Findlay City Schools (OH) has faced its share of challenges in the past couple of years, from funding cuts to the tune of $6 million, key personnel departures in transportation and the ongoing driver shortage.

Superintendent Andy Hatton knew transportation would be one of the hardest areas to touch—and one of the most visible.

“We had to announce $6 million in cuts,” Dr. Hatton said. “Out of a budget of about $60 million to $65 million.”

Those reductions included roughly $820,000 from transportation alone, which led to significant alterations and hard choices.

“We eliminated high school busing,” he explained. “We went to a two-mile walk radius for all students, which is the state’s minimum requirement.”

For many superintendents, this would have been a crisis to survive. For Hatton, superintendent at the district for just under three years, it became a leadership test: How to protect families, support drivers, and still keep the system functional with fewer resources.

Turning to an Underutilized Partner: Transfinder

Findlay is a community of about 40,000 people located in the northwest of Columbus, about 40 miles south of Toledo. Its claim to fame is Marathon Petroleum, which traces its origins to the late 1880s, resulting in Findlay being a boomtown. Marathon Petroleum (NYSE: MPC) is still headquartered in Findlay today.

Findlay City Schools has 5,000 students attending two primary schools, three intermediate schools, two middle schools, and the high school. Also on the central office campus is the Career Center which serves 14 school districts across four counties.

As the district was learning of the funding shortfall it was facing, Hatton was also learning that the transportation department had a solution it wasn’t fully using: Routefinder PLUS.

“What we discovered was we were not leveraging this really powerful, amazing tool to help us route our district efficiently,” he said. “We found out that we had not updated our maps in 10 years.”

Hatton and Kelly Cheney, Findlay’s director of communications, are quoted saying in The Courier story how Transfinder’s solutions would play a role in helping the transportation navigate the challenges and get back on course. Cheney noted, before Transfinder, “our transportation department was hand-routing every single student who rode the bus, manually inputting the information for each student and then tweaking it as the year went on … again manually,” according to coverage in the local newspaper, The Courier. “Adjustments were not able to be made quickly for special circumstances, like construction, for example, so buses were delayed.”

Cheney said Transfinder’s technology was playing a key role in not just modernizing its transportation operation but solving critical issues and supporting drivers.

“This program will allow us to immediately message parents of any and all buses as soon as it is needed,” Cheney told The Courier. “Substitute drivers will have turn-by-turn directions to follow as they drive a new route, and student stop information will be updated daily.”

Hatton, in an interview with Transfinder following that meeting, said there were other challenges the transportation department was facing, such as losing key transportation staff.

“In early June, we realized we lost our router,” Hatton said. “She had been routing our district for like a decade.”

The combination of funding cuts, staff turnover, and a driver shortage could have pushed the department into chaos. But Hatton reframed the challenge as an opportunity to update the operation and increase efficiency.

“We had literally stacks of 500 pages of paper all over tables all summer long,” he said. “And then ‘sort of’ using Transfinder.” The district rebuilt its routing process inside Transfinder’s award-winning Routefinder PLUS routing software, cleaned up rider data, and upgraded GPS so routes were no longer guesswork.

He also reorganized leadership needs in the transportation department. Rather than refilling a high-cost director role, Hatton created a transportation manager position with deep system expertise.

“We decided not to replace our director of transportation position,” he said. “We went with a transportation manager and she’s been amazing.”

For Hatton, this wasn’t just about efficiency—it was about accountability to the community.

“We feel this responsibility to live up to the expectations that the community has with a high level of service,” he said. “One of the things that the Board of Education then put together for us was a set of goals that they would like to see implemented. I’m calling it our Path to Progress as we rebuild our district.”

How did Transfinder play a key role in meeting those goals? Continue reading the rest of the story below.

Not Just a Bird’s Eye View but a Windshield View

Hatton doesn’t want just a “bird’s eye view” of transportation but wants to see how things are really working. Last year, he said, “I jumped on a bus on the second to last day of school. It was Miss Tammy’s bus and she was showing me how she used the tablet.”

Hatton said the driver app installed on the tablet combined with the parent app Stopfinder has done wonders for the transportation operation.

“She’s one of those drivers who has incredible relationships with her kids,” Hatton said. “That was the first time I really got to see it and some of the potential that we have behind it.”

Transfinder technology and the support provided became a way to stabilize operations under pressure.

“When we had a really rough start to the year, we had this amazing client success manager who jumped on calls with us at the ready – like daily,” Hatton said. “He showed us little shortcuts and tweaks… and that will solve this issue.”

He said as the district looked route by route, often challenging a driver’s perspective of the best way to drive a route, efficiencies surfaced immediately.

For example, Hatton said, on Day 1 the driver would travel his or her usual route. “And then Day 2 we’d say, let’s run this route exactly the way Transfinder’s mapped it out.” The result?

“It actually saves three minutes here, two minutes there, a minute there,” Hatton said. “And then they (the drivers) start to believe, ‘Wow! This is actually going to be better!’”

Communication also changed for the better. Instead of broad, districtwide alerts, tools now allow precise updates.

“Almost instant communication is expected,” Hatton said. “If we’re not communicating with our families within five to 10 minutes of something happening on that bus… that’s just not acceptable in this day and age.”

Hatton’s approach resonates with other district leaders because it blends realism with vision. He does not promise quick fixes.

“I anticipate efficiencies in our routing,” he said. “I anticipate efficiencies with not having to hire as many drivers because I think we’re going to have fewer bus stops and we’re going to be much more efficient with our routes. … I think we’re going to see savings in the efficiencies of the routing.”

But he also ties technology to human impact.

“The power of what Transfinder can bring allows that driver to focus on the road,” Hatton said. “Take their anxiety and stress down and build those relationships with kids.”

For superintendents and business managers watching state dollars shrink, Hatton’s lesson is clear: leadership is not just about absorbing cuts—it is about using the right tools and people to keep services intact.

“We’re really proud of that,” he said.

In Findlay, funding cuts forced change. Leadership—and smart use of technology—made stability possible.

Hatton’s goal is to restore the service his community received prior to the funding cuts. He is approaching that goal methodically. Certain checkpoints have to be met before making major changes, such as increasing the number of drivers to cover routes.

“We’re just looking forward to maximizing the technology,” he said. Then, referencing the movie The Matrix, he added: “Never send a human to do a machine’s job. But also, never send a machine to do a human’s job. I firmly believe that even though we need to leverage AI and prepare children for their future, the classroom teacher is never going to be replaced and I think should never be replaced. The same with the bus driver. I think that relationship is so important.”

Transfinder technology is at the intersection.

“I think the power of what Transfinder and the resources it can bring to bear allows the driver to focus on the road, take their anxiety and stress down and build those relationships with kids,” Hatton said. “And then in terms of the parents, they feel safer. They can look at their phones and see exactly where the bus is.”

To learn more, visit transfinder.com/solutions, call 800-373-3609 or email solutions@transfinder.com.

Key Takeaways from Findlay’s Experience

• Leverage technology fully before cutting service further. Findlay discovered it had powerful tools in place with Transfinder but wasn’t using them to their potential. Updating maps, data, and routing inside the system created immediate efficiencies when funding was reduced.
• Use disruption as a catalyst to modernize. The loss of state funding and key staff forced the district to abandon paper-based processes and rebuild routing digitally, improving accuracy, visibility, and long-term sustainability.
• Pair software with the right people. Leadership restructured transportation staffing around system expertise, ensuring the technology was supported by someone who could actively manage and optimize it.
• Efficiency protects students and drivers. More precise routing reduced unnecessary stops and confusion, helping drivers focus on safety and relationships with students while maintaining service under tighter budgets.
• Strong vendor partnership matters in crisis. Access to hands-on support and problem-solving from the Transfinder team helped stabilize operations quickly during a difficult transition period.

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

The post Leadership Under Pressure appeared first on School Transportation News.

This month’s issue features the leadership perspectives from superintendents on the importance of student transportation on educational access for students and how they’re navigating in the educational world. The other features look at school transportation mobility models and factors to consider when upgrading current school buses or purchasing new ones. Also, learn more about the intricacies of addressing safety issues, fresh ideas for staff recruitment and training with AI.

Read the full April 2026 issue.

Cover Story

What’s Trending?
Superintendents share how they’re navigating some of the challenges impacting not only education but also transportation operations.

Features

Something Old vs. Something New
Other factors besides cost are considered when districts decide to either upgrade their current school buses or purchase new ones.

How Do Your Kids Arrive at School?
A child can get to school in a variety of ways. Operations discuss how they are ensuring a safe route to school regardless of the mode.

Special Reports

Safety Upgrade Complexities
State laws are normally reactive to various safety related incidents, and Texas and Maine are no different. But experts say that solving one safety issue could create others when retrofitting a fleet.

Conversations
Trends
Ad Index

Editor’s Take by Ryan Gray
You Can’t Spell Training Without AI

Publisher’s Corner by Tony Corpin
Fresh Ideas: Recruitment, Retention

The post April 2026 appeared first on School Transportation News.

CONCORD, N.C. — Jim Knight started his keynote address at STN EXPO East like a concert, highlighting that culture isn’t something you talk about. It’s something people feel. And attendees felt that energy as they walked into the room and heard the music playing over the speakers.

His message Monday was clear: If you want a culture that rocks, you have to create experiences people won’t forget. A feeling of culture starts with moments.

Knight, the former head of global training and development for Hard Rock International’s hotels, casinos, dining and entertainment, quickly moved past traditional definitions of culture. Instead, he grounded the concept in something far more tangible: human behavior.

“Fantastic, awesome, world-beating cultures—they only exist because of human behaviors,” he said.

To illustrate, he shared a story about witnessing a fast-food employee near Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida, interact with a young girl dressed as a princess. Rather than simply take her order, the employee bowed and declared, “All hail the princess,” prompting the entire staff to follow suit.

The moment lasted seconds but its impact, Knight said, is probably something the girl’s family still talks about. “That’s culture,” he said, adding that culture is not heritage, legacy or the past. “Culture is what’s happening right now.”

The ride to and from school may be routine. The interaction is not. “The student experience has to rock,” he continued. “And that starts with the relationship. How the driver made me feel, that’s what matters.”

At its core, he defined culture simply as “a collection of people,” each bringing their own behaviors into the organization. That definition carries weight in an industry facing persistent driver shortages and turnover.

Side Bar: Jim Knights’ 10 Takeaways

 

1. Fantastic cultures only exist because of human behaviors

2. Celebrate heritage (past), but focus on the present (people)

3. Be Like U2 – Everyone signing off the same sheet of music

4. To avoid four-letter words, don’t provide/endorse mediocrity

5. People crave differentiation – deliver personalized experiences

6. In a world of darkness, be a bright light in each student’s day

7. Treat each person special – Like it’s your first day of work

8. Authentic student obsession creates lifelong raving fans

a. Create generational fans (you have the parents & the kids on your bus)

9. The true path to cultural Nirvana’s through 3C rock stars – YOU ARE THE AMPLIFIER
10. Change your mindset from transportation to creating experiences

BONUS: Position the Job to be Tattoo-Worthy

“Every time somebody joins or leaves [an organization], culture changes,” Knight said, adding that the student transportation industry faces a retention challenge. “If you could hold on to the right people, you’d have exactly what you want.”

Knight used a simple exercise. He asked attendees to close their eyes and point in the direction of true north, to demonstrate how easily organizations drift without alignment. “If everybody’s guessing, you get confusion,” he said. “If everybody’s aligned, you get productivity.”

He compared it to a band, using U2 as an example. While Bono and The Edge may draw the spotlight as lead singer and lead guitarist, respectively, the rhythm section of drummer Adam Clayton and bassist Larry Mullins, Jr., keep the band on the same page.

“Everybody has a role to play,” Knight said. “But you’ve got to be singing off the same sheet of music.”

In transportation, that means consistent communication from leaders to the school bus drivers. Everyone needs to be in tune about expectations, priorities and purpose.

“If you don’t share it, people will make it up,” he added.

One of Knight’s most pointed observations centered on what he called “acceptable mediocrity,” and four-letter words that he hates. Words like “fine,” “good” and “okay” may sound harmless, but he argued they signal something deeper.

“They scream mediocrity,” he said, adding that over time, organizations begin to accept these outcomes as success.

Differentiation Happens One Interaction at a Time

Knight emphasized that creating a standout culture doesn’t require sweeping changes. It starts with small, intentional actions.

“Read the person. Seize the moment. Personalize the experience,” he said, recalling his time at Hard Rock, where he made it a point to engage each guest in a unique way—whether through humor, conversation or simple recognition.

“You do that, you create loyalty,” he said. “You create stories.”

The same principle applies to student transportation. “People crave differentiation,” Knight said. “Deliver personalized experiences, and you build comfort, safety and trust.”

He played a video each Chick-Fil-A location shows to all new employees. The video highlights different people eating at the chain fast-fodd restaurant, with captions about what’s each person has going on in their lives. Everyone is dealing or navigating something. Every life has a story if we bother to read it, he said.

As a result, Chick-Fil-A immediately communicates the culture of caring they want from their employees.

“In a world of darkness, be a bright light in each student’s day,” Knight continued.

For many students, the bus ride is more than transportation. It’s a transition point, and sometimes the first interaction students have of the day. It puts drivers in a uniquely influential position.

Related: Security Expert Shares Key Indicators of Violence for School Transportation Safety
Related: Transportation Directors Receive Rock Star Training on Driver Retention
Related: Multi-Modal Transportation Gains Momentum as Districts Seek Flexible, Cost-Effective Solutions
Related: Gallery: STN EXPO East Tech Demos and Ride & Drive at Charlotte Motor Speedway

Jim Ellis, director of transportation at Henrico County Public Schools in Virginia, noted that culture and the driver shortage tie hand and hand. “If you don’t want to be here, then I really don’t want you,” he said, underscoring the importance of cultural fit in a role that involves transporting children. He pointed to the driver shortage as a complicating factor, making it harder to be selective, but stressed that long-term success depends on building a team committed to more than just driving.

“You’ve got to be the one that fits that culture… making sure that you are that first thing they see.”

Britton Overton, director of transportation for Pender County School District in North Carolina, added that staffing challenges also impact morale, which in turn shapes culture. “It definitely affects culture, but also morale—and morale helps to build that culture or tear it down,” he said, noting that supporting drivers and maintaining positivity are critical to sustaining both.

Knight also challenged attendees to reflect on their own mindset. Think back to the first day on the job, he said, a time when employees arrived early, paid attention and took pride in every detail.

“Somewhere along the way, we lose that,” he said, adding that employees start cutting corners by focusing on their own gain the longer they stay in an organization.

Reclaiming that “day one attitude” is essential to sustaining culture over time, he commented.

Tisha Hergert, transportation director for Onsted Community Schools in Michigan, said Knight was very enthusiastic. “Everything that he mentioned to us, it was so easy to break down and will be very easy to implement. When I go back to my district, I feel like I can fire my crew up.”

Ultimately, Knight reinforced that culture is amplified, or diminished, by the people delivering the experience. He outlined what he called the “three C’s” of high-performing teams: Competence, Character and Culture fit.

“The true path to cultural nirvana is through 3C rock stars,” he said, adding that in student transportation, those rock stars are the drivers.

Knight closed with a mindset shift that tied the session together. “Stop thinking about transportation,” he said. “Start thinking about creating experiences.”

Because while routes, schedules and safety protocols are essential, they are only part of the equation. What students and families remember and what defines culture, is the human interaction.

“Don’t just think about this stuff,” Knight said in his final remarks. “Act on it.”

Overton told School Transportation News that Knight’s keynote was “very inspirational.” He noted that culture has become “a big word in discussion nowadays,” adding that Knight offered practical takeaways that he plans to implement back home. “

“[Knight] gave me some good insight and broadened my thinking of how I can make our transportation better in our district,” Overton added, emphasizing that sessions like the Monday keynote are about learning what works and adapting it locally.

The post Culture That Rocks: Turning Everyday Moments into Unforgettable Experiences appeared first on School Transportation News.

As we navigate through 2026, school transportation professionals face an evolving landscape marked by staffing shortages, the accelerated shift toward zero-emission fleets, heightened student safety challenges, and increasingly complex demands from parents, local government and school executives.

Attending industry conferences has never been more essential. These state, regional and national events bring together dedicated peers to exchange innovative ideas, forge lasting networks, reconnect with trusted partners and colleagues, and commit to meaningful professional growth. The practical, actionable insights shared by expert presenters, panelists and fellow attendees translate directly into safer routes, more efficient operations and improved experiences for the students we serve every day.

“The chance to gain inspiration, motivation and network with other successful school transportation operators is a big factor in why I attend conferences like STN EXPO,” said Brooke Millar, president at 4 Seasons Transportation. Her words resonate deeply in an industry where burnout and rapid change can challenge even the most committed leaders.

“Professional development at conferences provides a nice break from daily routines to focus on my personal growth, fostering innovation and identifying knowledge gaps,” she added.

Attending industry conferences can deliver profound, multifaceted benefits. Participants draw fresh inspiration and renewed motivation from accomplished leaders who have overcome similar obstacles. They sharpen critical skills through in-depth educational sessions exploring emerging trends, regulatory updates and proven best practices. Powerful keynote presentations and interactive workshops help cultivate a resilient growth mindset, boosting confidence in tackling ambitious goals.

Beyond the classroom sessions, networking opportunities enable professionals to crowdsource real-time solutions to pressing challenges, spark collaborations across districts and states and open doors to new career advancements or operational efficiencies. The expansive trade shows connect attendees directly with cutting-edge technology, vehicles and products designed to address core priorities such as fleet optimization, advanced safety systems, driver retention strategies, procurement, and specialized transportation for students with disabilities and special needs.

Events like STN EXPO stand out for their comprehensive educational programming, including specialized deep dives into niche topics. The Transportation Director Summit offers exclusive leadership training, while creating opportunities to connect with peers, key business partners and OEMs. The Bus Technology Summit offers the opportunity to experience live technology demonstrations and to compare solutions from business partners. The Green Bus Summit delivers compelling success stories and conversations from fleet decision makers that have invested in a sustainable future. These targeted tracks provide focused education, hands-on skill development and invaluable connections with like-minded professionals.

Meanwhile, the trade show floor and evening networking receptions create an energetic environment for exploring innovative solutions, testing new equipment and building potential vendor partnerships that can transform district operations.

Our most recent attendee surveys continue to highlight professional development and networking as the primary reasons professionals invest their time in these gatherings.

Engaging peers, industry experts, suppliers, school bus dealers, and OEMs provides a unique forum for market research, product comparisons and honest discussions about what truly works in the field. Whether you’re seeking solutions for sustainable fleets, enhanced security measures, comprehensive driver training programs, or inclusive special needs transportation, the trade show serves as a one-stop resource for discovering partners that align with your district’s specific needs and budget.

In an era of tight budgets and high stakes, investing time in these events yields measurable, lasting returns: Enhanced knowledge that informs better decisions, stronger professional networks that provide ongoing support, renewed motivation to lead through challenges, and direct access to innovations that elevate safety and efficiency. Look for hands-on workshops, certifications and powerful keynotes from leaders with a focus on leadership, technology and green fleets.

Conferences are a catalyst for excellence and truly time well spent. I personally invite you to experience STN EXPO East March 26–31 and STN EXPO West July 9–15 firsthand and see the impact for yourself. Registration is open now at stnexpo.com.

It’s time to invest in leadership for you and your team. I look forward to seeing you soon and hearing about the ideas you’ll bring back to drive success.

Editor’s Note: As reprinted from the March 2026 issue of School Transportation News.

Related: Transportation Director Summit Provides Exclusive Leadership, Networking
Related: Giving Birth to Proper Leadership
Related: Leadership Starts From the Top Down
Related: (STN Podcast E289) 2026 Kicks Off: Winter Weather, the World Stage & Rock ‘n Roll Leadership

The post Ignite Your Leadership appeared first on School Transportation News.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – “For district nirvana, crush both student and driver experiences,” advised Jim Knight, who spent over two decades as head of global training and development for Hard Rock International’s hotels, casinos, dining and entertainment. “From a leadership standpoint, you can always ramp it up.”

“What I want to be for you is a catalyst,” the best-selling Culture That Rocks author told the transportation directors and supplier partners gathered at Topgolf Charlotte Southwest Saturday morning for leadership advice. “I know a lot about getting the right people around you and then loving on them, so they won’t want to leave.”

Leaders in attendance for the Transportation Director Summit at STN EXPO East said their priorities included driver retention, on-time performance, low absenteeism and reduced accidents. They also identified integrity, empathy, vision and communication as the most important leadership qualities. This lines up with top qualities acknowledged by popular motivational trainers, Knight confirmed, with the overall goal of building trust.

Drawing from the idea of a curated concert setlist, Knight led attendees through an exercise to pare down their most time-consuming work activities and prioritize the essentials with the greatest immediate impact.

Recruitment, Retainment Strategies in a Changing World

Organizational environments are either virtuous or vicious depending on who leaders hire, Knight explained during his fast-paced “edu-tainment” training.

He expounded that the vicious cycle sees morale and work culture tainted by negative school bus drivers, which in turn disturbs student experiences and may lower ridership. Targets missed and staff leaving mean mounting pressure and poor decisions, such as supervisors having to drive routes or lowering standards to put any warm body behind the wheel. In contrast, a positive driver and student experience leads to rave reviews and organizational growth at what will become known as an attractive place to work. This virtuous environment births more rock star leaders, Knight established.

“Stop recruiting like you’re filling seats – you have to build a band.”

– Jim Knight

While today’s average age of a U.S. school bus driver is 56, Knight underscored that the next generation of Millennial and Generation Z workers values individuality, flexibility and work-life balance. They are tech-savvy and socially conscious. For better or worse, he said, he’s noticed they don’t tolerate bad bosses, readily job hop, are prone to litigiousness and desire enrichment. They are generally visual learners with shorter attention spans, so he prioritizes pictures in training manuals.

He encouraged attendees to embrace generational differences from Baby Boomer to Generation Z workers and to tap into these characteristics when hiring new talent. While colorful hair or facial piercings, for instance, may give managers pause, he noted that student riders appreciate seeing role models who resemble them.

Rather than complaining about a talent drought, Knight advised actively seeking out potential drivers in unconventional places. Attendees suggested searching among fast food restaurants, colleges and trade schools, social media, stay-at-home parents, veterans, retirees, job boards, aides and custodians.

Framing the job through flexibility, purpose, stability, community and student impact helps, as does tailoring the hiring message to the recipient.

“If you want rock stars, you have to think differently,” Knight stated. “Stop recruiting like you’re filling seats. You have to build a band.”

He suggested using eye-catching AI-generated recruitment posters with humorous sayings or rock music puns, with an attendee contributing the promotional slogan, “Yellow air-conditioned office with corner windows!”

Knight stressed the importance of valuing the often-overlooked workers who are the backbone of the school district, sharing the story of how Hard Rock Cafe once utilized premade food to save costs, to the chagrin of its customers. Reversing course, the restaurant chain reintroduced fresh-cooked food accompanied by a marketing campaign featuring a leather-clad, fancy car-riding “rock star” who turned out to be a chef.

“Who are your rock stars?” he queried. Valued and celebrated student transporters are the show, he said, so make them feel appreciated.

Similar to how volunteers show up for the cause and not for money, Knight encouraged attendees to have such strong workplace culture that student transporters enthusiastically choose to stay.

Related: Transportation Leaders Share How to ‘Love the Bus,’ Why It Matters
Related: (STN Podcast E294) Boots to Buses: Military Formed Georgia Student Transportation Leader
Related: Leading with Purpose: Insights from STN EXPO West’s Transportation Supervisor Seminar
Related: (STN Podcast E280) Nuts and Bolts: Transportation Director of the Year Talks Data-Focused Oregon Ops
Related: Communication ‘Magic Words,’ Teamwork Tips Shared at Transportation Director Summit

Being A Good Boss

Team meetings, regular employee check-ins and open communication channels are a must, Knight emphasized. “If you want people to stay with you long term, you need growth and development,” he added.

White it may be tempting for a boss to zip straight to their office first thing in the morning, it’s more important for the team dynamic to take time for small talk and make employees feel loved, he said.

He reviewed a Gallup survey of over two million employees at 700 companies worldwide which found that a supervisor is the single most important influence in an employee’s decision to quit.

Additionally, Knight shared statistics from Heart-Centered Leadership by Susan Steinbrecher and Joel Bennett, Ph.D. showing that almost half of employees leave a company because they feel underappreciated. Almost 90 percent said they don’t receive acknowledgment for their work.

“People join companies. They leave individuals,” he noted.

He encouraged the leaders in the room to intentionally and authentically fill their employees’ “emotional bank accounts” to encourage them to stay. An attendee added that this is also an important concept when at home among families.

Just as every great musical group has a signature sound, every leader has a signature strength to offer their team, which Knight encouraged them to crank “up to 11” ala the music mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap. And like superfans don’t just love the music but also desire the connection of a backstage pass to meet the artists personally, Knight stated that leaders should ask intentional questions and get to know their workers on a deeper level.

“I can teach someone with a good heart to drive a bus, but I can’t teach someone to have a good heart.”

– Gerald Henry
Director of Transportation
Lexington 1 School District (S.C.)

He also advised leaving job positions open longer to hire the right person.

“I can teach someone with a good heart to drive a bus, but I can’t teach someone to have a good heart,” agreed Gerald Henry, director of transportation for Lexington 1 School District in South Carolina.

Quoting Bob Dylan’s quote “there is nothing so stable as change,” Knight encouraged attendees to refocus their thoughts and resources to only their “circle of influence” to maximize happiness and effectiveness.

He also advocated for supportive mentorship opportunities, such as the inaugural School Transportation News Peer-to-Peer Mentorship Program, which grouped STN EXPO East attendees based on years in the industry, district size, fleet makeup and areas of interest.

Knight provided famous music industry stories to demonstrate that success can be achieved through perseverance and resilience. He cited the examples of Phil Collins taking over the Genesis lead singer duties from Peter Gabriel, a street performer who went on to become Lady Gaga, or a drummer losing an arm and reinventing his playing style like Def Leppard’s Rick Allen.

While every concert has a slow song where the lighters (or the cellphone flashlights) come out, Knight noted that moment is not when the show ends. Instead, the energy always ramps back up with a faster paced song.

“Each of you has the power to light up or extinguish the cultural flame of the district, via your leadership,” he concluded. “Light it up!”

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Jim Knight will present the keynote “Culture That Rocks: Set List on How to Amp Up the Company’s Culture (to Eleven) and Deliver Sustainable Results” on Monday, March 30, 2026, from 10:15 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.

Photos by Vince Rios Creative.

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BACONTON, Ga., — ADAboy Van Conversions has announced the addition of two senior leaders to guide strategic development and expand growth in its wheelchair-accessible vehicle division.

Todd Hawks has been appointed Executive Director of Business Management. Hawks brings extensive experience working with transit agencies nationwide to improve transportation access and safety for ADA passengers. Throughout his career, he has worked with manufacturers and suppliers serving the accessible transportation market, including selling vehicles for MV-1 and providing wheelchair restraint systems for AMF.

Hawks also recruited Dave Rose, who joins the company as Vice President of Sales. Rose brings more than 30 years of experience in the transportation industry, including the past two decades with Freedman Seating, a leading manufacturer specializing in passenger safety solutions and ADA-focused seating systems designed to improve space and accessibility for wheelchair passengers.

CEO Hayes Stills, a founding member of ADAboy Van Conversions, said the new hires represent a major step forward for the company’s growth strategy.

“These two are the best at what they do,” said Stills. “ADAboy Vans are growing our relationships and building trust with some of the best dealerships in the country. Their experience will help us continue expanding our reach while delivering high-quality accessible transportation solutions.”

ADAboy Vans is a leading provider of 10-passenger multipurpose vehicles (MPVs), available in both full-passenger configurations and wheelchair-accessible models with stowable seating. The company is preparing for a busy summer production season as it works to supply school systems across the country with vehicles in time for the start of the fall school year. ADAboy’s flexible seating and accessibility options allow school districts and transportation providers to quickly adapt vehicles to meet the needs of both traditional and wheelchair-accessible student transportation.

The company will also serve as a leading sponsor at the Transportation Alliance Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. this May.

The post ADAboy Van Conversions Announces Two Strategic Leadership Hires to Drive Growth in Wheelchair-Accessible Vehicle Division appeared first on School Transportation News.

GLENDALE, Ariz.— RTA: The Fleet Success Company is proud to be Certified by Great Place To Work for the 3rd time in the last 4 years. The prestigious recognition is based entirely on what current employees say about their experience working at RTA. This year, 99% of employees said it’s a great place to work, 42 points higher than the average U.S. company.

Great Place To Work is the global authority on workplace culture, employee experience, and the leadership behaviors proven to deliver market-leading revenue, employee retention, and increased innovation.

“Great Place To Work Certification is a highly coveted achievement that requires consistent and intentional dedication to the overall employee experience,” says Sarah Lewis-Kulin, Vice President of Global Recognition at Great Place To Work. “By successfully earning this recognition, it is evident that RTA stands out as one of the top companies to work for, providing a great workplace environment for its employees.”

At RTA, culture isn’t a perk; it’s a foundation. The company operates on three core virtues: Humble, Hungry, and Smart. These aren’t aspirational values written on a poster, but a rigorous hiring and operational standard that shapes every decision the company makes, from who joins the team to how they serve their 1,000+ fleet management clients.

“Earning this recognition three times isn’t something that happens by accident,” said Josh Turley, CEO of RTA. “It happens because we are deeply intentional about who we bring into this company and how we treat them once they’re here. We set a high bar, and our team clears it every single day. Seeing 100% of our employees say they trust our leadership to be honest and ethical, and that they genuinely care about each other. That’s the culture we’ve worked hard to build and protect. I couldn’t be more proud of this team.”

Additional highlights from this year’s survey include:

100% of employees say management is honest and ethical in its business practices.

100% say people here are willing to give extra to get the job done.

100% say people care about each other here.

100% say when you join the company, you are made to feel welcome.

99% say people here are given a lot of responsibility.

RTA’s commitment to its people is also a commitment to its purpose: We Help Fleets Succeed. The company believes that the same care and intentionality brought to serving fleet managers, an often overlooked and under-resourced profession, must be brought to caring for the people doing that work.

According to Great Place To Work research, job seekers are 4.5 times more likely to find a great boss at a Certified great workplace. Additionally, employees at Certified workplaces are 93% more likely to look forward to coming to work, and are twice as likely to be paid fairly, earn a fair share of the company’s profits, and have a fair chance at promotion.

WE’RE HIRING!

Looking to grow your career at a company that puts its people first? Visit our careers page at: rtafleet.com/careers

About RTA
With over 45 years of industry experience, RTA: The Fleet Success Company delivers a modern fleet management information system (FMIS) and legendary fleet consulting services. RTA’s software is built by fleet professionals for fleet professionals that manage most of their maintenance in-house. From budgeting and performance reporting to streamlining technician and inventory workflows, RTA gives fleet teams the tools and resources they need to run high-performing, cost-efficient organizations. The combination of easy-to-use software, practical consulting, and the industry’s best customer service helps public sector and enterprise fleets make better decisions and maximize operational efficiency.

About Great Place To Work Certification
Great Place To Work Certification is the most definitive “employer-of-choice” recognition that companies aspire to achieve. It is the only recognition based entirely on what employees report about their workplace experience, specifically how consistently they experience a high-trust workplace. Great Place to Work Certification is recognized worldwide by employees and employers alike and is the global benchmark for identifying and recognizing outstanding employee experience. Every year, more than 10,000 companies across 60 countries apply to get Great Place To Work-Certified.

The post RTA: The Fleet Success Company Earns Great Place To Work Certification for the Third Time, Far Exceeding National Average appeared first on School Transportation News.

When Francis Wang ’21, MEng ’22 first joined the MIT Edgerton Center’s Solar Electric Vehicle Team (SEVT), his approach to engineering projects was “to focus my energy and attention on a tidy problem with neat boundaries that I could completely control.”

“But on Solar Car, I realized it takes a very different mindset to manage a substantial project with many moving pieces. It takes engineering leadership,” he recalls.

Wang was determined to strengthen his leadership skills. When he became Solar Car captain, he applied and was accepted into the Gordon Engineering Leadership (GEL) Program.

GEL’s courses and hands-on labs equip students with capabilities they need to lead and contribute to complex, real-world engineering challenges. The one- or two-year program for juniors and seniors complements MIT’s technical education, teaching teamwork, leadership, and communication skills in an engineering context. GEL students also benefit from personalized coaching, mentoring, industry networking, and career support throughout their professional lives.

“Before GEL, I saw the leadership parts of my role as a necessary evil to get to the actual interesting parts, which was the engineering,” says Wang. “The GEL Program gave me an understanding of how engineering leadership is crucial, because in the real world any project worth working on is larger than the scope of an individual engineer.”

In GEL he improved capabilities such as decision-making, taking initiative, and negotiating. He became a more effective SEVT team captain, able to navigate the challenges of taking an engineering project from concept to completion.

“It was often the case that the challenges I faced on Solar Car were not solely technical, involving aspects of communication, coordination, and negotiation. From GEL, I had the framework and the language to approach them,” says Wang.

Each year, 30-40 Edgerton students are accepted into the GEL Program. They come from a variety of teams and clubs including Arcturus, Assistive Technology Club, ChemE Club, Combat Robotics Club, Design Build Fly (DBF), Design for America, Electric Vehicle Team, Engineers Without Borders, First Nations Launch, MIT Electronics Research Society (MITERS), Motorsports, Robotics Team, Rocket Team, and Solar Electric Vehicle Team (SEVT).

“MIT’s best engineering students have GEL training and authentic project management experience with our competition teams,” says Professor J. Kim Vandiver, director of the Edgerton Center.

Edgerton project teams are entirely student-run organizations responsible for all levels of project and team management including fundraising, recruiting, designing, testing, risk mitigation, and project validation. The most successful teams have skilled leaders.

“Many of the excellent Edgerton project team students admitted to GEL are team or sub-team leaders who credit their GEL experience, particularly the experiential learning component, with improving their leadership skills,” says Leo McGonagle, executive director of GEL.

“It’s a win-win-win. GEL gets hard-working, motivated Edgerton Program students who are intent on self-development and improvement. Edgerton project teams often perform better with leaders who are GEL-trained. And the students gain leadership, teamwork, and communication abilities that they can use beyond their project team — in their capstones, course projects, internships, and jobs after MIT,” says McGonagle.

The overlapping connection between GEL and Edgerton truly becomes obvious when students begin to take ownership of project milestones.

“When you become the leader of a technical project, no one gives you a roadmap to team success,” says senior Hailey Polson, former captain of First Nations Launch team. “Technical expertise is not enough to leverage the talent and skills of an entire team or the ability to coordinate a multifaceted project; that’s where the tools, skills, and leadership theory I learned in GEL helped me bridge the gap between knowing how to accomplish our goals and actually leading my team successfully.”

Faris Elnager ’25 served as testing lead on the Motorsports team, which designs, manufactures, and competes with a formula-style electric race car every year.

“Making tough decisions was something that I learned in GEL. On Motorsports, I had to make high-stakes decisions about testing time that affected how we performed at a competition,” he says.

He found that GEL’s weekly Engineering Leadership Labs were a way to test for himself specific leadership capabilities that he could use to improve his Motorsports team.

“One of the most useful skills from GEL was evaluating your stakeholders and learning how to balance their needs. I remember thinking, we’re doing this right now in the [GEL] lab, and then we’re going back to the [Edgerton] shop to do this for real!” says Elnager. “It’s like a positive feedback loop. GEL labs make you better on project teams, and project teams make you better in GEL.”

Now a startup co-founder, Elnager says that the communication skills that he learned through Motorsports and GEL have been critical to his company’s early success. “You can build the best tech in the world. If you can’t pitch it to people, you’re never going to raise any money. Being able to explain a technical project to anyone, whether they're an investor or someone in your industry, is something that’s incredibly valuable.”

Adrienne Lai ’25 served as both mechanical lead and then captain of the Solar Electric Vehicle Team. She recalls how her GEL training would kick in on race day.

“It’s quite tricky to be captain of a build team, because there’s no adult to tell you what to do. You have to figure it all out for yourself. When you’re competing, it can be very chaotic. You are trying to maximize a score by driving more miles, but that comes with a trade-off of spending energy or ending the day in a more rural area, or with less sun, so there are a lot of trade-offs to consider. Sometimes someone just has to make a decision. I was very comfortable doing that because I had learned how to take initiative, which is one of the GEL capabilities,” she says.

Now a course assistant in GEL, Lai helps design scenarios that enable GEL students to become better and more resilient leaders. She particularly enjoys playing the role of an uncooperative supplier.

“We close our store randomly. We don’t have what they need. We won’t tell them what we have,” she laughs. “Students get very frustrated. They think that we’re just being mean. But from a real-world perspective, that is all very true. It simulates unpredictability, which is important not just in a job, but in life.”

The value of the engineering leadership skills learned in GEL and honed on Edgerton project teams carries forward into industry, graduate studies, and entrepreneurial ventures.

“GEL preparation, coupled with authentic project management on a competition team, prepares MIT students for great careers in industry,” says Vandiver.

Henry Smith ’25 says he still relies on skills such as negotiation, communication, and understanding stakeholder needs that he used when he was a Motorsports mechanical lead.

“I was doing high-level management, planning, and organization on the team. Being in the GEL Program really increased my value for the team and helped me be prepared to enter the job field. When I graduated, I wasn’t worried about being ready or not. It was a definite yes,” says Smith.

As project teams continue to address ambitious engineering challenges, the synergy between Edgerton and the Gordon Engineering Leadership (GEL) Program ensures that as students graduate, they’re prepared to not only become strong technical contributors, but confident leaders prepared to tackle complex engineering problems in the real world.

We discuss the potential impact of the national jobs report on school district budgets, the DOT’s non-domiciled CDL final rule and cutting-edge technology takeaways from the Geotab Connect conference. 

“It’s all about service: I went from servicing my country to now servicing my community.” Bernando Brown, director of student transportation for DeKalb County School District in Georgia, shares how his military experience shaped his work ethic, leadership style and focus on training and mentorship. He also discusses handling retention, budgeting and operational challenges.

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Lamar Consolidated Independent School District Superintendent Roosevelt Nivens reportedly shows a solid understanding and strong support for transportation operations by staying in regular contact with operations and transportation leaders as well as frontline staff.

Chief Operations Officer Greg Buchanan said Nivens, “has contributed to meeting transportation needs by helping secure successful bond elections to fund fleet expansion.”

Plus, Nivens — who was named the winner Thursday from among three other finalists for the National Superintendent of the Year award at the National Conference on Education — actively engages with employees during site visits, where he expresses appreciation for drivers, mechanics and leadership alike.

“Recently, he supported funding for 16 additional full-day drivers to cover absences and open routes, and he added leadership roles to keep transportation operations aligned with district growth,” Buchanan said.

The Superintendent of the Year Award is sponsored by AASA: The School Superintendents Association, along with Corebridge Financial and Sourcewell, celebrate the contributions and leadership of public-school superintendents.

Transportation Operations

Lamar CISD runs an entirely in-house transportation system that facilitates daily student mobility across a rapidly expanding district, “which allows the district to directly oversee safety standards, staffing and service quality,” Buchanan said.

It employs 275 drivers across three terminals for 265 daily bus routes. The district transports approximately 22,700 students each school day. During the 2024–2025 school year, school buses traveled more than 4.6 million miles, serving both general and special education routes.

Lamar CISD relies heavily on technology to streamline operations, enhance communication and improve safety. This includes Tyler Technologies’ comprehensive student transportation software for route planning, driver navigation, student ridership tracking, and a parent app. Fleet Vision helps the district manage fuel and parts inventory and Trip Tracker coordinates campus-based trip scheduling.

Ahead of the 2026 Superintendent of the Year being named Feb. 12 at the National Conference on Education in Nashville, Tennessee, School Transportation News sat down with those in charge of transportation operations at the respective districts to gain a better understanding of how the services function.

A $10,000 college scholarship will be presented in the name of the 2025 National Superintendent of the Year to a student at a high school the winning superintendent graduated from or from the school district the winner now leads.

Lamar CISD also uses Safety Vision camera systems to monitor bus interiors and exteriors, aiding accident investigations. “Additionally, AI-enabled tools are used daily for operational planning, communication and leadership support, enabling staff to respond swiftly to changing conditions,” Buchanan said.

When it comes to workplace culture, transportation encourages engagement and morale through constant communication. Culture is a key focus of the department to align with the district’s overall strategic plan, “which highlights recognizing exceptional performance and fostering a culture of excellence,” he added.

Communication is fostered through including weekly newsletters, terminal-level outreach, and a sunshine committee that organizes employee recognition, morale-boosting activities and celebrations.

“These efforts culminate in an annual end-of-year awards banquet that honors outstanding service and achievement,” Buchanan said.

One current initiative is to address Texas Senate Bill 546, which requires all school buses to be equipped with three-point seatbelts by Sept. 1, 2029. “The district is meeting this mandate through a combination of new bus purchases and retrofitting select existing buses,” Buchanan said, adding that it is not operating alternative-fuel or energy school buses due to the significant costs and infrastructure requirements.

Another initiative was the opening of a new transportation facility, which was opened to support district growth and improve operational efficiency. In addition, the district opened a new Junior High School which was named after Ella Banks, a 40-year veteran school bus driver at the district.

“This recognition underscores the district’s commitment to treating transportation as an essential component of student success,” Buchanan said.

Related: AASA Announces 2026 National Superintendent of Year Finalists
Related: First Alabama Educator Named 2025 AASA Superintendent of the Year

The post Superintendent of the Year Snapshot: Support, Understanding of Transportation appeared first on School Transportation News.

Insights on national school bus contractor First Student’s purchase of Chicago area contractor Cook Illinois Corp., the Blue Bird 2026 Q1 earnings report, and a California study on lap/shoulder seatbelt efficacy.

“Make sure that the right people are on the right seats on the bus.” Heather Perry, superintendent of Schools for Maine’s Gorham Public Schools, was named as one of four finalists for the 2026 National Superintendent of the Year Award by The School Superintendents Association, AASA. She discusses her leadership journey, winter transportation operations, the value of collaboration and staff support, and a robust student career support program.

Read more about leadership.

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The post (STN Podcast E293) Community, Not Individual: Maine Superintendent Collaborates for Student, Staff Success appeared first on School Transportation News.

The Transportation Director Summit hosts student transportation leaders from across the country for a two-day event at STN EXPO East, focused on collaborative problem-solving and targeted training.

The Transportation Director Summit begins Friday, March 27 at the Embassy Suites Charlotte-Concord in North Carolina with a “Transportation Director Leadership Discussion” hosted by STN Publisher and President Tony Corpin. The event includes a networking mixer with appetizers and beverages provided. Discussion prompts will be based on the top challenges and changes facing the student transportation industry, as reported by participants via a survey.

On Saturday, the Transportation Director Summit participants head to Topgolf for an exclusive presentation from STN EXPO East keynote speaker Jim Knight. He will explain how to create “Leadership That Rocks” and build strong organizational culture. The day’s schedule will include multiple focused roundtable discussions as attendants are matched with different vendors to discuss the most pressing needs of their operations.

Participants will be provided with food, drinks and open golf bays as they network with other transportation directors and vendors.

Applicants must hold the position of transportation director or a qualified equivalent and be able to attend both days of the Summit. Email kristine@stnmedia.com for more information about qualifying for the Transportation Director Summit.

Register by Feb. 14 to save $100 off full conference registration. Browse conference agenda and explore other unique experiences at stnexpo.com/east.

Related: WATCH: STN EXPO East Keynote Speaker to Outline Strategies for Creating Impactful Culture
Related: Industry Veteran to Address Student Transportation Funding Uncertainty at STN EXPO East
Related: STN EXPO East to Feature Timely Discussion on Managing Stress

The post Transportation Director Summit Provides Exclusive Leadership, Networking appeared first on School Transportation News.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.,- Zum, the leader in modern student transportation, today announced the appointment of Joseph Chong as Chief Marketing Officer. Chong will lead Zum’s marketing strategy and execution as the company accelerates national expansion, deepens adoption across major school districts, and continues to scale its technology-led, data-driven student transportation platform.

Zum is transforming student transportation—the largest mass transit system in the United States—by replacing fragmented, antiquated models with a tech and AI-driven transportation solution built around safety, reliability, transparency, and operational excellence. As adoption continues to grow rapidly across the country, Chong will help strengthen and amplify Zum’s narrative, strengthen engagement with districts and families, and support continued momentum across new and existing markets.

Chong brings more than 25 years of marketing leadership experience across high-growth and category-defining technology companies. Most recently, he served as Chief Marketing Officer at Incode, where he helped scale the company through a period of rapid growth. A graduate of Harvard College and The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Chong has also held senior leadership roles at Zoom, Salesforce, and Twitter.

“Zum is setting a new standard in student transportation with technology that reduces commute times, increases visibility and transparency, and ensures students arrive at school ready to learn,” said Chong. “I’m excited to join the team at a moment of significant momentum, and to help bring Zum’s world-class technology and operations to even more communities nationwide.”

“We’re delighted to welcome Joseph to Zum at a pivotal stage in our growth,” said Ritu Narayan, Founder and CEO of Zum. “Joseph’s experience building and scaling trusted brands aligns perfectly with where Zum is today. As more districts turn to Zum to modernize student transportation, Joseph’s leadership will help us deepen impact and continue raising the bar for how student transportation is delivered.”

Zum currently serves more than 4,000 schools across 14 states, with partnerships in many of the nation’s largest school districts, including Los Angeles Unified, San Francisco Unified, Oakland Unified, Seattle Public Schools, Boston Public Schools, Omaha Public Schools, and St. Louis Public Schools.

To learn more about how Zum is delivering safe, reliable, and modern student transportation at scale, visit www.ridezum.com.

About Zum:
Zum is a technology-led, data-driven transportation company transforming student transportation—the largest mass transit system in the United States. Today, Zum provides turnkey, modern transportation solutions to more than 4,000 schools across 14 states and is expanding rapidly nationwide. Recognized globally for its innovative approach and operational execution, Zum has raised over $350 million from leading investors including Sequoia Capital, GIC, and SoftBank. Zum has been named to Fast Company’s World’s Most Innovative Companies, CNBC’s Disruptor 50 and Changemakers, the World Economic Forum, and the Financial Times Fastest-Growing Companies. Learn more at www.ridezum.com.

The post Zum Appoints Joseph Chong as Chief Marketing Officer appeared first on School Transportation News.

The School Superintendents Association, AASA, announced its four finalists for the 2026 National Superintendent of the Year Award. The winner will be named at the annual National Conference on Education in February.

AASA along with award co-sponsors Corebridge Financial and Sourcewell will recognize on of the finalists “for their outstanding leadership and dedication to advancing public education in their communities,” a press release noted.

The following finalists were nominated by their state associations and honored with the title of State Superintendent of the Year. They were measured against criteria such as leadership for learning, communication, professionalism and community involvement.

Demetrus Liggins, superintendent of Fayette County Public Schools in Kentucky joins Roosevelt Nivens, superintendent of Lamar Consolidated Independent School District in Texas, Heather Perry, superintendent of Schools at Maine’s Gorham School Department, and Sonja Santelises, the chief executive officer at Baltimore City Schools in Maryland.

Related: Superintendent Defends School Bus Driver Accused of Erratic Driving, Potential Impairment
Related: First Alabama Educator Named 2025 AASA Superintendent of the Year
Related: Superintendent Snapshot: Florida District Depends on Transportation
Related: Superintendent Snapshot: Staying Connected with Departments, Students

“These extraordinary leaders embody the transformative power of public education,” stated David R. Schuler, AASA’s executive director. “Their visionary leadership uplifts students and demonstrates our continued commitment to providing every child with the opportunities, experiences, and education that prepares them for college, career, and real life in the real world. We are honored to celebrate their incredible success and accomplishments.

The winner will be announced on stage during the National Conference on Education, Feb. 12-14 in Nashville, Tennessee. A $10,000 college scholarship will be presented in the name of the 2026 National Superintendent of the Year to a student who attends the high school from which the superintendent graduated or a school within the district.

The full list of 50 state superintendents of the year is online.

The post AASA Announces 2026 National Superintendent of Year Finalists appeared first on School Transportation News.

School Transportation News is currently accepting applications for its 2026 awards: Garage Stars, Rising Stars, Innovator of the Year and the Peter J. Grandolfo Memorial Award of Excellence.

STN gathers annual nominations from across the country and historically has chosen 10 Garage Star finalists to be featured in the August magazine edition. Last summer, STN selected seven individuals and three maintenance teams. STN also features 10 Rising SuperStar finalists in the November issue.

Garage and Rising Star finalists receive STN conference registration scholarships, to be used at an STN EXPO or TSD conference of their choice the following year.

The application window for Garage Stars will close on May 16. Rising Stars will remain open until July 31.

The Grandolfo Award, sponsored by Q’Straint, is its 18th year. Named after Peter Grandolfo, the late Chicago Public Schools transportation director and NAPT board member, the award is presented at STN EXPO West. The Grandolfo award recognizes a school transportation professional who exhibits exemplary service on behalf of the nation’s school children, especially those with disabilities. The application deadline is May 22.

Related: Garage Star, Rising Star Finalists to Receive Conference Registration Scholarships
Related: Michigan’s Morris Presented with 2025 Grandolfo Award at STN EXPO
Related: Innovator Award Seeks Nominations of Trailblazing School Bus Contractors

Meanwhile, the fifth annual Innovator of the Year award features a private school bus contractor employee who exemplifies the adoption of cutting-edge technology and programs.

STN presents Innovator of the Year in partnership with the National School Transportation Association. Readers may submit an online nomination through May 1.

Qualifications include making “significant, tangible contributions” to the school transportation industry within the past 12 months. Innovations could include technology implementation, operations, safety initiatives and green energy adoption.

The post Nominations Open for 2026 STN Awards appeared first on School Transportation News.

School Transportation News has opened registration for its fifth-annual Innovator of the Year award, which features a private school bus contractor employee who exemplifies the adoption of cutting-edge technology and programs.

The magazine partners with the National School Transportation Association (NSTA) to present the award. Readers may submit an online nomination through May 1 to recognize an individual who works for a school bus contractor company and meets the criteria.

Qualifications include making “significant, tangible contributions” to the school transportation industry within the past 12 months. Innovations could include technology implementation, operations, safety initiatives and green energy adoption.

“I believe that change begins with the ability to recognize an innovator when you meet one. It is vitally important to share the achievements of our leaders to help elevate our industry. School Transportation News is honored to share this story of innovation with the entire school transportation industry,” said Tony Corpin, publisher of STN magazine and president of STN Media Group.

Read about & hear podcasts with previous years’ winners:

July 2022: The Great Innovator
(STN Podcast E120) Onsite at STN EXPO Reno: Electric Innovator Pulls Back the Curtain

July 2023: There Is No ‘I’ in Team
(STN Podcast E170) Meet the Innovator of the Year: Maintaining a Fast-Growing Bus Fleet

July 2024: Driven by Students, Driven by Technology, Driven by Partnerships
(STN Podcast E217) From Submariner to Innovator of the Year: Fleet Electrification for Student Success

July 2025: ‘Here to Serve’ People With Technology
(STN Podcast E256) Empathy is a Core Principle: Bringing Funding, Tech & People Together for Student Service

This year’s winner will be announced on the front cover of the July edition of STN magazine. The award will be presented in-person at both STN EXPO West held July 9-15 in Reno, Nevada, and at the NSTA Summer Meeting held July 19-22 in Denver, Colorado.

“NSTA is proud and pleased to partner with School Transportation News in the promotion of the 2026 Innovator Award. With so many talented individuals in student transportation, we encourage school bus operators to nominate a worthy candidate, so we can honor them with this prestigious award this summer,” stated NSTA Executive Director Curt Macysyn.

“Receiving the Innovator of the Year recognition was a humbling moment that reinforced how much meaningful progress in student transportation comes from people willing to challenge the status quo,” said Gaurav Sharda, CTO of Beacon Mobility and the 2025 Innovator of the Year award winner. “The award represents more than innovation for its own sake. It honors work that improves safety, dignity, and daily experiences for students, families, and the professionals who serve them. I encourage peers across the industry to nominate individuals whose ideas and leadership are quietly making a lasting difference, because their impact deserves to be recognized and shared.”

Related: Start Your Green Fleet Innovation Strategy
Related: School Bus Contractors Compete in Driver Applicant Pool
Related: School District, Bus Contractor Partnerships Vital When Transporting Special Needs Students

The post Innovator Award Seeks Nominations of Trailblazing School Bus Contractors appeared first on School Transportation News.

Onboard school bus cameras have changed the game when it comes to school bus driver and student safety. Combined with proper procedures and training, they can be a pivotal part of an enhanced safety strategy for student transportation operations.

In North Carolina, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) has had cameras in place since area manager Monique Jackson joined the transportation department in 2018. Her passion for safety has been front and center throughout her career as an educator and now in student transportation.

“The number one reason for us to have those cameras is for bus safety and, of course, to capture whatever footage is necessary for reporting and documentation purposes,” said Jackson.

She noted the cameras originally used physical hard drives for video storage. Video is now cloud-based, so transportation leadership can make requests to view certain parts of the footage and be able to access it electronically in a more timely manner.

At the Transporting Students with Disabilities and Special Needs (TSD) Conference held in Frisco, Texas, keynote speaker and special education attorney Betsey Helfrich outlined common pitfalls when school districts and transportation departments don’t have clear policies and procedures for handling video footage. Lawsuits filed against the district can succeed if they prove there was insufficient training for employees and that the correct action wasn’t taken as soon as an incident is discovered.

She advised timely, documented communications with Title IX coordinators about incidents. However, there’s often a tricky balance between open record laws and FERPA, or Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, when distributing footage among staff members. She cited cases where districts used FERPA to justify not releasing footage of incidents onboard the school bus to parents of students who were involved but were later overruled in court. FERPA is also no excuse for keeping specific information from school bus drivers that pertains to their passengers’ access and safety.

Helfrich urged cautioned when sharing sensitive footage of safety incidents to ensure transportation personnel are fully educated on what constitutes an
immediate or imminent health and safety emergency. These would require footage to be shared with multiple parties that are trained on how to act when an incident is discovered or reported.

“Reviewing footage after an incident is important, but it is vital to randomly and periodically review footage,” said Bret Brooks, chief operating officer for school safety and security consultant Gray Ram Tactical. “Don’t wait for something bad to happen to review the recordings. There should be a written policy detailing how often recordings will be reviewed and by whom. Recordings should be kept for 30 days with the ability to retain for longer if needed.”

Ron Deming, territory manager for REI’s school bus division, said many customers praise cameras’ abilities to provide evidence for investigations. “Footage from cameras can serve as crucial evidence in case of accidents, injuries or misconduct, making it easier to identify causes and fault,” he said. “This reduces liability risks for districts.”

STN reported on an incident in October of a parent boarding a Ferguson Florissant School District bus near St. Louis, Missouri. Onboard cameras captured a disturbing scene of the father commanding his daughter to strike her alleged bully. The faces of other students and the school bus driver were blurred, which Helfrich advised districts to do, before the footage was shared.

Mike Dorn, executive director of nonprofit global K-12 school security consultant Safe Havens International, noted school districts should state on school bus driver applications that cameras are recording all driver behavior. That can serve as a deterrent to individuals who could be trying to harm students or behave inappropriately. It can also exonerate them if wrongly accused.

He discussed a case he worked on where a student reported they had been inappropriately touched by a driver. Pulling footage from the 30 days prior to the incident showed the veteran driver assaulting the pre-K student. He noted that the driver “knew from experience that the district only pulled camera footage when an incident like a fight was reported, not a typical occurrence
on a pre-K route,” hence the need for consistent review of footage even when no incident has been reported.

Driver Training
“For drivers, there has typically been an initial hesitancy and reluctancy to use the camera systems, but once they see how video and audio can back up their side of the story during incidents, most ultimately like having the camera systems in placem,” shared Brooks. Jackson echoed this sentiment by saying drivers she oversees at CMS have found that onboard cameras provide peace of mind that safety incidents don’t turn into “he-said, she-said” situations.

“While traditionally more of a post-incident investigative tool, modern security cameras can also be a powerful prevention tool,” said Dorn. “For example, we advise our clients to consider crafting, implementing and following a policy [that] outlines how supervisory personnel will use a random selection process to pull segments of video footage from school buses at key route times, check for policy compliance and archive the footage to document their efforts.”

Dorn noted drivers are made aware their performance is being regularly monitored and that management can recognize them for adhering to safety standards.Stephen Satterly, senior analyst at Safe Havens International, said when he was a school transportation supervisor in Ohio he would conduct a “hot wash” footage review with individual school bus drivers to “identify what went well and what could be improved.”

Jackson shared that she not only uses the footage in her CMS area to identify when and why drivers need more training but also to back up her drivers when there are behavioral challenges with students that required changes be made for the safety of everyone on board.

Clint Bryer, vice president of student transportation sales for Safety Vision, demonstrated camera features that aid in driver performance review and training at the TSD Conference Trade Show. He said school districts can customize what qualifies as an infraction, such as looking away from the road, not wearing a seatbelt, or using a cellphone while driving. Different infractions can carry “heavier weight” when it comes to scoring driver performance.

“Driver behavior management solutions have significantly contributed to improving driver performance by providing actionable data from AI detection of phone use, following too closely, seatbelt compliance and front collisions,” added AngelTrax CEO Richie Howard. “The most effective solutions integrate GPS and G-Force sensors with high-resolution video, with interior and exterior views, to provide context for the driver’s decisions and/or reactions along the route.”

Multiple video vendors and safety experts noted thatAI is becoming an increasingly used tool to detect safety incidents. Howard noted that the industry is only “scratching the surface” and the capabilities of AI will continue to grow and be used to notify transportation immediately if a safety concern is detected.

“Machine learning can be integrated into school bus cameras to predict dangerous situations, such as student bullying or a conflict about to break out,” said Deming. Brooks summed up his advice regarding the use of cameras for increased safety and driver training by highlighting the importance of that human involvement.

“Even with the advancements of AI, or any technology, we must remember that human involved is paramount. Training drivers will always be critical regardless of any technology that can assist them. Assist is the key term, not
replace,” he said. “Don’t allow cameras to replace human involvement, training, reviewing, interactions, etc. Cameras are great tools but not a cure all in of themselves.”

Editor’s Note: As reprinted from the January 2026 issue of School Transportation News.

Related: (STN Podcast E187) Onsite at the TSD Conference, Part 1/2: Technology, Cameras & Special Needs
Related: 8 Must-Know Tips for Bus Camera System Installations
Related: Is Safety Everyone’s Responsibility?
Related: (STN Podcast E286) End of Year Review: Safety & Technology Trends of 2025

The post Eagle Eye on Student Transportation Safety appeared first on School Transportation News.

The most read School Transportation News magazine articles in 2025 explored AI and other emerging technology, leadership, workforce development and evolving student transportation models.

Specific topics included illegal school bus passing prevention, routing optimization, artificial intelligence and future-focused fleet technology, to reflect a transportation industry actively adapting to new challenges and opportunities. At the same time, human-centered stories, highlighting leadership, recognition and professional growth continued to resonate strongly with readers.

Together, these articles underscore the industry’s dual focus on innovation and culture as transportation departments prepare for the future.

STN reports below on the top-viewed article from each monthly magazine issue in 2025, organized by publication month.

January – Atypical Student Transportation

This article examined nontraditional student transportation scenarios that fall outside standard home-to-school routes on school buses. It explored how districts are adapting to serve students with disabilities and special needs who need alternative schedules and specialized programs. The piece emphasized flexibility, collaboration and policy considerations required to safely and effectively manage atypical transportation models.

February – Combatting Illegal Passing with Awareness, Technology
Focusing on one of the most persistent safety threats in pupil transportation, this article addresses strategies to reduce illegal passing of stopped school buses. It highlighted the role of public awareness campaigns, stop-arm cameras, and enforcement partnerships, reinforcing the importance of both education and technology in protecting students at bus stops.

March – On the Block

Procurement and decision-making challenges faced by transportation departments, particularly as districts evaluate new vehicles, services and technologies, underscore the importance of planning, transparency and stakeholder input when making large-scale transportation investments.

April – Seeing Into the Future

One of the most-read magazine articles of the year looked at emerging AI trends shaping student transportation. Topics include predictive maintenance technologies, data-driven operations and forward-thinking approaches to safety and efficiency. The article encouraged readers to view innovation as a proactive tool rather than a reactive solution.

May – Q&A: Wyskiel Steers Blue Bird Toward Its Second Century

This Q&A featured leadership insights from Blue Bird President and CEO John Wyskiel, focusing on the company’s vision as it moves into its second century. The discussion touched on innovation, electrification, manufacturing priorities and the evolving needs of school districts.

June – Peeling Back the Routing Layers

Routing remains one of the most complex aspects of school transportation, and this article took a deep dive into the many variables that influence route design. From staffing shortages to bell times to special needs transportation, the piece highlighted how layered decision-making and technology tools can help districts improve efficiency and service reliability.

July – Leadership Perspectives on the Future of AI

This article examines how AI may shape the future of student transportation. Industry leaders share perspectives on potential applications, from routing and predictive maintenance to training and operations, while also addressing concerns around implementation, data, and workforce readiness.

August – 10 Years: Garage Stars

Celebrating a decade of recognizing excellence, this article highlights the critical role maintenance professionals play in student transportation. It honored the dedication, expertise and behind-the-scenes work of garage staff who keep fleets safe, reliable and road-ready every day.

September – Future-Focused Technology

This article explores technology solutions designed to support long-term transportation goals rather than short-term fixes. Topics included vehicle systems, software integration and tools that improve safety, accountability, and operational visibility for transportation departments.

October – Transportation Director Salaries by U.S. Region

Providing data-driven insight into compensation trends, this top-viewed article breaks down transportation director salaries by region across the contiguous U.S. It offers valuable benchmarking information amid ongoing workforce recruitment and retention challenges.

November – Rising Superstars

The most-viewed magazine article of 2025 spotlighted emerging leaders in the student transportation industry. By recognizing rising professionals making meaningful contributions, the article reflects the industry’s focus on mentorship, succession planning and cultivating the next generation of transportation leadership.

Related: (STN Podcast E240) 2024 in Review: Top STN Magazine Articles
Related: (STN Podcast E241) 2024 in Review: Top STN Online News Articles
Related: Top 10 Most Popular STN Web Articles of 2024
Related: 2024 STN Magazine Top Articles

The post 2025 STN Magazine Top Articles appeared first on School Transportation News.

Jessika Trancik, a professor in MIT’s Institute for Data, Systems, and Society, has been named the new director of the Sociotechnical Systems Research Center (SSRC), effective July 1. The SSRC convenes and supports researchers focused on problems and solutions at the intersection of technology and its societal impacts.

Trancik conducts research on technology innovation and energy systems. At the Trancik Lab, she and her team develop methods drawing on engineering knowledge, data science, and policy analysis. Their work examines the pace and drivers of technological change, helping identify where innovation is occurring most rapidly, how emerging technologies stack up against existing systems, and which performance thresholds matter most for real-world impact. Her models have been used to inform government innovation policy and have been applied across a wide range of industries.

“Professor Trancik’s deep expertise in the societal implications of technology, and her commitment to developing impactful solutions across industries, make her an excellent fit to lead SSRC,” says Maria C. Yang, interim dean of engineering and William E. Leonhard (1940) Professor of Mechanical Engineering.

Much of Trancik’s research focuses on the domain of energy systems, and establishing methods for energy technology evaluation, including of their costs, performance, and environmental impacts. She covers a wide range of energy services — including electricity, transportation, heating, and industrial processes. Her research has applications in solar and wind energy, energy storage, low-carbon fuels, electric vehicles, and nuclear fission. Trancik is also known for her research on extreme events in renewable energy availability.

A prolific researcher, Trancik has helped measure progress and inform the development of solar photovoltaics, batteries, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and other low-carbon technologies — and anticipate future trends. One of her widely cited contributions includes quantifying learning rates and identifying where targeted investments can most effectively accelerate innovation. These tools have been used by U.S. federal agencies, international organizations, and the private sector to shape energy R&D portfolios, climate policy, and infrastructure planning.

Trancik is committed to engaging and informing the public on energy consumption. She and her team developed the app carboncounter.com, which helps users choose cars with low costs and low environmental impacts.

As an educator, Trancik teaches courses for students across MIT’s five schools and the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing.

“The question guiding my teaching and research is how do we solve big societal challenges with technology, and how can we be more deliberate in developing and supporting technologies to get us there?” Trancik said in an article about course IDS.521/IDS.065 (Energy Systems for Climate Change Mitigation).

Trancik received her undergraduate degree in materials science and engineering from Cornell University. As a Rhodes Scholar, she completed her PhD in materials science at the University of Oxford. She subsequently worked for the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, and the Earth Institute at Columbia University. After serving as an Omidyar Research Fellow at the Santa Fe Institute, she joined MIT in 2010 as a faculty member.

Trancik succeeds Fotini Christia, the Ford International Professor of Social Sciences in the Department of Political Science and director of IDSS, who previously served as director of SSRC.

Farm Foundation has announced the recipients of its prestigious 2025 awards, recognizing outstanding individuals dedicated to addressing critical issues in food and agriculture. The honorees exemplify Farm Foundation’s work of fostering innovation, leadership, and thoughtful public policy dialogue.

The recipients of the 2025 Farm Foundation Awards are:

Innovator of the Year: Robbie Dye, CEO, and Tyler Speer, COO, co-founders of Our Farms.
Emerging Leader Award: Dr. Shandrea Stallworth, Senior Agronomist and Global Resource, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, Regenerative Agriculture, Nestlé Purina North America.
RJ Hildreth Public Policy Award: Dr. Keith H. Coble, Vice President for the Division of Agriculture, Forestry, and Veterinary Medicine, Mississippi State University.
Book of the Year: Land Rich, Cash Poor by Brian Reisinger, award-winning writer, rural policy expert, speaker, and consultant.

“We received a remarkable range of inspiring nominations this year, and these four honorees stood out for their exceptional contributions,” said Tim Brennan, vice president of programs and strategic impact at Farm Foundation. “Their dedication to tackling critical issues in food and agriculture is vital to improving our food system.”

The awards ceremony will take place during the July 2025 Farm Foundation Round Table meeting in Spokane, Washington.

2024 recipients of Farm Foundation Awards include Dr. Jayson Lusk of Oklahoma State University; Dr. Robert Fraley, former executive vice president and chief technology officer at Monsanto Company; Dr. Yangxuan Liu of the University of Georgia; and Dr. Stephen Adejoro of the Livestock Industry Foundation for Africa.

For more information about the recipients and the Farm Foundation Awards, visit: https://www.farmfoundation.org/programs/farmfoundationawards/

The post Farm Foundation Announces 2025 Award Recipients appeared first on Farm Foundation.