Registration for the 2025 Transporting Students with Disabilities and Special Needs (TSD) Conference is now open.

Each year, student transportation professionals gather in Frisco, Texas, for a transformative event designed to inspire and equip attendees with practical solutions that enhance safety for students with disabilities and for preschoolers. This year’s conference will feature inspiring keynotes, engaging educational sessions, opportunities for hands-on training, and networking events.

The conference will open with a Welcome Party at Topgolf the Colony on Nov. 6. Over the course of the next five days, attendees will hear from industry experts on various aspects of safely transporting students with disabilities as well as preschoolers and how to empower transportation staff to care for their most vulnerable student riders.

Three keynote sessions are currently planned. “Developmentally Appropriate Safety Education” presented by Michele Gay, co-founder of Safe and Sound Schools and the mother of Sandy Hook shooting victim Josephine Grace Gay, opens the education on Friday, Nov. 7. Special education attorney Betsey Helfrich will share recent and pertinent legal information and summaries of case law Saturday, Nov. 8. Sunday, Nov. 9, will feature the presentation “Fostering Inclusive Practices & Support Accessibility in Education” by Glenna Wright-Gallo, who was the assistant secretary of education for special education and rehabilitative services at the U.S. Department of Education in 2023 and 2024 and is now a vice president of policy for education technology company Everway.

Training classes include the eight-hour, NHTSA-sponsored Child Passenger Safety on School Bus seminar, the Wheelchair Securement Boot Camp Training & Certification by AMF-Bruns, the Hands-on School Bus Evacuations for Students with Special Needs & Preschoolers Training, and the roadeo competition sponsored by Q’Straint/Sure-Lok, which also provides wheelchair securement training to roadeo contestants as well as conference attendees before the competition on Saturday.

The Safety & Technology Product Demonstration/Special Needs Ride & Drive also returns this year as does the Trade Show and Tailgate Reception, featuring vendors showcasing their technology offerings to benefit transportation operations.

The TSD Conference will be held Nov. 6-11, 2025, at the Embassy Suites Dallas Frisco.

Register by Aug. 8 to save $200 on main conference registration with Super Early Bird Savings. Find conference dates, hotel information and exhibitor list at tsdconference.com.

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A George Read Middle School bus driver helped a student in New Castle, Delaware by teaming up with a nonprofit organization to provide the student with a wheelchair ramp from her home, reported ABC 6.

The veteran school bus driver, identified as Tim Kelleher, observed each morning that a student’s parents carried their daughter down the front steps of their home on Westbury Drive to reach the bus stop.

According to the news report, Kelleher began reaching out to organizations that could help. He connected with Good Neighbors Home Repair, a nonprofit organization, that built a wheelchair ramp at the student’s home.

Tom MacAuley of Good Neighbors Home Repair told local news reporters that Kelleher saw the need the student’s family had and wanted to facilitate that need.

The article states that this is not the first time Kelleher has gone the extra mile. He helped get a ramp installed for another student in 2019.

Related: Georgia School Bus Driver Named “Hidden Hero” After Saving Student’s Life
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Related: Transportation Professionals: A Critical Link in the Education of Students with Disabilities
Related: Fill-in School Bus Driver Builds Ramp for Disabled Girl

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A school bus driver in Greenville, Michigan, stopped a stranger from entering a school bus through the rear emergency exit while several students were on board, reported Fox 17.

The incident reportedly occurred Thursday, when a Flat River Academy school bus was transporting students to school. A 17-year-old grabbed the rear emergency door handle while the bus was stopped at a light in an attempt to enter the vehicle.

According to the news report, when the bus started to move the teen was able to get the door open, setting off the emergency door alarm. That’s when the driver stopped the school bus and ran to the back to figure out what was happening.

The driver, who was not identified in this writing, confronted the teen as he was trying to climb into the bus and used his foot to bar entrance and then to close the door.

The Michigan State Police said troppers were already in pursuit of the teen prior to the incident and took him into custody at the scene. The teen is believed to have been involved in the vandalism of a nearby business.

The teen, who has autism, was reportedly experiencing a mental health crisis and was taken to the hospital for evaluation. The teen had left his home without his family’s knowledge. The students and staff on board the school bus were not injured during the incident and the driver was able to finish his route without further interruption.

Related: Man Boards School Bus, Refuses to Leave
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Related: Florida Man Boards School Bus with Teen He is Accused of Raping

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