A school bus driver is making a statement each morning before starting his route, not only with his safety checks but by dressing for success with a suit and tie.
John Sitar, a bus operator for Hampshire County Schools in West Virginia, has made old-school business dress part of his daily routine for the past 15 years. The attire is a “self-imposed uniform,” a way to show students that he takes pride in his job and cares about the children he serves.
Sitar’s story is one of several highlighted recently by the West Virginia Department of Education and county school systems during Public Schools Week, observed Feb. 23–27.
Before heading out on his route each day, Sitar makes sure one final detail is in order: His tie is on straight. He added the decision to from a lesson he learned as a student himself.
Dressing for Success
“When I was in high school, the principal made the men wear a tie, and the women had to dress up,” Sitar said in the statement. “It made a difference, and it set them apart as role models. I wanted to do that for these children.”
Sitar has spent most of his life in Hampshire County. He grew up on a farm, where he said he learned the value of hard work. Later, he served in the U.S. Army as both an Army Ranger and Green Beret. He eventually returned home to the West Virginia Potomac Highlands.
Now, he says his role behind the wheel of a school bus allows him to continue serving his community.
“I know these kids might not see this every day,” Sitar said. “Any interaction any staff member has with students is important. And if you acknowledge them as a human being, and somebody notices them when they get on the bus, that is a big deal to them.”
Nearly half of Hampshire County public-school student come from low socioeconomic households, according to data shared by the West Virginia Department of Education. Sitar said that reality is something he sees firsthand every day.
Because of that, he said small gestures matter, including the suit he dons every weekday.
“Bus drivers are the first people the children see in the morning, and the last ones they see in the evening,” Sitar said. “I think what we do makes a difference. I just want them to know that I care about them.”
Student support was the name of the game in a Thursday webinar featuring two leaders with copious transportation director experience.
Viewing Transportation Through an Attendance Lens
Greg Jackson served as the executive director of transportation and fleet services for Jefferson County School District in Colorado for a decade and was named the 2019 Transportation Director of the Year by School Transportation News.
In his current role as general manager of busing services for webinar sponsor EverDriven, he reviewed trends in jobs, housing and family schedules that have resulted in districts becoming more focused on consistent transportation for student access to education.
“Consistency builds routine and routine builds attendance,” he said.
Transportation departments are also expected to be more flexible with fewer resources these days, pointed out Jim Ellis, director of pupil transportation for Virginia’s Henrico County Public Schools and a past-president of the North Carolina Pupil Transportation Association. He reminded listeners that reliability matters, but rolling with the punches is also non-negotiable.
Ellis agreed that transportation stability is especially important for medically fragile students and those who qualify under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.
Involving Transportation Earlier in Student-Level Decisions
Jackson noted that longstanding processes may overlook or exclude transportation staff from key conversations, so directors must step up to secure a seat at the table and be a part of the decision-making process. He encouraged transportation directors to see themselves as the administrators they are.
When it comes to multi-modal solutions, Ellis concurred with Courtney Pallotta, EverDriven’s chief marketing officer, that it’s important to take the time to create the right solution for each particular student.
Strengthening Governance & Cross-Team Communication
Disconnect often occurs when different departments act on their own timelines or pertinent details are left out of notifications, Jackson said. Having aligned teams means less escalation to the superintendent and more focus on students rather than communication snafus, he explained.
“There’s so much in this life where the challenge is in the detail,” Pallotta agreed. “You cannot be clear enough about who’s doing what, especially in busy teams where volatility and change are the norm.”
Ellis added, “If we don’t get together on who manages what, we’re going to be chasing our tails.”
He advised having clear assignments on each aspect of a child’s school experience so transportation can be made available and utilized appropriately. This is especially important when contractors are involved, he added.
Putting It All into Practice
Simply adding a new technology system, that multiple staff members will need to be trained on, isn’t always the answer, Jackson warned. Instead, he said, improving small habits results in significant progress.
Budget constraints, Ellis stressed, must be communicated so all involved parties know what resources are available and what solutions are realistic. It’s not helpful when the IEP, McKinney-Vento and transportation teams are siloed. He further noted that being fully staffed with drivers means not having much wiggle room in the budget.
Alignment among all departments results in less chaos and a better experience for the families the school district serves, Jackson underscored.
Ellis encouraged the audience to look at transportation as more than a ride to school and as a crucial part of the education process. “Our families want transportation they can count on,” he summarized.
Jackson and Pallotta noted that EverDriven as a transportation network company looks to assist districts with reducing absenteeism and securing Medicaid reimbursement.
An unusually persistent cold front sweeping snow and freezing rain across the U.S. last month exposed a key vulnerability in school transportation systems across the South and Mid-Atlantic regions, where prolonged bouts with such severe winter weather is rare.
School districts unaccustomed to sustained winter weather were forced to suspend or significantly alter school bus operations, triggering widespread school closures, delays and logistical strain.
In Virginia, where snowfall is typically modest and short-lived, school districts across northern and central parts of the state struggled to safely operate school buses after repeated rounds of snow, freezing rain and overnight refreezing.
Fairfax County Public Schools, the state’s largest school district, canceled or delayed classes for multiple days, citing icy secondary roads and blocked school bus stops. Albemarle County Public Schools reported similar challenges, noting that while major roadways were largely cleared, neighborhood streets remained hazardous for large school buses navigating early-morning routes.
In neighboring North Carolina, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) also faced transportation disruptions as icy conditions lingered on secondary roads. District officials said decisions to close, delay, or shift to remote learning are guided by a broad, safety-first assessment that extends well beyond road conditions alone.
“CMS considers multiple factors, including primary and secondary road conditions, local and state plowing schedules, staff commute safety, student drivers and walkers, accessibility needs, and the readiness of more than 200 facilities that must be safely cleared of snow and ice,” said Tom Miner, assistant communications officer for the district.
Miner told STN that Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools and administrative sites are not maintained by city or county crews. While local agencies focus on public roadways, district operations teams are responsible for clearing school parking lots, entrances, walkways, and bus lots to ensure safe conditions on campuses.
Because Charlotte-Mecklenburg serves a geographically large and diverse community, Miner said decisions prioritize countywide student and staff safety. When school is in session, district operations significantly increase traffic on local roads through buses, staff vehicles, families and student drivers, a factor weighed carefully during weather-related decision-making. District leaders also rely on guidance from weather experts and emergency management officials as recovery efforts unfold across the county.
The impact of the cold front was also pronounced in Tennessee, where severe winter weather remains relatively infrequent outside of mountainous areas. In east and middle Tennessee, a rare combination of freezing temperatures, snow and icy road conditions prompted widespread school closures as bus fleets were sidelined. Metro Nashville Public Schools canceled classes after determining that residential roads and rural routes were unsafe for bus travel.
Rocky (and Icy) Top
In Knox County, back-to-back winter storms over the past two weeks forced multiple canceled instructional days and delayed schedules. Ryan Dillingham, executive director of transportation for Knox County Schools, said even modest winter weather can have outsized effects in the region.
“We’re in an area that typically does not see heavy winter weather, so a relatively small amount that wouldn’t even be worth considering in other parts of the country can impact us heavily,” Dillingham told STN.
Knox County Schools
Dillingham said the district relies on a network of contracted bus operators positioned throughout Knox County to assess road conditions during weather events, combining those reports with forecast data and information from law enforcement, first responders and school safety and maintenance teams to guide decision-making.
“One of the unexpected impacts of these storms has been to drain our supplies of salt and de-icing compounds,” he explained. “We’re almost out locally, and suppliers are facing delays getting resupplies. That has led the county to prioritize major thoroughfares over neighborhood roads, which is logical and appropriate, but we have a lot of stops on neighborhood roads, so we feel that impact.”
Transportation officials across the region emphasized that many school bus fleets in southern states are not equipped with snow tires or chains, equipment typically unnecessary given their usual climates. Even brief overnight refreezing made routes unpredictable, forcing districts to prioritize safety over maintaining regular schedules.
Educators expressed frustration with the disruptions but largely supported school district decisions, acknowledging that transportation systems designed primarily for extreme heat and heavy rain are ill-suited for winter storms. The disruptions also renewed discussions about preparedness, with some districts exploring expanded use of remote learning days or adjustments to academic calendars to account for weather-related instructional losses. While forecasters expect temperatures to gradually moderate, school leaders say the cold front has already left a lasting impression.
The West Virginia Department of Education shared this informative video during Love the Bus Month to provide a behind the scenes look at the detailed pre-trip inspection routine needed before school buses hit the road.
New details emerged from an incident involving a student with a handgun while riding a school bus in Kanawha County, West Virginia that led to a teacher’s aide also being arrested, reported Metro News.
St. Albans Police Department officers were called on Jan. 21 after a student at Hayes Middle School was discovered with a handgun on his school bus around 3:15 p.m. A school employee who was on board the bus confiscated the weapon and turned it over to school officials.
Police said the juvenile was later released into the custody of a guardian, who indicated they had no knowledge the student possessed a firearm. Authorities also revealed the handgun had been reported stolen the night before the incident.
As the investigation continued, police then arrested Heather Dawn Sherrod, 46, of St. Albans, a teacher’s aide at Hayes Middle School. Sherrod was charged with failing to report a firearm and was taken into custody.
A criminal complaint was filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court. Investigators learned that Sherrod was informed by a student around 8:30 a.m. on Jan. 21 that a handgun had been pointed at another student. Police allege that despite being a mandated reporter, Sherrod did not report the incident. The complaint states Sherrod admitted she knew she was required to report the information but failed to do so.
Sherrod is currently being held at South Central Regional Jail on a $2,500 bond. The St. Albans Police Department continues to work closely with the Kanawha County Prosecutor’s Office as the investigation remains ongoing.
A trailblazing regional greenhouse gas partnership on the East Coast is considering possible changes or expansion that would allow it to keep building on its success — and the stakes grew higher last month with the reelection of Donald Trump.
The 11-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, established in 2005, is the country’s first regional cap-and-invest system for reducing carbon emissions from power generation. Since 2021, administrators have been conducting a program review, analyzing its performance since the last review in 2017 and weighing potential adjustments to make sure it continues to deliver benefits to member states.
The role of such programs is more crucial as Trump’s pledges to roll back federal climate action leaves it up to cities, states, and the private sector to maintain the country’s momentum on clean energy over the next four years. In RGGI, as the regional initiative is known, states have a potential model for scaling their impact through collaboration.
“RGGI has not only been an effective climate policy, it’s been an extraordinary example of how states can work together on common goals,” said Daniel Sosland, president of climate and energy nonprofit Acadia Center. “It is a major vehicle for climate policy now in the states, more than it might have seemed before the election.”
How RGGI works
RGGI sets a cap for total power plant carbon emissions among member states. Individual generators must then buy allowances from the state, up to the total cap, for each ton of carbon dioxide they produce in a year. The cap lowers over time, forcing power plants to either reduce emissions or pay more to buy allowances from a shrinking pool.
States then reinvest the proceeds from these auctions into programs that further reduce emissions and help energy customers, including energy efficiency initiatives, direct bill assistance, and renewable energy projects. Since 2008, RGGI has generated $8.3 billion for participating states, and carbon dioxide emissions from power generation in the nine states that have consistently participated fell by about half between 2008 and 2021, a considerably faster rate than the rest of the country.
“It has really thrived and been really effective across multiple administrations,” said Jackson Morris, state power sector director with the Natural Resources Defense Council. “RGGI is a winning model. It’s not theoretical — we’ve got numbers.”
Currently, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont are part of the program. Virginia joined RGGI in 2021, but in 2023 Gov. Glenn Youngkin repealed the state’s participation, a move immediately challenged in court; a judge ruled last month that the governor lacked the authority to withdraw the state from initiative, though a spokesman for the governor has declared the state’s intention to appeal.
There is widespread agreement that RGGI will endure despite likely federal hostility to climate measures. There was no attempt to take direct action against it during Trump’s first term, nor has there been any concerted industry opposition, said Conservation Law Foundation president Bradley Campbell, who was involved in the founding of RGGI when he was commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
Supporters also note that the program has historically had broad bipartisan support: Participating states have been led through the years by both Republican and Democratic governors and legislatures.
Politics has had some influence over the years, though only at the margins. New Jersey, a founding member of RGGI, left in 2011 when Chris Christie was governor, but returned in 2020 following an executive order from his successor. Pennsylvania joined in 2022 through an executive order from the governor, but its participation is now being challenged in court.
Still, RGGI’s foundations are solid and will remain so, experts said.
“The basic infrastructure has weathered the political winds over the decades,” Campbell said.
Looking forward
Nonetheless, RGGI will need to make some carefully thought-out program design decisions during its current review to make an impact in the face of falling federal support for decarbonization.
One question under consideration is whether to maintain the existing trajectory for the overall emissions cap for the program — a reduction of 30% between 2020 and 2030, then holding steady thereafter — or to continue lowering the limit after 2030.
The RGGI states are also contemplating a possible change to the compliance schedule that would require power generators to acquire allowances worth 100% of their carbon emissions each year, and certify compliance annually. The current system calls for certification every three years, and only mandates allowances equivalent to half of carbon emissions for the first two years of each period.
The program is looking for ways to appeal to potential new participant states that have less aggressive decarbonization goals than current member states without watering down the program’s overall impact on decarbonization, said Acadia Center policy analyst Paola Tamayo. Acadia suggested possible program mechanisms such as giving proportionately more allowances to states with more stringent emissions targets to incentivize tighter limits.
“At this point it is critical for states to maintain a high level of ambition when it comes to programs like RGGI,” Tamayo said. “There are different mechanisms that they can implement to accommodate other states.”
The program review is expected to yield a model rule some time over the winter, though updates may be made into the spring as the RGGI states receive and consider feedback on how to accommodate potential new participants.
States will also need to maintain and strengthen their own climate policies to magnify the impact of RGGI, Campbell said. He pointed to Massachusetts, where Gov. Maura Healey needs to show “bolder leadership,” he said, and Maine and Vermont, where the Conservation Law Foundation has filed lawsuits in an attempt to compel the states to meet their own carbon reduction deadlines.
“It’s especially important that the states that have strong emissions reduction mandates speed up the implementation of their climate laws,” he said. “State leadership on these issues is going to be more important than ever.”
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