FRISCO, Texas — Federal and state special education policy expert Glenna Wright-Gallo delivered a transformative message Sunday at the Transporting Students with Disabilities and Special Needs (TSD) Conference about moving beyond mere compliance by creating meaningful educational experiences for students with disabilities, particularly through transportation services.

The general session underscored a fundamental message: transportation is not about moving students from one place to another, but about creating opportunities for learning, growth and inclusion.

Wright-Gallo, the former assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services during the Biden administration and currently vice president of policy for assistive technology company Everway, began by challenging the audience views on the traditional approach to compliance.

“Compliance for the sake of compliance isn’t effective,” she stated.

She illustrated this point by comparing compliance to speed limit signs — many motorists don’t naturally slow down simply because a sign exists. Instead, she urged student transportation professionals to view their work as a critical component of student learning and access. “No matter what happens, no matter what political party is in the majority, education is a bipartisan issue, and children don’t have time for adults to get it together, right?” she said as as the audience applauded.

The presentation dove into recent policy shifts, highlighting how federal guidance is evolving to view transportation as more than a logistical challenge. “Transportation is access,” she emphasized, explaining that recent joint guidance from the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Transportation now explicitly frames transportation as a civil rights issue directly linked to student attendance and academic success.

During interactive group discussions, attendees revealed significant challenges in interdepartmental communication. One participant shared an example of managing a student who has an autism spectrum disorder, describing how they created reasonable modifications like positioning the student behind the driver to manage specific behavioral challenges. Another transportation director discussed the complexities of coordinating with special education departments, noting frequent communication gaps and last-minute changes that impact transportation planning.

Technology emerged as a potential solution to these challenges. Wright-Gallo encouraged innovative approaches, with one participant sharing how they used AI to create monthly training modules that build upon each other.

“Using AI, I made a training for every month that builds upon the previous months. I present it to my coordinators when we have our monthly meetings, and then they take it out and give it to their drivers that work under them,” explained John Haas, transportation director for Onslow County Schools in North Carolina. “That way, my whole district is being trained on the same thing.”

The funding landscape presented another critical challenge. Wright-Gallo acknowledged the uncertainties at state and federal levels, with many states still struggling to pass budgets. She proposed creative solutions, including exploring alternative funding sources and developing more collaborative approaches between different educational departments.

A key moment came when Wright-Gallo challenged participants to think beyond traditional compliance metrics. “It doesn’t matter what decision we make if it doesn’t result in something different for a student,” she declared, urging participants to focus on meaningful outcomes rather than bureaucratic checklists.

The discussion around technology was particularly nuanced. While embracing innovation, Wright-Gallo also cautioned against wholesale technological adoption. “Whatever goes into a learning management system comes out of it,” she noted, emphasizing the importance of high-quality initial content and training.

Participants were particularly engaged when discussing strategies for inclusive training and professional development. One transportation director shared their approach of coordinating annual in-service training with the special education department, demonstrating the type of collaborative approach Wright-Gallo advocated.

She concluded her keynote with a powerful call to action: “Lead where you live. Don’t wait for someone to give you the title of leader. Do what’s right.” She challenged participants to identify one concrete action they could take in the next 30 days to improve transportation services for students with disabilities.

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Thursday afternoon, Wright-Gallo also presented a breakout session on transforming complex Department of Education guidelines in the form of “Dear Colleague” letters into practical, everyday applications.

She highlighted the intersection of key federal laws like the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Section 504, demonstrating how these regulations directly impact transportation services. She shared compelling stories illustrating policy gaps, such as substitute school bus drivers incorrectly denying service animals or mishandling students with neurodivergent conditions.

Regarding service animals, allowed by Section 504 of the ADA, Wright-Gallo clarified that only dogs and miniature horses qualify, and that districts can only ask two specific questions when presented with the request for service: Is the animal is required due to disability rather than being an emotional support animal, and what specific tasks does it perform?

She stressed the importance of avoiding blanket policies that might inadvertently discriminate against students with disabilities.

Funding emerged as another critical theme, with Wright-Gallo revealing multiple potential funding streams for transportation services, including innovative uses of federal funds for training, hiring and supporting student needs. She encouraged transportation directors to explore creative funding approaches and build cross-departmental partnerships.

Assistive technology received significant attention, with Wright-Gallo defining it broadly—from low-tech picture boards to high-tech communication devices. “Assistive technology does not replace a teacher or driver, it enables participation and independence,” she explained, emphasizing that these tools must be accessible during transportation and all school activities.

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FRISCO, Texas — STN Transportation Director of the Year Keba Baldwin sat on a panel discussion Saturday afternoon with peers Julie Hrebicek of Magnolia Independent School District in Texas and Quanika Dukes-Spruill of the Newark Board of Education in New Jersey.

Dukes-Spruill said she contracts with 63 providers, which requires a lot of management, oversight and compliance checking. The district transports 4,500 students in-district with another 600 students transported to and from out-of-district programs. She said last year a large undertaking was updating routes to adhere to a new district policy of universal bell times. In house, Newark has a small fleet of school buses operated by 19 drivers.

Meanwhile, Hrebicek said Magnolia ISD north of Houston has a district of 152-square miles, 115 routes, 85 of which are regular and 30 are special needs. She said Magnolia does contract out some Mckinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act students and some students with high-intensity behavior. After a $4 an hour pay raise, she said her district went from being 20 drivers short to having 12 currently in training.

Hrebicek said Magnolia is growing, and staff are seeing a lot of behaviors and various levels of those behaviors exhibited by students with disabilities. However, she said, what she’s finding is that instead of placing students in the least restrictive environment, transportation defaults to placing students in the most restrictive due to accommodating parent requests.

She continued that drivers are provided with high-intensity training to handle behaviors, as there have been several physical altercations with drivers and aides.

Dukes-Spruill said bus aides are an important part of transporting students successfully and safely. “It’s the driver’s responsibility to get there but not necessarily manage behaviors on the bus,” she said in terms of transporting students with special needs.

Written into the contracts with transportation providers, she said that each route must have an aide. Plus, she said, the district also has transportation inspectors that ensure every guideline and rule in the contract is being carried out on the road.

Baldwin, the director of transportation for Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland, added he, too, has seen a growth in the number of students with IEPs and transportation as a related service. He said when it comes to IEP, transportation needs to have a seat at the table. He said with the various disabilities served, transportation depends on and collaborates with its special education teams to guide the decisions.

Dukes-Spruill agreed that collaboration is key. She said that Newark has monthly mandatory partnership meetings that are designed for two-way communication, where the district and contractor partners share expectations and things that are working or not.

Hrebicek said if transportation isn’t present at the IEP meeting, service requirements could be put in the contract that may work in the classroom but are unsafe when on the school bus. She underscored the importance of a transportation employee’s perspective.

Dukes-Spruill added that vendors are required to provide incident reports on anything that happens on the bus. Plus, transportation employees request GPS location if buses are late and camera footage, if needed. She said it’s in the contract that they will request this information.

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Baldwin said one benefit has been pulling camera footage remotely but also viewing live feeds. Driver and dispatcher communication is crucial, he said, because the dispatcher can log in remotely to see what the situation is and then decide next steps and communicate it to the driver and others who need to be involved.

He noted it’s important to go back to the basics and build relationships with students as well. “There is always other ways, you can’t depend on one way to do something, you have to have multiple options to serve students,” he said, adding the student may have had a terrible day at their school, and now they’re going to be on a school bus for an hour, which could lead to dangerous situations.

He said they encourage drivers to ask, “How are they, today?”

Hrebicek noted that safety is paramount, and while her staff tries to convey to a student that what happened at school, happened at school, “let’s have a new time on the school bus.” If the student is deemed to be unsafe on the school bus or another vehicle, the parent would be called to transport them and receive the necessary expense reimbursement.

Dukes-Spruill said Newark’s transportation department has a strong partnership with the office of special education. She noted a child who is experiencing dangerous behaviors will not be placed on the bus without intervention.

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