Industry conferences are gearing up for the fall season, and agendas are being released with the latest and greatest information for student transportation professionals who are heading back to work for the new school year.

The National Association for Pupil Transportation’s 49th Annual Conference and Trade Show, NAPT ACTS 2026, will take place Oct. 3–7, 2026, in Louisville, Kentucky. This year’s theme, “Building Leaders for the Route Ahead,” emphasizes leadership development, professional learning and stronger connections across the student transportation community.

The five-day program is designed for transportation directors, fleet and maintenance professionals, trainers, routers, safety specialists and other school transportation leaders. It includes more than 40 sessions and workshops, over 10 NAPT Professional Development Series courses, and four certification pathways. Topics cover operational safety, crisis communication, data-driven decision-making, strategic and facility planning, student behavior, transporting students with disabilities, workforce retention, preventive maintenance, regulatory compliance and transportation technology.

Specialized programming includes workshops for new directors and maintenance teams, a national transportation briefing, recertification sessions and a Transportation Directors Executive Forum.

The trade show takes place Oct. 5, where attendees can explore school transportation products, technology and services and connect directly with industry suppliers.

Networking is built throughout the event through a first timers’ breakfast, marketplace sessions, receptions, regional assemblies, social events and sponsor demonstrations. The keynote, “Achieving Rock Star Status in Your Profession,” will be delivered by drummer and leadership speaker Kenny Aronoff, drawing lessons from high-performance music environments about teamwork, communication, creativity and collaboration.

Nearly a month later, the Transporting Students with Disabilities and Special Needs Conference kicks off, hosting a Transportation Director Summit for the first time. Hosted by School Transportation News, the event will take place Nov. 4–10, 2026, in Frisco, Texas, and brings together school transportation and special-education professionals from across the country to improve the safety, accessibility and quality of transportation provided to students with disabilities and preschool-age children.

The conference is intended for transportation directors, fleet managers, driver trainers, school bus drivers, aides and monitors, special-education professionals, Head Start and childcare staff, superintendents, executives, manufacturers and industry suppliers. Its program combines educational sessions, hands-on training, product demonstrations and networking opportunities focused specifically on the operational and legal challenges of specialized student transportation.

Educational topics include individualized education and transportation plan development, funding amid the U.S. Department of Education moving IDEA to Health and Human Services, student-data protection, positive behavior support, transporting medically fragile students, wheelchair securement, school bus aide and monitor training, updated national specifications, and the use of artificial intelligence in transportation operations. The program also includes American Sign Language training, child-passenger safety instruction and sessions addressing accessibility and inclusive transportation practices.

A major component of the event is its specialized training. Attendees can participate in a national course on child-passenger safety aboard school buses, including hands-on practice with child safety restraint systems for preschoolers and students with disabilities. Other experiences include wheelchair-securement training, a special-needs transportation roadeo and workshops that allow participants to practice procedures rather than learning exclusively through classroom presentations.

New for 2026 is the two-day Transportation Director Summit, held Nov. 4–5. This limited-capacity program is designed for qualified transportation directors and fleet leaders and focuses on leadership, trust, innovation, peer problem-solving and collaboration with manufacturers and suppliers. Participants will take part in expert presentations, small-group discussions and structured networking before the main conference begins.

The TSD Trade Show will feature dozens of exhibitors presenting specialized buses, wheelchair and occupant-restraint equipment, safety systems, fleet software, video technology and other products developed for transporting students with additional needs. A trade-show reception provides attendees with an informal setting to meet suppliers, examine equipment and discuss potential solutions for their local operations.

Related: New Date Set for NHTSA Child Passenger Safety Training at TSD
Related: Update: Transfinder Sweeps 2026 STN EXPO West Innovation Choice Awards
Related: Illegal School Bus Passing Numbers Indicate Decrease, Still Too Many
Related: Ohio State Highway Patrol Urges Motorists to Prioritize School Bus Safety
Related: School Bus Driver Shortages Create Wider Consequences for Students

Later that week, the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services Annual Conference kicks off, Nov. 14-17 at The Ritz-Carlton, in Arlington, Virginia. The members-only event brings together state pupil transportation directors, state agency staff, transportation association leaders, federal officials, manufacturers, suppliers and other industry professionals.

The conference focuses on policy, regulation, safety and operational issues affecting school transportation at the state and national levels. Its location near Washington, D.C., gives attendees the opportunity to hear directly from federal transportation and safety partners. Invited agencies include the National Transportation Safety Board, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and Transportation Security Administration.

Educational sessions address training, transportation for students with special needs, school bus crash investigations and emerging trends in pupil transportation. State directors will also lead discussions about the most significant challenges facing school transportation programs, allowing attendees to compare policies, share practices and examine how different states are responding to common safety and operational concerns.

The event also includes keynote presentations, group meals and networking opportunities intended to strengthen collaboration among government agencies, state transportation leaders and private-sector partners. Unlike a traditional trade show, NASDPTS hosts a smaller Supplier Showcase and Networking Session, scheduled for Nov. 15. The tabletop format allows suppliers to present products, services and industry innovations while meeting directly with state directors and other transportation decision-makers.

Written with the assistance of AI.

The post As New School Year Starts, Fall Conference Agendas Announced appeared first on School Transportation News.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin threatened on Friday to prosecute election officials in states that don’t “participate in securing the elections” ahead of the November midterms. 

Election officials who do not comply with administration directives to enhance security of voting machines and to share voter data with the federal government through the powerful Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements computer program would be subject to fines and even prison time, he said.

“If the states that choose not to participate with the SAVE program and they choose not to participate in securing the elections, we will make sure that we make those states a priority to look at who voted in their states, and hold the election officials accountable,” Mullin said during a press conference. 

The Trump administration will make it mandatory for states to undergo security enhancements of their voter machines and withhold grants or reimbursements to any states that do not, he said.

The mandate was necessary, he said, because foreign adversaries produce parts that are vital pieces in U.S. voting machines, and can “change voter registration and your vote.”

“The machines have to be secured and your voter registration list needs to be scrubbed,” he said, summarizing the department’s message to state officials. “Our machines are vulnerable. There are steps that can be made right now that can secure those.”

Earlier Friday, Mullin sent a letter to the secretaries of state of four states the department reviewed — Nevada, California, New Jersey and Pennsylvania — to warn them of the “tens of thousands of non-citizens who are illegally on the states’ voter rolls.”

Leaders from those states immediately pushed back against Mullin and President Donald Trump’s claims. 

It is unclear what authority Mullin would use to investigate state election administration. The U.S. Constitution empowers states to run elections.

But it is clear the Trump administration considers election security a top priority in the leadup to the midterms.

Mullin’s remarks followed President Donald Trump’s address to the nation Thursday evening in which he declared that the U.S. election systems are vulnerable to foreign cyberattacks and nations such as China and Iran have sought to influence the outcome of past elections, including in 2018 and 2020. 

Noncitizen voting

Trump has long focused on voting by noncitizens, which is rare. 

Mullin on Friday said the Homeland Security Department reviewed voter rolls in a handful of states and discovered more than 250,000 noncitizens who were registered to vote. 

The federal government will make it a priority to “look at who voted in their states” and hold their election officials accountable, Mullin said. 

The federal government will go through the records “one by one,” he said at the press conference, and pursue maximum charges for anyone found to have voted illegally, which includes up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines. 

SAVE in court

The SAVE program allows local jurisdictions to determine someone’s immigration status for purposes such as applying for government jobs, benefits and driver’s licenses. 

The administration wants states to use the powerful computer system to check the citizenship of people on voter rolls and is battling in court to restore that use of the program after a federal court ruled in June the expansion was unlawful.

Mullin blamed the program’s pause on “activist judges” who don’t want secure elections. 

The SAVE program is distinct from, but shares its acronym with, the SAVE America Act, a bill that proposes to restrict voter access by adding requirements to register and cast ballots, including photo IDs. The bill is stalled in the U.S. Senate and does not include funding for election security infrastructure. 

Democratic officials cry foul

In Mullin’s letter to Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar, which was shared with States Newsroom, Mullin shared “concerning results” of a preliminary review of Nevada’s voter registration data showing there were as many as 15,903 noncitizens registered to vote. 

“I hope that you share in the commitment to ensure that only U.S. citizens participate in our federal elections,” Mullin wrote. “Allowing just one non-citizen to vote cancels the vote of one U.S. citizen.” 

Mullin said his team would help support the state to “take steps to protect Nevada voters and ensure that ineligible voters will not impact upcoming federal elections.”

Aguilar, a Democrat, told States Newsroom in a statement Friday that the department’s estimate is “wildly speculative at best.” The department “hasn’t shared anything that backs it up,” he added.

Aguilar said there are multiple safeguards in place to prevent noncitizens or any other ineligible voters from casting a ballot, and that Nevada runs “some of the safest, most secure and accessible elections in the country.”

“The Administration lacks a fundamental understanding of how elections work,” Aguilar wrote. “They just want to cause chaos and doubt ahead of the midterms.” 

In a statement Friday afternoon, Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt, a Republican, said all evidence shows that noncitizen voting is “extremely rare across the country, including in Pennsylvania.” 

Every resident must take multiple steps to verify their identity before they cast a ballot or register to vote, he said. 

“While the Department has made clear that we cannot share Pennsylvanians’ private, personal information, we will review any information provided by DHS so that we can evaluate the validity of these claims,” Schmidt said. 

California under fire

California has repeatedly come under fire from Trump regarding its elections. In his speech Thursday evening, he cast doubt on the integrity of the state’s recent Los Angeles mayoral and gubernatorial races. 

Secretary of State Shirley Weber described the claims as fallacious and unsubstantiated. 

“Non-citizen voting remains exceedingly rare,” she said. “In California, election officials work every day to maintain accurate voter rolls and ensure that only eligible voters are registered.”

She said her team will carefully review Mullin’s letter to assess the methodology for its claims, and “welcome legitimate best practices that comply with state and federal law while protecting Californians’ personal information.” 

“However, the information provided during the President’s remarks and on the White House website, do not inspire any level of confidence in the methodology used or the conclusions reached,” she added. “If the President is truly committed to election integrity, he must stop undermining confidence in our democracy, making it harder for eligible Americans to vote, and attempting to seize authority that the Constitution clearly reserves for the states.”

Washington, D.C. – The Trump administration has voluntarily dismissed its own appeal in a lawsuit challenging Donald Trump’s executive order banning wind project development in the United States. This effectively ends the unlawful, sweeping ban on wind power.   Attorneys General from 17 states and Washington, D.C. challenged this executive order last year. Public interest groups …

The post Donald Trump Retreats from Lawsuit Challenging Illegal Wind Ban appeared first on Alternative Energy HQ.

Chairman Willis, Vice Chairman Daniels, Ranking Member Grim,

Thank you for the opportunity to provide written testimony in support of House Bill 773, which expands access to E15 gasoline to Ohioans and drivers across the country while traveling on the Ohio Turnpike. Growth Energy is the nation’s largest association of ethanol producers, representing 98 U.S. plants that each year produce more than 9.5 billion gallons of cleaner burning, renewable fuel, including five of Ohio’s seven biorefineries. We also represent groups such as the Ohio Corn and Wheat Growers Association, working with them and thousands of ethanol supporters across the country to bring better and more affordable choices at the pump, diversify our energy portfolio, create more energy jobs, and sustain family farms.

Today, 98 percent of all gasoline sold in the U.S. contains 10 percent bioethanol. E15, a lower cost fuel containing up to 15 percent bioethanol and approved for use in more than 96 percent of cars on the road today, is now available at more than 5,100 retail locations in 34 states. In Ohio, there are currently only 192 retail fuel locations selling E15; less than four percent of the state’s estimated 5,833 retail fuel locations offer E15. Compare this to Minnesota, with half of Ohio’s population, that has more than 500 retail locations offering E15.

That means, that while Ohio is among the top corn-growing and ethanol-producing states in the country, Ohioans do not have access to more affordable fuel options drivers in other Midwest states have, which is evident in the attached informational sheet recently shared with the U.S. House urging representatives to support pro-E15 legislation.

We applaud Representatives Williams and Klopfenstein for introducing HB 773, which would formally adopt a pro-E15 and pro-Ohio agriculture posture for rest stops and fuel retailers along Ohio’s Turnpike. This is especially important as Ohio corn farmers continue to face higher and higher input costs amid global trade uncertainty and lower commodity prices.

As Representative Williams said during the previous committee hearing, HB 773 “supports Ohio’s agricultural output without placing financial burdens on the state while also helping address the high fuel prices families across the Midwest continue to deal with.” Additionally, we agree with Representative Klopfenstein that the state can expand “access to E15 through one of Ohio’s most visible public-private partnerships: the Ohio Turnpike.”

HB 773 ensures the state of Ohio can do its part to support its agriculture community by promoting the expanded use of E15, a gasoline blend using a higher percentage of corn ethanol. We urge the committee to support this legislation as a means of supporting Ohio’s agriculture and ethanol industries, bolstering thousands of jobs and family farms across the state.

Given our experience with retailers around the country offering ethanol blends, we are happy to assist the committee with technical questions as it considers initiatives that help strengthen domestic demand for Ohio-raised corn and Ohio-made ethanol.

The post Growth Energy Written Testimony in Support of Ohio Turnpike E15 Access appeared first on Growth Energy.

January 28, 2025 – At a time when the administration claims the U.S. is facing a nationwide energy emergency and consumers are increasingly concerned about rising electricity costs, its efforts to stop five large offshore wind projects under construction along the Atlantic Coast could cost consumers billions of dollars and keep much-needed new electricity off …

The post Offshore wind stop-work orders are costing consumers, delaying needed electricity appeared first on Alternative Energy HQ.

By: Britt Burt, Senior VP of Research for the Power industry A new round of headlines has revived an old storyline about the United States “bringing coal back.” As an expert of nearly four decades, I can confidently say that this interpretation misses what is actually happening on the grid. Coal is not gaining ground …

The post The US Is Seeing Slower Coal Plant Retirements, But Don’t Mistake It for a Return to Coal appeared first on Alternative Energy HQ.

Boston, MA – Last night, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts ruled that Donald Trump’s executive order banning wind projects in the United States was unlawful and vacated the order. Donald Trump issued an executive order on the first day of his administration that paused all leasing, permitting and approvals for wind projects, killing tens of …

The post Federal Judge Vacates Trump’s Unlawful Wind Energy Ban appeared first on Alternative Energy HQ.

Stop-work orders for wind undercut investor confidence in financing all energy projects, including nuclear September 3, 2025 – The administration’s energy dominance agenda will fail, done in by collapsing investor confidence, unless the White House stops issuing stop-work orders for offshore wind. Undercutting these projects, each of which has billions of private investment dollars committed …

The post Anti-renewable policies are going to cost consumers appeared first on Alternative Energy HQ.

New heat-transfer system targets HVAC’s biggest inefficiencies, delivering up to 10x the performance without refrigerants, pumps, or significant energy input. When it comes to building a sustainable energy future, there are two sides to the equation: generation and demand. While most of the attention has been placed on producing more clean power, there’s an equally …

The post A New HVAC “Force” Cuts Energy, Boosts Efficiency appeared first on Alternative Energy HQ.

Four New Nuclear Reactors and Forever Radioactive Waste in Calhoun County, Texas First Intervention Against SMRs in the U.S. LONG MOTT, Texas – This week, San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper (Waterkeeper) intervened to stop four proposed experimental nuclear power reactors targeted for Long Mott, Texas – a community in coastal Calhoun County – the first …

The post San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper Challenges  appeared first on Alternative Energy HQ.

Washington, D.C. – According to reporting, the Environmental Protection Agency plans to rescind all $7 billion of Solar For All grants.   The Solar For All grant was passed into law as part of the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022 to expand access to affordable and reliable solar energy to low-income regions across the country. 60 projects have been …

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U.S. Domestic Solar Production Reaches Historic Milestone Washington, D.C. – The United States has surpassed 50 GW in domestic solar energy manufacturing capacity for the first time in history, enough to power approximately 37.5 million homes. This milestone marks an impressive progress—bolstered by clean energy investments in the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—by the renewable energy …

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Updated Western Solar Plan to guide responsible development in 11 Western states WASHINGTON — The Department of the Interior today announced an updated Western Solar Plan to help guide efficient and environmentally responsible solar energy permitting on public lands across the West. ?The plan will guide the siting of solar energy proposals in areas with fewer resource conflicts,  advance the nation’s growing clean energy economy, help lower energy costs …

The post Interior Department Finalizes Framework for Future of Solar Development on Public Lands appeared first on Alternative Energy HQ.

A new study on behalf of Milliken has identified the top U.S. states for sustainable energy production. The rapid rise of the sustainable energy sector worldwide has been one of the most important technological and economic stories of recent years. Continued urgency to mitigate the impact of climate change has spurred governments and companies to speed the transition …

The post States With the Most Businesses Focused on Sustainable Energy appeared first on Alternative Energy HQ.

The international biofuels industry has found an unlikely ally in the waste management sector. A heightened global urgency to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) is incentivizing renewable fuels production like never before, but the International Energy Agency (IEA) recently warned of an impending feedstock shortage for biodiesel, renewable diesel and biojet (aviation fuel) production, estimated …

The post Merging Net Zero With Zero Waste: One solution to biofuel feedstock shortage appeared first on Alternative Energy HQ.