committee involvement provided a further opportunity to advocate for inclusion of the topic Alternative Transportation Services at the upcoming NCST next May in Des Moines, Iowa.
My never-ending agenda was to continue to challenge the NCST to address the need for minimum standards for the use of alternative school transportation for all students. Most specifically, vulnerable individuals such as children with disabilities, homeless students and students residing in foster care that utilize alternative school transportation vehicles.
I am committed to advocating for the appropriate and safe use of alternative transportation services for children with disabilities when the yellow school bus cannot meet an individual child’s needs. This decision should only be determined by the individualized education program (IEP) team, including appropriate school and transportation personnel. It is crucial that school district and contract providers, school district personnel, drivers, parents and students as appropriate, are involved in these decisions. The IEP process is the appropriate mechanism for taking all the steps necessary to make an informed decision to provide safe transportation and meet the individual needs of a child with a disability.
At the annual IEP meeting, the IEP team should evaluate whether alternative transportation is necessary or whether the student can be transported on the school bus. Under the IDEA it is required that all school transportation personnel, including substitute personnel, receive training in accordance with federal and state regulations. Training of direct and indirect transportation personnel should always be consistent with recommended transportation services on an individual child’s IEP, in order to provide safe transportation.
Undisputable is the necessity to ensure safe and reliable transportation is a top priority. The school transportation literature persuasively notes that the yellow school bus is the safest form of school transportation and unarguably should always be considered the first means of school transportation. However, it is acknowledged that the yellow school bus cannot always meet each individual student’s specific needs. With that being said, there is no sustainable excuse to delay the setting of recommended uniform minimum standards at the upcoming NCST, to address safety regardless of the mode of school transportation.
In summary, from my past experience and efforts, the NCST has been resistant to include non-school transportation vehicles in the National Specifications and Procedures document. The inclusion of the NonTraditional Vehicle Writing Committee at the 17th NCST is a long awaited and welcomed change. I am hopeful, that the recommendations of the Non-Traditional Vehicles Committee will be adopted by the 17th NCST and included in the next National School Transportation Specifications and Procedures manual. In reality, there is no defensible rationale to reject the work of the NCST Alternative Transportation Committee attempting to improve the safety of all children transported to and from school, regardless of mode of school transportation.
Editor’s Note: As reprinted in the October 2024 issue of School Transportation News.
Linda F. Bluth, Ed.D. is a national compliance and regulatory expert on IDEA transportation law and provisions. She is a tenured faculty member of the TSD Conference, a regular contributor to School Transportation News, and a National Association Pupil Transportation Hall of Fame member.
Read remembrances of industry veteran George Edward (Ed) Donn and watch recent STN webinars on fleet electrification and school bus W-Fi.
The upcoming Transporting Students with Disabilities & Special Needs (TSD) Conference and Trade Show held Nov. 8-12, 2024 in Dallas-Frisco, Texas, hosts the conversations that transportation and education departments need to align on regarding students with special needs.
Industry consultant and TSD Tenured Faculty member Launi Schmutz-Harden joins us to discuss the role of monitors and aides on special needs routes, the hands-on emergency evacuation training at TSD, and regulating the use of non-yellow bus transportation.
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