CONCORD, N.C. — A powerful and emotional session at STN EXPO East highlighted a reality transportation leaders hope to never face: A catastrophic school bus crash, the chaos that follows, and the need to have strong relationships with first responders.

The conference discussion between Tracie Franco, director of transportation for Leander Independent School District in Texas, and STN Editor-in-Chief Ryan Gray centered on real-world lessons from a recent rollover crash and broader strategies for working effectively with first responders. Joshua Hinerman, state director for Tennessee, was scheduled to be on the panel but canceled days earlier after a fatal school bus crash.

“This industry is so predicated on safety training,” Gray said. “But there are so many other forces on the road to contend with.”

Franco recounted Leander ISD’s first day of school crash in August that included 46 students aboard a bus that rolled over twice on a rural road. “When I got there … my heart just dropped,” she said. “You had students on the side of the road … people crying … my driver had blood coming out of his head. It was just chaos.”

Actionable Takeaways for School Districts

 

The First Responder Coordination Session at STN EXPO East March 29 delivered several practical strategies for transportation leaders:

 

1. Build relationships with first responders now.

Tracie Franco, director of transportation for Leander ISD in Texas, admitted her department had limited prior coordination with local agencies when a school bus crash occurred in August. “We had really not had any training with the firemen, with EMS, with police,” she said.

Post-crash, the district strengthened partnerships, including donating a retired school bus for emergency training.

 

2. Train together using realistic simulations.

Hands-on exercises — including smoke-filled buses and timed evacuations — help staff build muscle memory. “You go from panic to action,” Franco explained.

 

3. Establish clear command structure and communication.

Confusion over who is in charge can slow response efforts. “Have a plan … who’s in charge of the scene, who’s in charge of the students,” Franco advised.

 

4. Prepare for student accountability challenges.

Tracking students during transport to hospitals proved difficult. “I didn’t know where the students were going,” Franco said, noting the need for better systems to identify and track students during emergencies.

 

5. Create a “ready bag” for emergencies.

Leander ISD now deploys a kit with essential tools, including student rosters and ID access, power banks, portable printers and communication devices.

 

6. Plan for reunification and parent communication.

Parents will arrive quickly on-scene, often before systems are in place. “How do they know where to meet? Where reunification happens?” Franco asked.

 

7. Address emotional and mental health readiness.

Preparation isn’t just operational — it’s psychological.

“Be prepared emotionally,” Franco said. “You’re going to see chaos … hurt students.”

She added that post-incident support is critical for both students and staff.

 

8. Reinforce seatbelt usage and safety culture.

Only three students on the bus were wearing lap/shoulder seatbelts that are mandated by state law. “They didn’t move,” Franco said of the restrained students during the rollover. The district now enforces a “no seatbelt, no roll” policy and requires parent acknowledgment.

Seven students were transported to hospitals, some via helicopter. Miraculously, there were no fatalities, Franco said, emphasizing that despite years of preparation, the reality of a major crash exposed gaps.

“No matter how much you prepare … we realized we needed to step it up,” she said. “We needed to really train on different areas.”

One of the biggest challenges at the scene was confusion over roles and communication. “You have EMS, fire, police … who’s in charge?” Franco said. “I don’t know who these students are … I don’t know where they’re going.”

Related: NTSB Calls for Seatbelt Polices, Procedures Following Texas School Bus Crash
Related: Texas School District Updates Seatbelt Policy Following School Bus Rollover
Related: Texas Student Transporter Utilizes Technology to Improve Operations

First responders immediately took control, conducting triage and transporting injured students, often without time to coordinate with school officials, she recalled. The experience reinforced a key lesson: Relationships and protocols must be established before an emergency.

She noted the importance of FEMA officials and first responders already being stationed nearby following the deadly Guadalupe River flooding that took place on July 4 in immediately directing resources to the school bus crash.

Franco repeatedly warned against assuming “it won’t happen here.”

“Don’t be complacent,” Gray added, referencing recent fatal crashes nationally.

Meanwhile, Franco closed out the session with a reminder about mindset in crisis situations. “We cannot choose our external circumstances, but we can always choose how we respond to them,” she said.

The session reinforced that while crashes may be rare, preparedness must be constant and collaborative. From coordinated training with first responders to clear communication plans and emotional readiness, transportation leaders were urged to rethink how they prepare for the unthinkable.

As Franco summarized: “Have a plan … and just train, train, train.”

Article written with assistance of AI.

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CONCORD, N.C. – The Green Bus Summit at STN EXPO East featured school bus manufacturers discussing products, technology, innovations and support for school districts looking to run cleaner, safer and more efficient school bus operations.

Blue Bird: EV Myth vs. Reality: What’s Actually Driving Adoption?

“We’ve taken the lead on the EV side,” declared Brad Beauchamp, EV product segment leader for Blue Bird, reviewing how the company entered the field eight years ago.

Noelle White, channel partner marketing specialist for Blue Bird, led attendees through a gamified quiz on common electric school bus myths.

Attendees correctly identified answers to questions such as what regenerative braking does (charges the battery while slowing), time required for infrastructure upgrades (six to 18 months), and how much of a total EV project cost is tied to infrastructure (25 to 40 percent).

Although cold weather reduces electric school bus range by 10 to 30 percent, Beauchamp noted that technology advances and operational techniques allow for improvements in this area.

Level 1 chargers are commonly used by most districts today, but Beauchamp recommended Level 2 chargers, which he said are best for overnight charging.

Infrastructure readiness most commonly delays electric school bus projects since the work “doesn’t stop on the first wave of buses,” Beauchamp cautioned.

Operational planning significantly shifts during the move from diesel to electric due to routes and weather, to name a few factors, Beauchamp reminded attendees.

“As you start to use [electric school buses], there is a learning curve,” he said. “On the great side for EV, a lot of things can be corrected without even leaving your yard.”

Viewing electric bus deployment as equivalent to a straightforward vehicle purchase is a common pitfall, explained Beauchamp. Instead, he said districts must consider infrastructure, utilities, load planning and route modeling early in the process. He added that data gathered from onboard telematics helps transportation directors in this crucial planning phase.

“It’s going to take a team,” he said, especially as not all aspects of electric school bus implementation happen sequentially.

In fact, the bus purchase from the OEM is “the easy part,” he quipped.

“Eighty percent of routes in the U.S. can be covered with an EV,” Beauchamp continued.

He advised putting an electric school bus on shorter routes until success is achieved, and then operations can branch out.

“Figure out what your long-term strategy will be,” he said.

When districts purchase an electric school bus with federal funds, they are required to decommission and scrap an old diesel bus rather than keep it as a spare, Beauchamp cautioned. He advised planning for scalability, not simply pilot projects.

Lastly, he reviewed EPA Clean School Bus program updates, noting that state and local funding opportunities also help keep electric school bus projects afloat. He advised performing preventative maintenance on both the bus and charger.

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IC Bus: Leveraging Technology Solutions for Efficient Fleet Management

Matt Milewski, market segmentation director for IC Bus, reviewed how First Student announced last September that it was outfitting its fleet of 46,000 school buses with Samsara technology.

Jason Kierna, vice president of information technology for First Student, spoke to the company’s customer-focused motivation rather than just adding technology for its own sake.

“We’ve got thousands of customers and all of them want to use technology in a different way and that’s why it’s more about the process for us than it is about the technology,” he said.

He explained how the new AI-powered HALO offering combines vehicle inspections, driver coaching, AI cameras, predictive analytics, and more to improve safety for students and transparency for parents.

“Parents today are expecting more objective evidence when incidents occur,” agreed Scott Jobe, head of public sector strategists for Samsara.

He noted that AI is “maybe not the best when you deal with human interaction or conversation, but when it comes to objectivity, we think of AI as like a force multiplier.”

Kierna elaborated that hazard alerts or safety behavior remediation that HALO provides, can help school bus drivers proactively self-correct so a reactive supervisor conversation is unneeded. He added that some First Student drivers now refuse to drive a bus without the technology.

Kierna related an incident in which a bus was struck at over 60 mph and said the driver would have been injured if she had not been wearing her seatbelt, which she had just put on properly due to the AI powered camera’s alert. Jobe added that another district saw a reduction in risky behaviors by drivers, illegal passing incidents, bus crashes and maintenance costs due to the AI technology.

“What does safety mean to your organization?” Kierna rhetorically asked the audience.

Milewski emphasized IC Bus’ support for what Jobe termed a “frictionless experience” in technology integration for school district and bus contractor clients. Kierna reiterated the commitment of all three companies to overall safety for students.

Kierna underscored that empowering drivers and lobbying for safety initiatives are two of the many aspects that are directly related to the effective gathering and leveraging of data.

“Integrated technology is the future,” Jobe agreed. He shared a pothole detection feature in development, in which information gathered via onboard cameras, bus location and G-forces the bus undergoes can be sent directly to cities for repair escalation.

“We have so much data that we can turn into real actionable insights,” he said.

In answer to an attendee question on staff who may struggle with technology, Kierna said the AI assistant helps put things in plain language for users.

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Thomas Built Bus: Let’s Talk Fuels – What Legislative Uncertainty Means for School Transportation

Mark Childers, direct sales and technology sales manager for Thomas Built Buses, reviewed current challenges and uncertainty surrounding fuel choice. “You’ve got to make some decisions,” he said.

“Where we stand today is that in 2027 all of the manufacturers are subject to EPA’s low NOx rule, so that is the new multi-pollutant criteria rule that’s going to deal with NOx and particulate matter that is coming in 2027,” explained Alissa Rector, policy advisor for Thomas Built Buses parent company Daimler Trucks North America. “Even though EPA’s greenhouse gas regulations have been rolled back in 2027, we are still subject to the existing greenhouse gas phase 2 standard at [the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration] NHTSA so there’s not a lot of change that you’re going to see on the greenhouse gas side compared to where we are today.”

Jim Ellis, director of pupil transportation for Henrico County Public Schools in Virginia, has 600 school buses and is receiving 25 electric buses in July. When managing his bus fleet, he said he must balance getting the best bang for his buck with environmental concerns for cleaner air.

“I think that the key lesson is to just know change is going to continue to happen and just continue to take one step at a time,” declared Brittany Barrett, deputy director of operations and implementation for the World Resources Institute. She advised staying on top of fleet data, so it is easier to pivot and make decisions.

Rector discussed the differences between local pollutants like NOx, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and particulate matter, as opposed to greenhouse gases like carbon and CO2 which enter the atmosphere.

Whitney Kopanko, vice president of school bus sales and marketing for Sonny Merryman, noted that the Thomas Built Buses Virginia dealer has put 300 electric school buses on the road. She spoke to dovetailing student transporter priorities of getting students to and from schools with community and regulatory pressure for cleaner air.

She and Ellis agreed that it’s crucial to provide numbers and data to stakeholders during decision-making processes.

WRI provides helpful tools and resources, Barrett informed attendees. Kopanko added that AFLEET suite from the U.S. Department of Energy can be used to compare fuel types. Fuel choice is a hyper localized decision based on what each district needs, she stated.

Though most school buses currently run clean diesel and will continue to, Rector prognosticated that the future will be mixed fuels with interesting developments in hydrogen. “Any future roadmap is going to have a lot of different options on it,” she declared.

Diesel fuel doubling in price due to the war in Iran is currently juxtaposed with conversations on propane or electric implementation, said Ellis.

While changing fuels may look tempting, Kopanko advised considering availability of alternative or drop-in fuel, infrastructure needs, driver and mechanic training, and the extra accountability involved in abiding by rules for government subsidies.

Barrett said electric buses have the range to meet 90 percent of the routing requirements for districts she works with, but infrastructure is the biggest question mark. “It’s not insurmountable but it requires a plan,” she said.

She praised Sonny Merryman’s electrification project with Dominion Energy in Virginia.

Panelists advised working closely with dealers, gathering all available fleet operation data, considering urban versus rural needs to determine what type of bus goes where, taking part in vigorous training and education, and keeping abreast of the rapidly changing regulatory landscape.

They also answered questions from attendees on electric school bus range, charging time, battery degradation and V2G.

Images via Vince Rios Creative and STN staff. 

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The 2026 STN EXPO East conference in Charlotte-Concord, North Carolina featured six days of the best in student transportation training, exciting networking experiences and insightful educational sessions. Check out the videos that captured the real-time energy and events of the conference.

Stay tuned for more coverage on this and our other 2026 conferences, STN EXPO West and Transporting Students with Disabilities and Special Needs (TSD).

Related: (STN Podcast E300) Fuse Your Ideas: Connection & Innovation at STN EXPO East 2026
Related: Gallery: STN EXPO East Tech Demos and Ride & Drive at Charlotte Motor Speedway
Related: Culture That Rocks: Turning Everyday Moments into Unforgettable Experiences

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Tony and Taylor review the most compelling takeaways from STN EXPO East in Charlotte, North Carolina this past week. From rock star leadership and workplace culture advice, to a bus mirror training that went viral, to the latest in cutting edge tech shown on the Trade Show floor, attendees and vendors connected in meaningful ways.

Last year, bus window and glass provider Lippert acquired seating supplier Freedman Seating and HVAC manufacturer Trans/Air. Dan Cohen, vice president of sales for Lippert’s transportation products group, and Austin Lehnert, regional sales manager for Trans/Air by Lippert, join us to share new safety technology innovations.

Read more STN EXPO East coverage.

This episode is brought to you by Transfinder.

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Stream, subscribe and download the School Transportation Nation podcast on Apple Podcasts, Deezer, iHeartRadio, Spotify and YouTube.

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Christopher Faust, transportation director for Sangamon Valley CUSD #9 in Illinois and John Daniels, vice president of marketing for Transfinder, discuss utilizing multiple “finder” technologies to assist in operational and procurement challenges at the district.

They also share how and why to participate in the Top Transportation Teams challenge, which is led by Transfinder and currently accepting signups.

Marty Savino, national account manager for School-Radio, explains communications upgrades that districts can make for increased safety and security during incidents like school shootings.

Michelle Summers, assistant director of transportation for Lamar Consolidated Independent School District in Texas, discusses the value of coming to conferences and participating in the inaugural STN Peer-to-Peer Mentorship Program, as well as superintendent relationships and technology upgrades.

Read more STN EXPO East coverage.

This episode is brought to you by Transfinder.

Conversation with School Radio.

Stream, subscribe and download the School Transportation Nation podcast on Apple Podcasts, Deezer, iHeartRadio, Spotify and YouTube.

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CONCORD, N.C. – An STN EXPO East panel of student transporters shared how utilizing Transfinder’s technology suite has made their school bus operations safer and more efficient.

Improving Efficiency

Edgar Franco, assistant transportation director for Modesto City Schools in California, stated that technology has assisted with internal digitization, timeliness and streamlining communication between schools and the transportation department.

Christopher Faust, transportation director for Sangamon Valley Community Unit School District #9 in Illinois, noted that a district does not need to use Transfinder’s entire product suite since the Routefinder Plus routing software alone is powerful and convenient to also rapidly send parents relevant messages, as an example.

Kathleen Guarini, transportation coordinator for Loudoun County Public Schools in Virginia, and Elizabeth Cannata, supervisor of transportation for Haverhill Public Schools in Massachusetts, both agreed that a tech portal also eases the difficulties of driver shortages and substitutions. Guarini advised rolling out a tech stack slowly, so staff does not get overwhelmed and become averse to future integrations.

Enhancing Safety, Accountability

“In an emergency situation, you need fast access to the data at your fingertips, and that’s what having an all-in-one platform is going to allow you to do,” stated panel facilitator and Transfinder Sales Engineer Shea Marstaller.

Cannata utilizes student RFID cards, which she said have been able to prevent lost-child debacles involving police and helicopters.

To help parents adopt the Stopfinder parent app, Franco advised “building a community, getting it out there and showing them [its] value.”

Guarini said Stopfinder has “been hugely impactful” especially during the first few weeks of school startup. She noted her eight dispatchers were spared having to field calls from parents of the 60,000-strong student population.

She also shared how the driver app Wayfinder provides directions via tablets which is much safer than drivers “searching for a piece of paper or dropping it, tucking it under [their] thigh while [they’re] trying to make the turns, so [they] can use two hands on the wheel.”

Leveraging Data, Statistics

Cannata noted a key performance indicator of the software is that it can show gaps in driver schedules, so one who is free can pick up a student who missed the bus and get them to school.

Guarini said that Transfinder’s team was able to find additional efficiencies when her district went from a three-tiered bell system to a five-tiered bell system. Additionally, she said she uses Formfinder for a special needs application that has saved her staff the workload of transferring 400 columns of data nightly for 3,000 students.

Franco stressed the importance of bringing in clean data to avoid messy problems down the road.

Cannata added that the technology assists with special needs routes.

“We have to separate who requires specialized transportation and what that specialized transportation is — be it a wheelchair, a 1-to-1 monitor, and anything like that,” she explained. “We have to have that inside of our end of year report and I’m able to simply filter, edit and I can get it within minutes. Pull my end of year report. It’s saved me from hours of going through each route individually to check.”

Rick Walterscheid, who spent 25 years as a transportation director and is now a sales executive with Transfinder, said using ServiceFinder in his district operations gave him actionable data for bus repairs and replacement cycles.

“What this enabled me to do was to put evidence into what I already knew because I kept the records,” he stated.

Related: Technology Webinar Takes Detailed Dive into School Bus Efficiency
Related: (STN Podcast E296) Technology Has Blossomed: School Bus Mirrors & Student Safety
Related: School Bus Adaptive Technology: Safer Rides, Stronger Teams, Better Access
Related: (STN Podcast E286) End of Year Review: Safety & Technology Trends of 2025
Related: Ohio Announces School Bus Safety Grant Recipients for Technology Enhancements

Implementing Technology

Since school bus drivers on the roads everyday may have suggestions on route improvements, Franco said he layers planned routes and bus GPS data to compare them and determine if there is a way to optimize that route. Digitization has helped simplify things when drivers bring in notes on how their routes could be better, Guarini concurred.

With older drivers who may be hesitant to adopt new tech, Cannata advised providing copious training and having tech-savvy drivers assist if possible.

Franco agreed that identifying and empowering tech-forward leaders among drivers and technicians is crucial. He also confirmed that Transfinder’s tablet system is easy and intuitive for those less tech-friendly drivers.

While Transfinder offers multiple products, Faust advised student transporters to “take what works for you.”

“I love all of the features that Transfinder offers, but I feel like you need to identify which are the most important, which are the immediate needs for your division and start chipping away as you can manage,” agreed Guarini.

Looking Forward to the Future

Faust said he looks forward to AI integrations which can save time by answering conversationally spoken questions rather than requiring staff to manually seek out information.

Franco praised Servicefinder’s assistance in keeping track of white fleet vehicles that need repairs and getting that information to technicians in a timely manner.

“We’re all being asked to do more with less, right?” Marstaller commented.

“Being in a small district, we have to be as efficient as possible,” Faust agreed.

“Everybody’s afraid to change from what you know,” Guarini said. “The benefit of doing that, though, gives you a fresh mindset.”

Appreciating Customer Service

Cannata and Franco praised the clear and streamlined customer service Transfinder provides.

“Instantly, like within like an hour – not even, sometimes – it’s instantly quick, but we have an answer. We got it fixed,” Cannata declared.

“We all feel supported by Transfinder with anything we need help with,” Guarini confirmed.

Faust noted that having one vendor for the whole tech stack makes troubleshooting much easier.

All four panelists said they used the Transfinder Community feature through which their peers and fellow users help them better utilize the technology.

The post How Technology Powers Daily Student Transportation Operations appeared first on School Transportation News.

CONCORD, N.C. – Student transporters took part in a Trade Show + Networking Pit Stop Reception on Monday evening, where the thrill of NASCAR met the excitement of connection. They engaged with eighty vendor companies, informative exhibits and dynamic networking opportunities on the Trade Show floor while enjoying Southern comfort food and drinks.

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CONCORD, N.C. – After a day of Bus Technology Summit and Green Bus Summit sessions, Sunday was capped off with a high-energy, racing-inspired Technology Demonstrations and Ride & Drive + Reception held in the NASCAR Cup Series Garage and the Quarter-Mile Oval Track at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Attendees enjoyed a lively networking reception featuring dinner, drinks and entertainment.

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Photos by STN staff. 

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CONCORD, N.C. – Sunday featured themed sessions as part of the Bus Technology Summit and Green Bus Summit at STN EXPO East. Vendor and supplier companies presented live or hands-on demonstrations of their technology suites, products and service offerings, as well as panel discussions on cleaner school bus options.

Afternoon sessions covered first-responder coordination, school bus attendants, streamlining team communication, and NHTSA’s latest research on illegal passing.

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Photos by Vince Rios Creative. 

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CONCORD, N.C. — Keynote speaker and best-selling author Jim Knight led the second day of the Transportation Director Summit at Topgolf Charlotte – Southwest, using the visceral backdrop of Rock ‘n Roll and several well-known brands, including Hard Rock International via his 21-year run with that brand as the head of Global Training & Development to discuss key strategies to transform any organization’s culture, regardless of the company’s cultural history or status.

Also offsite at Charlotte–Mecklenburg Schools, the National School Bus Inspection Training Program continued with hands-on identification of defects in the engine compartment, throughout the chassis, and inside the driver and passenger compartments, with participants able to compete for time and accuracy.

Transfinder led a special training on improving technician workflow and shop organization while Denise Donaldson taught on child safety restraint system use in school buses versus alternative transportation vehicles and Dave McDonald’s training covered proper mirror adjustment and distracted driving.

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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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CONCORD, N.C. — Stress may be higher than ever for school transportation professionals, but it does not have to dictate performance or personal well-being. That was the central theme during an STN EXPO East conference opening general session, with a keynote that urged attendees to “care less without being careless” in both their professional and personal lives.

Bret E. Brooks, the chief operating officer and senior consultant with Gray Ram Tactical LLC, has worked in pupil transportation security training since 2007, drawing upon a 23-year career in law enforcement as well as 26 years and counting in the U.S. Army National Guard. His forthcoming book, “How to Care Less About Being Careless,” explores the new pressures many people deal with in addition to already demanding jobs.

Technology, 24/7 connectivity, staffing shortages, safety expectations and family responsibilities all collide, he said Friday at the Embassy Suites Charlotte-Concord.

“We are experiencing more stress today than at any point in the past,” he added. “But it is possible to care the right amount.”

Brooks distinguished sharply between being careless and caring less. The latter, he explained, means not giving sufficient attention to critical tasks such as planning for traffic or driving safely, which can result in missed flights, preventable crashes or lax safety practices. Caring less, by contrast, is a deliberate effort to let go of excessive anxiety and over-attachment to minor outcomes so that leaders can think clearly, remain open-minded and solve problems creatively.

He termed this phenomenon the “law of reverse effect,” in which trying too hard produces negative results. He pointed to student-athletes, like his own daughter, who false-started in her first race the day before because she was too obsessively focused on not false-starting. Similarly, motorists who constantly change lanes in heavy traffic find they only continue to fall behind by over-correcting.

A turning point in his own understanding of stress came during a deployment to the U.S. southern border with the National Guard. Brooks was unexpectedly placed in charge of the Joint Visitors Bureau, responsible for planning every VIP visit along 2,000 miles of border, including trips by vice presidents, generals, governors and members of Congress. He described working 20-hour days, seven days a week for six weeks, losing weight, sleeping little and watching his internal “carometer” ping into the red.

Eventually, his commander pulled him aside and told him to care less, but don’t be careless. Brooks said that simple phrase forced him to reconsider whether a mayor waiting 10 minutes for a vehicle or a general missing a helicopter tour was worth sacrificing his health and effectiveness. That mindset later shaped his training work with school districts and conference audiences nationwide.

Throughout Friday morning’s session, Brooks reminded attendees that many of their current stressors did not exist 25 years ago. Streaming subscriptions, smart devices and constant Internet access now occupy mental space that once did not exist, he noted, yet much of that stress is optional and can be reduced. To make the point concrete, he asked attendees to privately write down their top three stressors and, later, their top three life priorities. He then challenged them to compare the two lists.

When stressors and priorities do not match, he said, leaders may be pouring energy into issues that do not support their long-term goals, either at work or at home.

Brooks encouraged participants to look at their lives from a “30,000-foot view,” like the perspective from an airplane window, and to distinguish between “meat” and “gristle” on their plate, citing the famous “Old 96er” scene in the 1988 John Candy movie “The Great Outdoors,” where the late actor John Candy’s character thinks he has finished a 96-ounce steak at a restaurant only to find out he also needs to finish the gristle.

The meat on our collective plates, Brooks said, represents truly essential tasks and responsibilities. The gristle is made up of duties and expectations that can be delegated, rescheduled or removed entirely.

He shared a story about insisting his son clear his plate during a celebratory family dinner to illustrate how easy it is to lose sight of the bigger picture. The point of the outing, he acknowledged in hindsight, was not caloric intake but celebrating his son’s achievement. But focusing on the uneaten food, he left the restaurant with a sick stomach and an unhappy family.

Citing leadership and time-management thinkers Stephen R. Covey and Simon Sinek, Brooks urged transportation professionals to clarify their “why” for being in pupil transportation, to explicitly name their top priorities, and then to schedule those priorities before filling the calendar with routine tasks. He echoed Covey’s guidance that what people do reveals their real priorities more than what they say, stating, “Action expresses priorities.” A leader may claim that spending time with family or focusing on recruitment and retention is a top priority, he observed, but if those items never appear on the daily agenda, they are not true priorities in practice.

Brooks recommended that attendees adopt the “WIN” framework by asking, “What’s important now?” whenever priorities collide. He acknowledged the tension between professional obligations and family events by recounting his own decision to miss his daughter’s regular season track meet to open STN EXPO East. The conference, he said, takes place on a single day and offers a unique opportunity to share information with peers nationwide, while his daughter will have multiple meets later in the season. In other circumstances, such as a state championship or once-in-a-lifetime family event, the equation would change and tip heavily toward making his home life the priority. The WIN question, he said, helps leaders sequence their commitments without abandoning their deeply held values.

The keynote further explored Covey’s urgent-important matrix. Brooks warned against living in the “urgent and important” quadrant, where every day feels like a wrong-way driver bearing down on a school bus. Constant crisis mode, he said, will inevitably push the carometer into dangerous territory.

Instead, he urged participants to move as much of their work as possible into the “important but not urgent” quadrant. In practical terms for school transportation, that means planning back-to-school, in-service training months ahead, forecasting routing, staffing and fleet needs well before school starts, and addressing long-term safety and recruitment strategies before they become emergencies. By contrast, he described much of what appears on television or in sensational news coverage as either “not important and urgent” or “not important and not urgent,” both of which can waste time and attention.

Brooks also addressed conflict management, encouraging a “win-win” mindset with parents, staff, administrators and outside partners. Using simple examples such as a customer buying a Big Mac at McDonald’s, he demonstrated how both sides can walk away with value when solutions are constructed thoughtfully.

He cautioned against turning disagreements into “mutually assured destruction,” where both parties end up worse off, and noted that adversarial approaches in marital or workplace arguments often land in a lose-lose outcome rather than the win-lose or lose-win people imagine.

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Related: STN EXPO East to Feature Timely Discussion on Managing Stress

Regarding work-life balance, Brooks rejected the idea that people should strive for equal hours on each side of a scale. Instead, he said, the real challenge for school transportation professionals is to weigh events appropriately. A routine workday is roughly equivalent to a routine family day. A major training event or the first day of school, with new routes and new drivers, may outweigh a standard evening at home. On the other hand, a child’s state championship, a wedding, a birth or a funeral should outweigh almost any ordinary work commitment. The goal, he said, is not a perfectly level scale but to ensure it tips in the right direction at the right time and for the right reasons.

Brooks closed by underscoring Covey’s seventh habit of “sharpening the saw.” He shared a story from his family’s farm in Missouri, where he spent a full day cutting trees in an overgrown field without taking breaks. His brother, who arrived later, paused often to hydrate and sharpen his chainsaw, and ultimately felled more trees.

The incident, Brooks said, taught him that grinding nonstop without rest or renewal eventually leads to diminished returns. For transportation leaders, sharpening the saw means attending conferences like STN EXPO East, taking real vacations without working through them, scheduling regular getaways with a spouse or family, and respecting both their own downtime and that of their staff. Calling employees during vacation for non-critical issues, he added, undermines their ability to reset and return ready to perform.

“Life is not an eating contest where you have to finish everything on your plate,” Brooks told the audience. “You can push some things off. You can care less about the right things and still never be careless where it counts, especially when it comes to student safety.”

Article written with the assistance of AI.

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Friday at STN EXPO East began with the National School Bus Inspection Training Program, an intensive, full‑day course designed to train technicians on how to conduct regular vehicle inspections, above and beyond state or federal Department of Transportation guidance.

Security expert Bret Brooks presented two sessions, one on realignment and refocusing of priorities for managing stress and work-life balance, and the other on recognizing early signs of violent behavior. Other session topics Friday included navigating funding cuts and budget issues, and multi-modal transportation.

Transportation directors gathered in the late afternoon for a leadership discussion to kick off the two-day Transportation Director Summit (TD Summit). Led by Tony Corpin, STN president and publisher, the transportation director participants gathered with vendor partners to discuss current challenges and share solutions.

The TD Summit continues Saturday. The event requires prior selection based on completion of a survey and a review of job qualifications and experience.

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Photos by Vince Rios Creative and STN staff. 

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We unpack the National Action Plan for School Bus Safety, which sheds light on the non-fatal effects of illegal passing. Plus, transportation directors comment on green buses during a recent EPA Clean School Bus webinar.

Denise Donaldson, the editor and publisher of Safe Ride News Publications and a frequent trainer at STN EXPO and the TSD Conference, previews her STN EXPO East workshop on when to use child safety restraint systems (CSRS) in school buses or alternative vehicles.

Read more about safety.

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Stream, subscribe and download the School Transportation Nation podcast on Apple Podcasts, Deezer, iHeartRadio, Spotify and YouTube.

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An informative seminar at the STN EXPO East conference will combine classroom education with hands-on demonstrations to illustrate the importance of ensuring proper mirror placement on school buses and combatting distracted driving.

The “Focused Driver 111: Proper Mirror Adjustment and Distracted Driving” session is scheduled for March 28. Safe School Bus Consulting owner Dave McDonald will start with a classroom session on Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 111 guidance. This will include the history and subsequent evolution of the standard and then lead into school bus driver responsibilities regarding proper mirror adjustment to ensure that the driver has the required field of view around the bus.

Attendees will proceed to the parking lot and participate in a real-life demonstration of determining blind spots and making sure the mirrors are properly adjusted to cover them. McDonald will use traffic cones to mimic the cylinders called for by FMVSS 111 to conduct a grid exercise developed for testing the mirrors. The purposes is to confirm that the mirrors are mounted and adjustable to a position to see the parts of the grid needed. The placement of the cones will represent where young children could be approaching and walking near the school bus.

Driver Training With an Eye on Distractions

McDonald will also discuss distracted driving, including the many distractions that could pull away the attention of a school bus drivers. He will also discuss how to train drivers to take responsibility of reviewing their mirrors before even starting the vehicle. McDonald plans to review video cases of distracted driving, including a recent incident involving a girl in Brooklyn who was struck and killed by a school bus, and engage with attendees to identify what could have been done differently. He said he plans to outline not only distracted driving causes but deterrents, preventions and potential consequences for failing to follow guidelines.

Listen to School Transportation Nation Podcast Episode 296 with Dave McDonald.

McDonald worked for Rosco Vision Systems, the sponsor of the training session, for 26 years in product development of cross view mirror systems as well as in sales and engineering. McDonald said he hopes to empower and equip attendees with information that explains the common mistakes made by transportation departments.

The STN EXPO East conference will be held on March 26-31 at Embassy Suites by Hilton Charlotte Concord Golf Resort & Spa. Main conference registration gives access to five days of educational sessions, hands-on training, unique networking events, product demonstrations and updates on the latest industry happenings. Register at stnexpo.com/east.

Related: Importance of First Responder Coordination for School Bus Emergencies at STN EXPO East
Related: STN EXPO East Addresses Safety Concerns in School Bus Loading Zone
Related: STN EXPO East to Feature Illegal Passing Trends, Safety Recommendations

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Two student transportation professionals at STN EXPO East will discuss how transportation departments can set up a collaborative partnership with local police and fire departments to aid in safe emergency response.

Tracie Franco, director of transportation at Leander Independent School District in Texas, will join Joshua Hinerman, state director of student transportation at the Tennessee Department of Education and former director of transportation for Robertson County Schools near Nashville, in a panel discussion facilitated by STN Editor in Chief Ryan Gray March 29.

They will share tips to proactively reach out and train with emergency first responders to make sure they are aware of the unique response and recovery efforts needed for a school bus incident. They will discuss coordinated training and in-service efforts, student ridership technology that can provide instant access to crucial information in an emergency and making sure transportation departments are engaging with the district wide community to increase awareness on safety efforts.

Attendees will leave the session with a better understanding of the logistics related to involving first responders in emergency response best practices in their student transportation department and strategies to improve their incident response protocol.

The session will provide attendees with practical strategies to work with law enforcement, fire, EMS and other emergency management agencies in preparing response to school bus emergencies. Franco and Hinerman will discuss their personal experiences with school bus crashes and lessons learned on joint training with first responders.

The STN EXPO East conference will be held on March 26-31 at Embassy Suites by Hilton Charlotte Concord Golf Resort & Spa. Main conference registration gives access to five days of educational sessions, hands-on training, unique networking events, product demonstrations and updates on the latest industry happenings. Register at stnexpo.com/east.

Related: STN EXPO East Addresses Safety Concerns in School Bus Loading Zone
Related: NTSB to Provide School Bus Investigation Updates at STN EXPO East
Related: STN EXPO East to Feature Illegal Passing Trends, Safety Recommendations

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Students boarding and exiting school buses in the loading zone are critical safety moments with the potential for tragedy. At STN EXPO East, longtime school transportation professional Derek Graham will break down safety strategies to mitigate student injuries and fatalities alongside two transportation directors.

Following Graham’s session presenting the illegal passing trends and federal safety recommendations on Sunday, March 30, he returns Monday to moderate the panel “Strategies to Remove Danger from the Loading/Unloading Zone.” Joining Graham are panelists Keba Baldwin from Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland, the 2026 STN Transportation Director of the Year, and Kris Hafezizadeh, executive director of transportation and vehicle services at Austin Independent School District in Texas.

Graham will review data from the Kansas Department of Education’s annual survey of school bus loading zone fatalities, looking at incidents where either students were struck by oncoming vehicles or killed by being hit or dragged by the bus itself. With recent headlines of autonomous vehicles either illegally passing school buses or hitting student pedestrians, there are new modern technology concerns for students in the loading zone.

The panelists will discuss how these school bus loading zone incidents need to be viewed in the greater student safety discussion with visuals to illustrate the areas of high concern. They will also cover the integral aspects of tackling this issue, including education, engineering, and enforcement. This will broach topics such as driver training, motorist awareness, predictive lighting and signage technology and working with law enforcement incorporating automatic enforcement systems.

The panelists will discuss the need to present a unified message of safety training to students, drivers, parents and.

Register for the STN EXPO East conference today and receive access to five days of educational sessions, hands-on training, unique networking events, product demonstrations and updates on the latest industry happenings. Find the full agenda and register at stnexpo.com/east.

Related: NTSB to Provide School Bus Investigation Updates at STN EXPO East
Related: UPDATED: National School Bus Inspection Training Returns to STN EXPO East
Related: STN EXPO East to Share Importance of School Bus Video Review

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Before a school bus incident even happens, it’s important for student transportation professionals to be aware of federal safety recommendations and crash investigation procedures. Meg Sweeney from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will be at STN EXPO East to give attendees the latest updates.

Her session “NTSB Investigations & Recommendations: Lap/Shoulder Seat Belts to the School Bus Danger Zone” on March 31 wraps up the conference by outlining various facets of school bus crash investigations. She will discuss occupant protection, which will include NTSB recommendations on lap/shoulder seatbelts and their safety impact during crashes, and shed light on “Danger Zone” crashes, including incidents where vehicles struck stopped school buses or hit a pedestrian.

Sweeney will provide attendees with background on the NTSB and its mission to further safety for students and transportation staff. Attendees will also learn about how NTSB conducts investigations and what school districts can expect when NTSB investigators arrive on scene of a school bus crash.

She will also provide insights into NTSB school bus investigations of high-profile crashes and incidents, including one in Maine that killed a 5-year-old boy, who was dragged 280 feet after the school bus loading doors closed on his arm while he attempted to board. Sweeney also worked on the development of recently released urgent recommendations related to an August crash in Leander, Texas and the use of lap/shoulder seatbelts to prevent student injuries and fatalities.

Sweeney is an accident investigator and project manager in the NTSB’s Office of Highway Safety. She has also worked in the NTSB Safety Studies Division, where she studied child restraint safety, multi-passenger van safety and operator fatigue, as well as at the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

STN EXPO East will be held March 26-31 at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Charlotte Concord Golf Resort & Spa in Concord, North Carolina. Over the five-day conference, attendees will have access to the best in student transportation training, including hands-on training and events, educational sessions, product demonstration labs, green energy panel discussions, an inspirational keynote address, the STN EXPO Trade Show, the Ride and Drive at the Charlotte Motor Speedway and more. Register now at stnexpo.com/east.  

Related: STN EXPO East to Feature Illegal Passing Trends, Safety Recommendations
Related: STN EXPO East to Share Importance of School Bus Video Review
Related: Security Expert to Share Indicators Violent Behavior at STN EXPO East

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Industry consultant Derek Graham will take the stage at STN EXPO East to shed light on the trends of illegal passing trends involving school buses, the work of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to combat the crimes, and provide recommendations to protect the students on and off the yellow school bus.

The “Trends in Illegal Passing Awareness & Enforcement” session will be held March 29, on day four of the conference in Charlotte-Concord, North Carolina. Graham has a career history of passion for school bus safety as an industry consultant and former state director of pupil transportation with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction as well as past president of the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS).

Graham’s home state of North Carolina was the first state to initiate an annual count of illegal passing trends, dating back to 1998. He co-coordinated the annual NASDPTS national school bus illegal passing count with Charlie Hood, at the time state director for Florida and later the association’s executive director, and worked with NHTSA to implement one of the first enforcement campaign using stop arm cameras.

During the STN EXPO East session, Graham will look at recent NASDPTS survey findings that found a drop in the number of illegal passing incidents last past school year. As he analyzes this and other federal data, he will explain the recent efforts of federally directed NHTSA studies that look at various components of the student transportation ecosystem to help reduce instances of illegal passing. This will include a breakdown of the NHTSA toolkit for planning safety school bus stops and routes and their evaluation of the technology offerings that target illegal passing as well their effectiveness. Graham will use his detailed knowledge of the nuance of federal laws and initiatives to summarize and explain how this research influenced NHTSA’s recommended actions to improve school bus safety.

Listen to Derek Graham’s recent interview on the STN Podcast.

Attendees will gain practical insights into how the results of these initiatives at the federal level can help further safety at their operations.

Early Bird savings ends Feb. 13. Register for the conference by the deadline to save $100 on main conference registration. The six-day conference will feature dozens of educational sessions, the Bus Technology Summit and Green Bus Summit, the hands-on National School Bus Inspection Training program and unique networking events including the Ride and Drive/Product Demo, Trade Show and Saf-T-Liner Thomas Built Buses Factory Tour. Some of these unique experiences have limited space, register now at stnexpo.com/east.

Related: STN EXPO East to Share Importance of School Bus Video Review
Related: Security Expert to Share Indicators Violent Behavior at STN EXPO East
Related: UPDATED: National School Bus Inspection Training Returns to STN EXPO East

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School bus video cameras have become an important part of the school bus safety infrastructure. But as a part of proper usage, it’s crucial for student transportation leadership to understand the policies and procedures needed to ensure timely review of the footage.

A March 30 panel discussion, “Proper & Timely Review of Video Recorded Incidents,” at STN EXPO East in Charlotte-Concord, North Carolina will feature three student transportation professionals. Launi Harden, a consultant and former transportation director at Washington County School District in Utah, will moderate the session with Bernando Brown, director student transportation at DeKalb County School District in Georgia, and Teena Mitchell, special needs coordinator at Greenville County Schools in South Carolina and past National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT) president.

During the session, Harden, Brown and Mitchell will look at the logistics of managing video footage for school bus fleets and detail the need for processes and policies to know what’s on the footage and respond to it. The panelists will discuss their own experience with school bus video cameras including best practices and the impact of the hardware and software on driver and student safety. They will also review the variety of considerations involved in creating school bus video camera review policies, from legal requirements to open records requests, impacts on IEPs to technology considerations.

Other topics to be discussed include reviewing footage to flag concerning behavior, the importance of consistent review for early detection of violent or sexual assaults, and communication with parents of video-related policies. Attendees will hear conversation on the proper storage of footage, archiving it for the right amount of time, how to create a documented process for allowing district employees to view the videos, and how these policies are in the best interest of district and transportation employees.

Attendees will leave the session with practical strategies to improve communication and collaboration across their district, with their larger community of students and families, law enforcement and contractors regarding this important facet of school bus safety.

Early Bird savings ends Feb. 13. Register for the conference by the deadline to save $100 on main conference registration. Registration will give access to this and dozens of other educational sessions, hands-on trainings and networking events including the Ride and Drive/Technology Demo, Trade Show and Thomas Built Buses tour, all held over the six-day conference. Register at stnexpo.com/east.

Related: Security Expert to Share Indicators Violent Behavior at STN EXPO East
Related: WATCH: National School Bus Inspection Training Returns to STN EXPO East
Related: STN EXPO East Features Exclusive North Carolina Thomas Built Buses Tour

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