Students gather outside the meeting Thursday of the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents. (Photo | CodePink)

On Thursday protesters disrupted a meeting of the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, holding signs and chanting slogans including “disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest,” and “Free, free Palestine!” Numerous groups participated in the demonstration including CODEPINK, UW-Milwaukee Popular University for Palestine, Wisconsin for Palestine, Wisconsin Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA), Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) UW-Madison, Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) Wisconsin, and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)-UWM. 

Protesters gathered both inside and outside the room where the Board held its meeting. With chanting and speeches the protesters interrupted the meeting with one demonstrator at one point saying that protesters “will not be allowing” the Board to conduct business during the meeting, followed by loud chants from the group as officers flowed into the room to begin arrests. Activists say that 19 people were arrested during the demonstration. 

According to a CODEPINK press release, the demonstration stemmed from questions student activists sent the Board of Regents about the University of Wisconsin’s response after students joined a wave of encampment protests on college campuses. Students pitched tents on the grounds of college campuses nationwide last spring calling for institutions to sever their ties with the government of Israel. With U.S. support, Israel launched retaliatory strikes into the Gaza Strip following the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, which killed around 1,200 Israeli civilians and resulted in hundreds being taken hostage. Since then the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have killed over 44,000 Palestinians, with a United Nations Special Committee recently finding the IDF’s warfare tactics are “consistent with genocide”. Both Hamas and Israel have been accused of war crimes in the ongoing conflict. 

University of Wisconsin students involved in protests against the war in Gaza say they continue to face hands-on law enforcement responses. Arrests during demonstrations and threats of academic punishment targeting student activists are increasing tensions with school administration, activists say, after negotiations in May quelled the college encampment protests. 

UW students have demanded that the university divest from Israel, and disclose all of the investments made in the country to date. At UW-Madison, campus police and Dane County Sheriffs broke up the encampments last spring, arresting 34 people in May. Injuries were reported both among people in and around the encampments, and among law enforcement. No arrests were ever made at the UW-Milwaukee encampments, though police monitored the protests closely.  

By May, administrators at both UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee reached separate agreements with students to end the encampment protests. In September, CODEPINK said in its press release, the Board of Regents met with student activists, who had questions about the university’s handling of the encampment protests. Activists say that the Board deferred responsibility for the protest responses to university administration, prompting the demonstration on Thursday morning. 

The Board of Regents did not respond to a request for comment on the protests Thursday. Relaying a statement to Wisconsin Examiner on behalf of the protest group, a spokesperson for CODEPINK’s branch in Madison said that the Board’s use of police against student activists “reflects a troubling disregard for dialogue or transparency.” The spokesperson added that “instead of engaging in a one-minute statement from peaceful protesters, they chose to shut off the recording and summon a heavy police presence. This response escalated to harassment by university police and arbitrary arrests of individuals who were peacefully exercising their right to participate in a public meeting.”

CODEPINK questioned why the Board won’t engage with student activists, and said that the Board is responsible for “a significant portion of the UW-Madison endowment money” and should explain how it can use that money to support Israel when the Board’s own guidelines prohibit it from knowingly providing gifts, grants, etc, to “any company, corporation or subsidiary, or affiliate” that practices or condones discrimination against particular groups. 

“The police’s use of force against peaceful protestors underscores a disturbing trend of prioritizing secrecy over public trust,” reads CODEPINK’s emailed statement to Wisconsin Examiner. “Transparency and accountability should not be met with violence, especially in spaces meant to serve the public and promote education.”

Such sentiments aren’t exclusive to UW-Madison. In late October, UW-Milwaukee student members of SDS-UWM held a press conference claiming to have faced continued intimidation by campus police. UW-Milwaukee student Robby Knapp recounted being awoken to someone banging on his door one June night at 2:30 a.m. Initially, he thought that the police car parked outside was from the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD), but the officers were actually from UW-Milwaukee. They’d driven over 20 minutes from campus to Knapp’s home in Milwaukee’s Washington Heights neighborhood. Addressing him by name, they asked about an alleged vandalism incident near campus. Knapp said he didn’t know anything about it, stepped outside, and was immediately arrested. 

Knapp told Wisconsin Examiner that the officers took him back “the long way,” taking side streets instead of the freeway. When they got to the campus, “they photographed me, booked me, the whole nine yards with that,” Knapp said in the October press conference. “They gave me a letter saying the DA [District Attorney] might give you a call, which I haven’t gotten a call from the DA since that night.” Knapp was never taken to the county jail, but was released after an hour, he recalled. 

After Knapp was taken in, officers visited the homes of SDS members Audari Tamayo and Kayla Patterson. “They went to my house at least twice,” said Tamayo. “And we found this out through the police report that they went to my house twice, but I didn’t open the door. They needed to get to the third floor, they needed to get through three different hallways.” Tamayo said that after the officers failed to get into the apartment, “they started calling me repeatedly saying that I had to come down for an interview or else.” 

A spokesperson for UW-Milwaukee was unable to comment on any aspect Knapp’s arrest due to federal laws protecting student records. The spokesperson also said that UW-Milwaukee cannot comment on the ongoing investigation related to the alleged vandalism incident, nor comment on what exactly the vandalism was. “SDS recognition as a UWM student organization is suspended due to student organization misconduct, and only officially recognized student organizations are permitted to use UWM’s name in their organization’s name,” spokeswoman Angelica Duria said. 

A Milwaukee PD spokesperson told Wisconsin Examiner that the department is, “aware that Students for a Democratic Society UWM have engaged in protest activity in Milwaukee. We monitored the tent city situation at UWM to ensure there was no impact to emergency services in the City of Milwaukee. We do not have requests from UWM to conduct any investigations related to the group. We do share when we are aware of a planned protest for the sake of public safety.”

SDS says that its members have also faced academic sanctions, directly related to their protests. Besides Knapp, whom SDS says is facing academic sanctions due to protest activity, Patricia Fish is also facing sanctions due to an occupation protest in February. Additionally, both Patterson and Tamayo were unable to enroll in time for the fall 2024 semester after holds were placed on their student accounts. 

The stress has  affected Knapp’s academic performance. “Since then I’ve been behind … I have to kind of  go to school, and go to class every day understanding that  any work, any midterms, any quizzes, any papers, any exams, any credit, as soon as that suspension becomes effective, then all of that is out the window,” said Knapp. “I have about four courses left until I graduate. I was going to take two this semester, and two that semester. So not only is my education up in the air, but my ability to graduate is now up in the air … It’s the energy, it’s the money, it’s the time, it’s the effort that I’ve put into getting this close to graduating and just this semester in general after having to deal with them holding me back to be able to take these classes in the first place.”

Duria said that “no student is subject to the misconduct process based on considerations other than their own behavior.” Duria said that the Dean of Students Office assesses “reports it receives to determine whether there are potential nonacademic misconduct violations.” Duria went on to say in a statement to Wisconsin Examiner that “UWM has communicated protest guidelines and behavior expectations in several previous emails sent to faculty, staff and students. UWM has also updated its free speech website to make behavior expectations and expressive activity policies easily visible. Protests and expressive activity must abide by state law and university policy and UWM will take appropriate action to enforce the law, and its policies and codes of conduct.”

Patterson feels negotiations between students and the administration were mainly “to save face,” and to also learn more about student activist groups in preparation for more crackdowns. She told Wisconsin Examiner, “It’s very heavy monitoring. They’re going both at the organizational level, and the individual level, in order to crack down.” 

This article has been edited to correct the last name of Robby Knapp, not “Napp”. 

The official app sponsored by Transfinder gives attendees of TSD Conference all the event information they need, as well as a place to make connections.

Download the app using this link, or visit the App Store on your iPhone or the Google Play Store on your Android device and search for “Cvent Events.” After downloading the app, search for ”TSD.” Sign in using your name and the email address used to register for the conference. A code will be sent to continue with the log in process. 

Editor’s note: Be sure to delete any previous STN conference app on Cvent prior to downloading. 

Below are videos detailing processes on the conference app:

The five icons at the bottom of the screen allow quick access to the home menu, schedules, discussions and connections, attendee profiles, and more information on the event.

Use the Schedule tab to see all the available sessions and add selected ones to create personalized schedules for the week.

From the homepage, access lists of attendees and Trade Show exhibitors. Send connection requests to other attendees or vendors who you meet and chat with to keep the conversations flowing even after the conference. Download directions on setting Appointments via the app.

Watch the Conversations tab for chats that open ahead of their corresponding sessions. This is a great way to weigh on the topics discussed and trade insights with other attendees.

Explore the app and its features to move up in the Game Center leaderboard, accessed from the “More” menu item on the right.

As always, stay tuned at stnonline.com and social media channels for extensive conference and trade show coverage, including articles, photo galleries, videos and more.

Related: TSD Conference Sessions to Push Attendees to Uncover Innovative Solutions
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Related: Mulick Returns to TSD Conference to Help Student Transporters Better Understand Autism

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With so much information at our fingertips, it’s frustrating when we can’t quickly find what we’re looking for. On-demand access to information is expected for just about everything — including a student’s school transportation details.

Mobile apps for parent communication, such as Tyler Technologies’ My Ride K-12 app, empower transportation departments to share real-time updates with parents about bus schedules, route changes, and the time and location where their student gets on and off the bus. These apps help parents stay informed, plan their schedules, and eliminate their need to call the transportation department — while simultaneously supporting on-time performance and operational efficiency.

But these tools can only solve communication challenges when parents get on board, so how do you get parents to download and use them regularly? Read on to learn about two districts’ tactics that could work for you, too.

To learn more about Tyler Technologies’ Student Transportation and parent communication solutions, register for their upcoming My Ride K-12 webinar.

A Better Way to Keep Parents in the Know

At Sherwood School District 88J in Oregon, the transportation department was bogged down with parent phone calls — and they found themselves repeatedly answering the same questions. “We’re a small district, but we still get a huge amount of phone calls,” said Casey Jebens, transportation director at Sherwood.

Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake (BHBL) Central School District in New York was also searching for ways to help parents get the information they needed without calling the transportation department. “Especially during dispatch time, we might not be able to pick up the phone to give the parents an immediate answer,” said Katria Hitrick, administrator for student transportation at BHBL.

To streamline their communication to parents, the districts launched Tyler’s My Ride K-12 mobile app. Today, about 90% of families at Sherwood are using it and BHBL has cut parent phone calls in half — and the benefits go beyond keeping parents up to date on when the bus will arrive. The app has also empowered the transportation departments to provide clear and timely communication about incidents or route changes during inclement weather.

“The parents feel that we’ve done a better job communicating with them. They don’t have to wait for us to be in the office to answer a question. They can look up a lot of that information on their own in the My Ride K-12 app,” Jebens said.

The transportation team at Sherwood won an Excellence Award from Tyler Technologies in 2023 for their work to improve parent communication.

How to Increase App Awareness and Downloads

To achieve their high adoption rates of My Ride K-12, Sherwood and BHBL leveraged multiple communication channels to spread awareness. That strategy helped them meet parents where they were already looking for information.

“It depends on the grade level and the actual families,” said Hitrick. “Some will always go to the website, some will never go to the website. The more ways we can get the information in their hands, the better.”

Both districts shared examples of places they got the word out about My Ride K-12, including transportation arrangement letters or emails, ‘Welcome Back’ letters from the Superintendent, and their transportation departments’ webpages.

Sherwood also helped their drivers field parent questions while on their routes. Jebens explained, “We printed a QR code the drivers had plastered on their route books. For the first six weeks after we rolled out the app, the parents would ask questions of the driver and they could just hold up that book. Parents would scan the QR code and it would send them to our website where all that information is.”

Inevitably, parents will still pick up the phone, but Jebens noted that as another opportunity. “Every time a parent calls the transportation department, we push them toward My Ride K-12,” he said. Those interactions help parents understand that the information they’re looking for is available on demand through the app — no need to call the office.

How to Get Parents to Use the App Regularly

Even after parents download the app, some might forget to use it. Parent phone calls can be a great opportunity to remind them, and both districts noted My Ride K-12’s push notifications are a helpful way to keep the app top of mind.

At BHBL, Hitrick’s team sends a custom push notification at the start of the school year to welcome families back and remind them about the information they can access through My Ride K-12. “It’s easy to forget. I don’t know how many apps I’ve signed up for and don’t even realize I have them,” she said. Many busy parents are likely in the same boat.

Everyday push notifications, such as those for bus ETAs or student ID card scans, can help too. Jebens explained, “Those notifications remind the parents to use the app because, even if they don’t open My Ride K-12, they get that notification from us that their bus is running late.” Since introducing this feature, the district estimates that the time spent communicating with parents about an incident or late bus has been reduced by 90%.

BHBL also encourages parents to use My Ride K-12 by offering extra support. Hitrick said, “We troubleshoot for them before we send them to Tyler support for help. When they know we’re well-versed in the app, that makes them feel more comfortable using it.” Both districts also include resources for parents on their department web pages, such as instructional documents and FAQs.

At Sherwood, Jebens has found that once parents download My Ride K-12 and see the benefits, they make good use of that resource. “The parents really like it because they get the information when they want it. They can look up their kid’s route at 9:00 in the morning or 9:00 at night,” he said. Beyond the convenience of on-demand information, My Ride K-12 can help give parents peace of mind about their student’s safety. For example, when the app is used in conjunction with scan cards and GPS, parents can check the app to see when and where their student scans on and off the bus.

“Just the ease of it puts their mind at ease,” said Hitrick. And when parents feel confident their student is where they should be, that’s one less reason to call the transportation department.

A Connected Parent Communication Solution

Tyler Technologies’ My Ride K-12 web and mobile app can help ensure your students never miss the bus again and support parents’ peace of mind. This portal allows parents and students to access their secure data for bus stop location, route, and pickup time at the touch of a button. When your district’s buses are equipped with hardware such as Tyler Drive or Telematic GPS, My Ride K-12 can use GPS geolocation to let users know when to expect their bus each day.

To learn more about Tyler’s software and parent communication solutions, register for their upcoming webinar.

The views expressed are those of the content sponsor and do not reflect those of School Transportation News.

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