The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is warning motor carriers about fraudulent emails and websites impersonating its Motus registration system, with the National School Transportation Association reporting that school bus contractors are among those being targeted.
NSTA alerted members Friday that several school bus contractors around the country have received emails falsely claiming to originate from FMCSA’s Motus, which is Latin for movement or progress. The phishing messages attempt to pressure recipients into providing confidential information by warning that their registration or ability to operate could be shut down unless they act immediately.
FMCSA said bad actors have begun creating websites designed to imitate Motus. The legitimate Motus website is hosted on the federal government’s DOT.gov domain. FMCSA identified several fraudulent addresses using variations of the Motus name, including sites with “motusdatasboard,” “motusdatadesk,” “motuswebdeck” and “motusfunction” in their domain names.
The agency said customers have received emails with the subject line “Notice of Required Off-Cycle Update- Motus email” directing them to what is described as a “New MOTUS Portal.” FMCSA noted that Motus is not an acronym and should not be presented in all capital letters, another possible warning sign that a message or website is fraudulent.
Anyone who believes they have been targeted can also contact FMCSA through its Contact Center. The agency’s fraud-alert page provides additional examples of fraudulent messages and websites as well as information on reporting suspected scams.
School Bus Contractors React to Suspicious Emails
NSTA said the fraudulent communications reported by school bus contractors similarly seek confidential information while creating a sense of urgency. The association advised members to verify emails and website addresses before entering sensitive, proprietary or account information.
The warning comes as motor carriers and other regulated entities transition to Motus, which FMCSA launched this year to replace several older registration systems. The platform is designed to allow companies to apply for and manage USDOT registrations while providing stronger identity verification and fraud-prevention protections.
That transition provides an opening for scammers attempting to take advantage of operators who are still becoming familiar with the new system.
FMCSA’s fraud alert page advises users not to click suspicious links contained in unsolicited emails. Instead, recipients should hover over links to examine the actual destination and only follow links they know to be trustworthy. The agency also recommends reporting suspicious communications to the Federal Trade Commission and, when appropriate, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, local law enforcement or a state attorney general’s office.
FMCSA maintains a broader list of registration-related scams involving fake audit requests, fraudulent carrier-status notices, spoofed government websites and emails impersonating the agency’s Safety and Fitness Electronic Records, or SAFER, system.
NSTA urged school bus contractors to be particularly cautious with unsolicited requests for account credentials, payments, sensitive company information or proprietary data. The association said it shared at least one reported example with FMCSA and was seeking additional guidance from the agency.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A National Transportation Safety Board official highlighted school bus seatbelt use and crash investigations while the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s chief counsel discussed CDL integrity and driver training at the National Association for Pupil Transportation Annual Conference.
Meg Sweeney, an NTSB project manager and accident investigator, described during the Oct. 4 general session how the independent federal agency investigates selected crashes, identifies probable causes and issues recommendations intended to prevent future incidents. The NTSB investigates significant crashes across several transportation modes, including highway, rail, pipeline and marine. The following day, NTSB dispatched investigators to Polk County, Florida following the fatal school bus crash there.
On Sunday before nearly 200 NAPT attendees, Sweeney said NTSB’s highway safety office has about 35 staff members, so the agency cannot investigate every fatal highway crash. Investigators assess factors such as the crash’s significance, public attention and the potential for the investigation to improve safety. A team may include experts in driver behavior, vehicle condition, motor carrier practices, occupant protection and roadway design.
NTSB may also invite organizations with relevant technical expertise to participate as party members. For a school bus investigation, that could include a school district, state transportation officials, law enforcement, a vehicle manufacturer or federal agencies. Party members can contribute information and review factual material for accuracy before it is published, Sweeney added.
Seatbelt Use and Driver Impairment
Sweeney focused on an NTSB investigation of a school bus rollover in Leander, Texas. The bus was equipped with lap-shoulder belts at every passenger seat, but investigators could confirm that only six of the 42 students were restrained. Video showed four students wearing the lap portion of their belts while placing the shoulder belt behind them. Investigators could not verify how the other two students were belted.
NTSB issued urgent recommendations to Leander Independent School District, the state of Texas and national school transportation organizations. The recommendations called for enforceable seatbelt policies and procedures, including pre-departure reminders, periodic checks, review of onboard video and training for students and families on proper belt use.
Sweeney said Leander ISD had begun making changes before receiving the recommendation. The NTSB was still awaiting a response from Texas at the time of the presentation. The agency also praised the school transportation organizations for sharing the recommendations with their members.
Another investigation involved a school bus driver impaired by alcohol in Millstone, West Virginia. Sweeney said the driver initially registered a blood alcohol concentration of 0.16 and later registered 0.12 following the March 4, 2024 incident, where the school bus right rear wheels left the roadway and struck a culvert. Three students suffered serious injuries, including a teenager who later required a leg amputation, during the resulting school bus roll over. Sixteen students sustained minor injuries.
The legal limit for commercial drivers is 0.04. Sweeney said the crash renewed NTSB’s interest in vehicle-integrated alcohol detection systems, she said. In a separate rollover crash without lap-shoulder belts, students were displaced from their seats.
NTSB is also investigating fatal incidents in Maine and New Jersey, in which students were struck near school buses or school buses dragged the students in the loading door, as well as reports of Waymo autonomous vehicles illegally passing stopped school buses. Sweeney noted that the agency uses onboard video and other available records as important evidence in its investigations.
Rebecca Pettit, FMCSA chief counsel, said federal priorities include maintaining the integrity of commercial driver’s licenses and ensuring that drivers receive meaningful training. She described the CDL as a safety credential, particularly for drivers transporting students, and said qualifications and proficiency should not be weakened in response to driver shortages.
Pettit said FMCSA had removed 10,000 training locations from its Training Provider Registry as of the month of the presentation, with another 1,000 locations under review. She said the agency is working to ensure Entry-Level Driver Training providers are legitimate, and that training includes demonstrated behind-the-wheel skills, rather than relying only on classroom instruction or self-certification.
She also emphasized that FMCSA does not regulate every aspect of pupil transportation. Government-operated school transportation and routine home-to-school service are exempt from most federal motor carrier regulations, she said, although CDL and drug-and-alcohol requirements apply. Federal rules can also apply to some interstate transportation provided by private schools or contractors. Applicability depends on factors such as who provides the service, vehicle capacity, compensation, trip purpose and whether the operation crosses state lines.
Pettit encouraged school districts and contractors to contact FMCSA field offices when they are uncertain about their responsibilities. She also urged transportation professionals to comment on proposed federal rules, saying operational experience helps agencies identify unintended consequences and make workable policy. A separate session on Monday shared details on what student transporters need to know about FMCSA audits amid increased enforcement targeting CDL mills and non-domiciled CDL holders.
NAPT, NASDPTS and NSTA Share Updates
Peter Mannella, NAPT’s public policy liaison, said the association’s federal outreach is intended to ensure pupil transportation professionals have a voice in policy discussions. He described meetings with federal agencies as an opportunity to build relationships and bring industry concerns directly to decision-makers.
Curt Macsysn of the National School Transportation Association reported that the recent International School Bus Driver Safety Competition grew from 53 drivers in 2025 to 88 in 2026, with a goal of 100 drivers for the 2027 event in Austin, Texas. He also discussed scholarships for competitors, recruitment of judges with driver or trainer experience, and a proposed “Break for Kids Act” public-service campaign to raise awareness about illegal passing.
Ron Lichtfield of NASDPTS presented results from the group’s voluntary survey of illegal school bus passings. Participating drivers reported 56,024 illegal passings in a one-day study. Extrapolated across an estimated 180-day school year, the figure was about 38.4 million — down slightly from 39.3 million in the previous year’s projection, but still a substantial safety concern. Lichtfield also highlighted updated seatbelt guidance and a resource addressing concerns about aftermarket buckle guards.
Written with the assistance of AI and an audio transcript.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The National Association of Pupil Transportation announced several winners and its latest inductee to the NAPT Hall of Fame during its annual conference this weekend.
The event in Louisville, Kentucky recognized Keith Henry, a longtime student transportation leader whose career has been marked by service, mentorship and advocacy for the profession, as this year’s solo inductee into the NAPT Hall of Fame. Henry is a past president of NAPT and currently serves as president of the NAPT Foundation. He is also the executive director of the Missouri Association for Pupil Transportation.
Henry started in the student transportation industry in 1994 as director transportation for Windsor School District in Imperial, Missouri following six years of service as an aviation electrician in the U.S. Coast Guard. He moved to Mehlville School District in 1997 as director of transportation and support services and then to Independence School District as director of transportation in 2010. He joined Lee’s Summit R-7 School District as director of transportation in July 2016 and four months later began his two-year term as NAPT president. He retired from Lee’s Summit at the end of June 2021.
NAPT describes its Hall of Fame as the association’s highest individual honor, recognizing professionals whose contributions, influence and leadership have had a lasting impact on both NAPT and the school transportation industry.
“I’m not up here, I don’t think, by accident but by design. And it wasn’t not my design, it was all your design,” Henry said during his acceptance speech Oct. 4. “You all have put so much into me and that’s the why. And my why is simple. I like to help others. I like to serve others. .. I went into the Coast Guard because I wanted to help others. When I got out of the Coast Guard in 1994, I took a temporary job in a transportation department that I didn’t seem to be able to kick. Here I am.”
The 2026 NAPT Distinguished Service Award was presented to Sue Shutrump, recognizing her exemplary leadership, service and “unwavering desire to make things safer for all children on the school bus” over the past 41 years, said nominator, NAPT past-president and NAPT Foundation board member Alexandra Robinson. A retired occupational and physical therapy supervisor for Trumbull County ESC in Ohio, Shutrump is the owner of Sue Shutrump Consulting and serves as co-chair of NAPT’s Special Needs Advisory Committee alongside Robinson. She is a member of the Transporting Students with Disabilities and Special Needs Tenured Faculty and long-time supporter of those who transport students with disabilities and preschoolers.
Shutrump recounted how she first became involved in school transportation in 1991, after her supervisor at the time received a phone call from a parent who expressed concern that her son was being transported unsafely to school in his wheelchair.
“I learned that she was right and I have never stopped learning since then,” Shutrump said during her acceptance speech. “And that is thanks to this incredible transportation community, full of people who are so willing to share their expertise in support of getting kids to school safer.”
Meanwhile, Jeff Hall, a school bus driver for Dickson County Schools in Tennessee, was posthumously awarded the NAPT Heroism Award sponsored by Blue Bird, for his selfless and decisive actions while evacuating students during a December 2025 school bus fire emergency, despite only being a school bus driver for four months. He died unexpectedly Feb. 10. Melissa Garton, director of transportation for Dickson County Schools, accepted the award on Hall’s behalf Sunday.
The School Bus Driver Training & Safety Award, sponsored by IC Bus, was presented to Dennis Murphy, training and safety officer for Greenville County Schools in South Carolina. Murphy was recognized for his commitment to school bus driver training and for helping advance student transportation safety. He was ill and unable to attend NAPT, so his colleague Shane Mitchell accepted the award on his behalf. IC Bus created the award to recognize school districts, companies and transportation professionals with exemplary driver-training programs and includes a $500 grant to further enhance driver training within the recipient’s operation.
The Continuing Education Award, sponsored by Thomas Built Buses, was presented to Angela Renz, the Northeast and Southeast Quadrant Manager for Metro Nashville Public Schools in Tennessee. The award recognizes Renz’s commitment to continued learning and to advancing the student transportation profession through education.
The NAPT Special Needs Transportation Award, sponsored by Q’Straint/Sure-Lok, was presented to Pamela Kelley, transportation administrative assistant at Spartanburg School District Six in South Carolina. Kelley was honored for her dedication to providing safe, compassionate and exceptional transportation for students with disabilities and special needs.
Andres Chait took the dais July 22 in front of his “family,” who he said he needed not to introduce himself to as Los Angeles Unified School District’s new superintendent. That is because he has worked at the nation’s second-largest, K-12 public school district for the past two decades, first as a Kindergarten teacher then a principal and in various leadership positions before assuming the role of chief of school operations in 2022.
As such, he oversaw student transportation. A school bus guy of sorts, Chait was named the full-time superintendent of schools after serving in an interim role amid an FBI probe of his former boss, Alberto Carvalho, for alleged acceptance of gifts from a technology vendor, unreported travel and undisclosed side income.
Los Angeles Unified School District named Andres Chait its latest superintendent in June.
School Transportation News caught up with Chait before the start of the new school year and days before he gave his Opening of Schools Address 2026. He spoke there about the need to put students at the center of every decision by staying grounded in collected values and unified in purpose.
First, he shared with STN his outlook on student transportation and its role in educational access and helping to address the school district’s mounting financial challenges.
STN: How does your background in overseeing the operational side of LAUSD shape the way you’ll lead the district differently than someone who solely came from an academic or instructional rolel?
Chait: I’ve been fortunate to lead both instructional and operational teams throughout my career, and I’ve come to believe those two worlds are inseparable. Great instruction can only happen when the systems that support our schools are working well.
Whether it’s transportation, nutrition, technology, facilities or school operations, every function exists to support teaching and learning. My leadership approach is grounded in making sure our schools have reliable, efficient systems so principals and teachers can focus on students. Every operational decision ultimately should
answer one question: How does this improve the experience and outcomes for our students?
STN: Two main reasons cited by the school board for your hire are budget deficits and declining student enrollment. What does stability of budget and enrollment look like to you over the next two school years, and how does transportation factor in?
Chait: Stability means making thoughtful decisions that protect the classroom while putting the district on solid financial footing for the future. That requires careful stewardship of public resources, continuous improvement and investing where we know it makes the greatest difference for students.
Transportation is an important part of that strategy. Families need confidence that their children can get to school safely and reliably. When transportation is dependable, it supports attendance, strengthens trust with families and makes our schools more accessible. As we continue to adapt to changing enrollment patterns, we’ll continue looking for ways to deliver excellent service while operating efficiently and responsibly.
Transportation as a Strategic Function STN: What surprised you most about student transportation once you began overseeing it?
Chait: The scale and complexity. Every day we’re coordinating thousands of students across a district that spans more than 700 square miles. It requires constant coordination, planning and communication.
Beyond scale, the complexity of operating approximately 1,300 school buses, including about 250 electric school buses sourced from multiple manufacturers running across roughly 1,400 routes and serving about 28,000 students daily. The district provides free, universal transportation to all students through its Transportation for All initiative, removing socioeconomic barriers to access. All buses are equipped with GPS technology, allowing parents and administrators to track buses in real time through a Parent Portal, supporting both safety and operational reliability.
Most importantly, what continues to stand out to me is the dedication of our transportation employees. They are often the first district employees a student sees in the morning and the last before they return home. They play an important role in creating a safe and welcoming experience for students every day.
STN: Many people think of transportation simply as a cost center. From your perspective, what value does an effective transportation department create for students and the district?
Chait: Transportation is a student service. It removes barriers to learning. Reliable transportation helps students arrive safely, consistently and ready to learn. It expands access to educational opportunities and supports students with disabilities, students experiencing homelessness and others who rely on transportation to attend school. When transportation works well, it builds families’ confidence in the school system.
STN: What transportation performance metrics do you personally pay the most attention to?
Chait: Safety remains our top priority. Beyond that, we monitor ridership, on-time performance, service reliability, ride times, staffing levels and customer responsiveness. We also track data that tells us whether our transportation system is helping students consistently access school. No single metric tells the whole story. We look at the overall experience for students and families and continuously identify opportunities to improve.
STN: Is transportation discussed primarily as an operational department or as part of academic strategy?
Chait: It’s both. Transportation is certainly an operational function, but its impact reaches well beyond operations. If students cannot get to school consistently, they’re missing instructional time. Reliable transportation supports attendance, engagement and equitable access to educational opportunities. That’s why transportation is part of broader conversations about student success.
STN: LAUSD faces budget pressures and declining enrollment. How do you balance the need for fiscal responsibility without reducing transportation access for students who depend on it?
Chait: Our responsibility is to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars while maintaining essential services for students. We continuously evaluate routes, schedules and operational practices to improve efficiency, but our focus remains on protecting student access. Every decision starts with what’s best for students while ensuring we’re operating responsibly and sustainably. Small operational improvements can add up over time, allowing us to better serve students while managing costs responsibly.
Additionally, communicating the work of other government agencies can provide significant resources to our students. For example, LAUSD also partners with LA Metro to provide TK–12 students a free GoPass for unlimited rides on Metro buses, trains, and 17 additional regional transit partners across LA County. The GoPass extends free mobility beyond the school bus system itself.
STN: Are there investments in transportation that save money elsewhere in the district?
Chait: Absolutely. Investments that improve reliability and communication can reduce service disruptions, improve family confidence and support student attendance. When students are in school consistently, everyone benefits. Specifically, diesel fuel price volatility continues to put pressure on the district’s transportation budget.
Los Angeles Unified operates roughly 120 diesel-powered buses, 36 trucks and vehicles, and approximately 220 pieces of diesel-powered equipment, all subject to rising costs. The district’s continued investment in its electric fleet is one strategy for managing long-term cost exposure: Switching a diesel bus to electric can save between $73,000 and $173,000 per unit over its lifetime in fuel and maintenance costs. We evaluate investments not only by their direct financial impact, but also by how they support student access, operational effectiveness and overall service quality.
STN: How do you evaluate the return on investment for transportation beyond dollars and cents?
Chait: We look at safety, reliability, student access, operational efficiency and the confidence families have in our system. Transportation supports our educational mission, so its value extends beyond traditional financial measures.
Sustainability STN: Regarding those electric school buses, what opportunities and challenges has LAUSD experienced?
Chait: Transitioning to a zero-emission fleet is an important investment in both environmental stewardship and student health. Like many districts, we’ve learned that fleet electrification requires significant planning, including charging infrastructure, utility coordination, workforce training and long-term capital investment. Those are complex efforts, but they also position us well for the future.
In 2019, the Board of Education adopted a pledge to significantly reduce dependence on fossil fuels by 2030 and to attain 100-percent renewable energy by 2040. Our work to meet these goals has presented multiple challenges, but our staff have creatively turned these challenges into opportunities to expand student resources, test new technologies, and collaborate with governmental and private partners.
STN: Beyond environmental benefits, have electric buses changed operations or long-term budgeting?
Chait: As our electric fleet continues to expand, we’re gaining valuable experience that will inform long-term planning. Electric buses require a different operational approach, from charging schedules to maintenance practices to infrastructure planning. Over time, those changes have the potential to improve operational efficiency and reduce certain maintenance costs, but thoughtful implementation is essential to realizing those benefits.
LAUSD adopted a pledge to significantly reduce dependence on fossil fuels by 2030 and to attain 100-percent renewable energy by 2040.
As an example, LAUSD recently broke ground on the Sun Valley Bus Garage electrification project, a $72 million investment delivering 180 charging stations, a mix of Level 2 and Level 3 chargers to support 180 electric school buses and an $86 million investment in the fleet itself. The Level 3 chargers include V2G technology, allowing the district to sell stored energy back to the grid during peak demand and charge buses during off-peak hours, helping stabilize the broader grid while reducing costs.
Transportation & Student Success STN: Has LAUSD seen the connection between reliable transportation and attendance?
Chait: Attendance is influenced by many factors, but reliable transportation removes one significant barrier. Our attendance efforts involve multiple departments working together, and transportation is one part of that broader strategy to help students get to school consistently and ready to learn.
STN: How closely do transportation and instructional teams work together?
Chait: Collaboration is essential. Transportation, school operations and our school leaders regularly work together to address challenges that affect student access. When we identify barriers to attendance, we look across departments to determine the most effective solutions.
STN: What role does transportation play in educational equity?
Chait: Transportation helps ensure students can access the educational opportunities available throughout our district regardless of where they live. For many students,
transportation is what makes specialized programs, services and schools accessible. That’s an important part of our commitment to educational equity.
Workforce STN: Driver shortages have challenged districts nationwide. What lessons has LAUSD learned?
Chait: Like many districts, we’ve experienced workforce challenges, but we’ve learned that recruitment and retention require sustained attention. Competitive compensation, professional development, supportive working conditions and recognizing the important role our employees play all contribute to building a strong workforce.
STN: Are there initiatives that have improved recruitment or retention?
Chait: We’ve continued investing in recruitment, training and employee support while looking for ways to streamline hiring and help new employees succeed. Retention is equally important. Supporting employees throughout their careers helps us provide more consistent service for students and families.
STN: Transportation employees often interact with students before and after school each day. How do you view their role?
Chait: They are an important part of our educational community. Bus drivers and transportation staff help create a safe, respectful and welcoming environment. Those daily interactions matter. Students benefit when every adult they encounter demonstrates care, professionalism and a commitment to their well-being.
Technology & Innovation STN: Where do you see the biggest opportunity for technology?
Chait: Technology gives us the opportunity to make transportation more responsive, more efficient and more transparent for families. Whether it’s better routing, improved communication or stronger use of data, technology can help us make informed decisions and continually improve service. This year we are rolling out our Modernization Project: Upgraded GPS, routing, dispatch, tablets, student scanning and interior and exterior cameras. Families can track their students in real-time via the Parent Portal app.
STN: How is LAUSD using routing software, GPS, parent communications and data analytics?
Chait: We’re modernizing several aspects of our transportation operation. This includes implementing enhanced routing and planning tools, expanding GPS capabilities and improving communication with families. These investments will help us provide more accurate information, respond more quickly to changing conditions and improve operational efficiency.
The Parent Portal app provides secure access to valuable district resources. In addition to bus transportation, parents can access grades, attendance, assignments and scores, enrollment info, and food menus. Ultimately, technology should make the experience better for students, families and employees.
STN: Are there operational innovations from transportation that could be applied elsewhere in the district?
Chait: Transportation depends on using real-time information, careful planning and continuous improvement. Those same principles can benefit many areas of the district as we continue building a culture that values data-informed decision-making and excellent customer service.
STN: What role does the union play in approving these initiatives and technology?
Chait: We value our continued partnership with our labor organizations and believe meaningful collaboration leads to better outcomes. As we consider operational
improvements or new technology, we engage employees and labor partners consistent with our collective bargaining agreements and applicable laws. Our shared goal is improving service while supporting the employees who deliver it every day.
Editor’s Note: As reprinted from the September 2026 issue of School Transportation News.
School districts and bus companies can use a two-hour training session at the 2026 Transporting Students with Disabilities (TSD) Conference to take a closer look at how they prepare school bus aides, attendants or monitors — and identify where their programs need to grow.
Launi Harden and Teena Mitchell will lead the two-hour session Nov. 9. It is designed for organizations with an established attendant-training program as well as those still developing one. Participants will examine whether their current training prepares aides and monitors for the responsibilities in their job descriptions. Those without a formal program can use the session as a starting point for building one.
Harden is a retired director of transportation for the Washington County School District in Utah. She is now a school transportation consultant, executive director of the Florida Association for Pupil Transportation and a tenured faculty member of the TSD Conference. Mitchell is a special needs transportation coordinator for Greenville Public Schools in South Carolina, an expert witness in legal cases involving the transportation of students with disabilities and special needs and immediate past-president of the National Association for Pupil Transportation.
Rather than relying on a lecture format, the presenters plan to make the session participatory. Attendees will work in small groups to unpack what specific job duties mean in practice, discuss how they should be taught and consider how to evaluate whether employees can perform them. The goal is for participants to leave with practical ideas they can bring back to their own organizations.
The discussion will draw on eight areas of attendant training: Disability awareness, equipment use, job duties, individualized education programs, confidentiality, student behavior, de-escalation and support strategies, and professional performance and communication skills. The presenters will connect those topics to actual job-description language, helping attendees move from broad expectations to specific skills and procedures.
The Accuracy of School Bus Attendant Job Descriptions
A job description might say that an aide or attendant is responsible for loading and unloading students or using specialty equipment. The session will encourage participants to consider what those job duties require beyond the wording on the page. For example, how can aides support students during the process? What equipment knowledge is needed? How do expectations change for a student who uses a wheelchair? And how should training be verified before an aide handles a task independently?
That approach can also help districts and companies identify whether a job description is clear enough to guide training and whether training covers the responsibilities employees are expected to carry out. Attendees can examine where a program is working, where it may leave gaps and what steps could make it more consistent.
The two-hour session will use focused discussions and small group exercises to keep participants involved. Harden and Mitchell expect attendees to share questions and experiences, compare approaches and discuss best practices. The format is intended to help participants build a usable framework, not simply collect a list of topics.
The presenters will also address the importance of matching support to students’ needs and considering safety responsibilities in context. As part of that discussion, participants can reflect on the role of IEP teams, the need to document concerns and what a district may need to consider when it knows a student faces a safety risk. Mitchell’s work as an expert witness informs her perspective on how decisions about transportation support may be scrutinized. The session is a professional training opportunity, not legal advice.
For districts and contractors, the value of the training may be in the questions it helps them ask. Do aides understand the full scope of their duties? Are they prepared to support students with different needs? Do they know how to use required equipment? Does the organization have a way to confirm that training has been understood and applied?
Attendees who already have an attendant program can use the session as a litmus test for their current practices. Those starting from scratch can use its topics and activities to begin designing a program that fits their own operations and workforce. In either case, the focus is on translating expectations into skills that can be taught, discussed and evaluated.
The TSD Conference and Trade Show takes place Nov. 4–10 at the Embassy Suites in Frisco, Texas.
Attendees can save $100 on Main Conference registration by registering before the Early Bird discount expires this Friday, Oct. 2. The Early Bird rate is $499, compared with the $599 standard rate. Main Conference registration includes breakout, general and keynote sessions, networking events and the trade show. Special training courses require additional registration or fees.
With the return of the Clean School Bus Program reportedly still one month away, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is accepting applications for approximately $180 million through the 2026 Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) national grant competition.
Eligible projects include school bus replacements powered by battery-electric, diesel, gasoline and propane as well as after-treatment retrofits and engine upgrades. The DERA funding also covers other diesel vehicles and equipment.
EPA announced the national grants on Sept. 24. Applications are due through Grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. Eastern on Jan. 22, 2027. Selection notifications are anticipated in May, with awards expected in July.
According to the Notice of Funding Opportunity, the national competition combines approximately $65 million from fiscal 2024, $62 million from fiscal 2025, and $53 million from fiscal 2026. Final awards depend on funding availability, application quality and agency priorities. EPA said it expects to award 120 entities, with the maximum amount of each award set at $12 million. No minimum dollar amount was provided.
School Bus Eligibility and DERA Funding Limits
Eligible DERA applicants include public school districts responsible for student transportation that own or operate diesel fleets, other qualifying government agencies and certain nonprofits. For-profit school bus contractors cannot apply directly but may receive support through programs administered by eligible grant recipients, including rebates.
Diesel, alternative-fuel and electric school bus replacements are eligible, subject to program requirements. For selected school bus replacement projects, federal funding is limited to 25 percent, 35 percent or 45 percent of eligible vehicle costs, depending on certified nitrogen oxides emissions. Electric replacements fall under the 45 percent limit, but charging equipment including is ineligible. EPA said charging equipment includes chargers/EVSE, electrical panels or service upgrades, wiring and conduit, design and engineering, electricity, and stationary battery storage.
Existing school buses must be operational, have at least three years of remaining life, and have been owned and operated by the participating fleet owner during the two years before the upgrade. They generally must have accumulated at least 7,000 miles annually during those years.
Replacement projects generally require scrapping or permanently disabling the old bus within 90 days after the replacement becomes operational, with limited EPA-approved alternatives.
National program webinars are scheduled for Oct. 13, Oct. 28 and Nov. 12. Questions about the competition are due Nov. 24.
DERA State Funding and Oct. 1 Webinar
Separately, EPA said last week it anticipates approximately $27 million in DERA state funding for fiscal 2025 and another $27 million for fiscal 2026 — approximately $54 million combined, subject to appropriations.
That funding is allocated by formula rather than through the national competition. Participating states and territories will receive both fiscal years’ funding in one grant to support state-administered grants and rebates. School buses are eligible.
States that match their federal base allocation with qualifying nonfederal funding can receive an additional federal incentive equal to 50 percent of that base allocation.
EPA held an Oct. 1 webinar that provided an overview of the state program. State and territorial notices of intent to participate are due Oct. 8, with final allocations scheduled for Oct. 15. Application packages are due Nov. 19.
Those deadlines apply to participating states and territories, according to EPA. School districts seeking state-administered funding should follow their state agency’s grant or rebate process.
Article written with the assistance of AI and EPA documents.
Linda Bluth will bring her decades of expertise in special needs transportation to two sessions at the upcoming Transporting Students with Disabilities and Special Needs (TSD) National Conference in Frisco, Texas, examining how student transporters should respond when guidance is flawed or absent and what proposed federal changes could mean for Head Start transportation.
A TSD Conference Tenured Faculty member, Bluth has been associated with the training since its inception in 1992, when she delivered one of the inaugural conference’s keynote presentations. Her return continues a commitment to helping transportation professionals understand and meet the needs of students with disabilities and preschoolers.
Linda Bluth keynoted the first TSD Conference in 1992.
Bluth’s career spans six decades of work in special education and school transportation. She is a past president of the National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT), a former chair of its Special Needs Committee and an NAPT Hall of Fame member. Her work has included federal and state education policy, school administration, professional training and extensive writing on transporting students with disabilities.
She also serves as an expert witness in legal cases nationwide involving school transportation safety and compliance, bringing a perspective informed by both daily operational challenges and the consequences when services fall short.
On Friday, Nov. 6, Bluth will moderate the opening general session, “When Guidance is Incorrect or Missing.” Fellow TSD Conference Tenured Faculty members Alexandra Robinson, Launi Harden and Sue Shutrump will join her for the panel discussion.
The session draws from Bluth’s column in the October edition of School Transportation Newsmagazine. It will examine the importance of questioning direction from supervisors when that guidance conflicts with regulations, compliance obligations or best practices. Attendees will hear strategies for addressing these situations rather than simply accepting instructions that could compromise appropriate transportation services.
Bluth will also present “Head Start Transportation at a Crossroads” on Saturday, Nov. 7, addressing the potential implications of a federal notice of proposed rulemaking that would substantially reshape Head Start’s operating requirements.
The proposal, issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families, would rescind and replace the existing Head Start Program Performance Standards with a more limited federal framework. It would remove detailed requirements, including transportation provisions, while relying more heavily on state and local rules. The agency describes the proposal as an effort to reduce regulatory burdens and give programs greater flexibility while preserving statutory obligations.
Among the proposed transportation changes is eliminating the federal requirement for a bus monitor to be on board vehicles transporting Head Start children, leaving staffing decisions more dependent on local operating practices and applicable state or local requirements. The proposal is not a final rule.
For student transporters, those potential changes raise practical questions about how programs would establish and maintain consistent safety expectations for their youngest passengers. Bluth’s session will provide an opportunity to examine what the proposed shift could mean for Head Start transportation operations.
The TSD Conference takes place Nov. 4–10 at the Embassy Suites in Frisco, Texas.
Attendees can save $100 on Main Conference registration by registering before the Early Bird discount expires Friday, Oct. 2. The Early Bird rate is $499, compared with the $599 standard rate. Main Conference registration includes breakout, general and keynote sessions, networking events and the trade show. Certain special training courses require additional registration or fees. Registration is available through the TSD Conference website.
Recent school bus crashes involving preschool-age children and proposed changes to federal Head Start transportation requirements are adding urgency to a new hands-on training planned for the TSD Conference.
“Conventional CSRS, Who Needs ‘Em?! Turns Out, Many Students Do!” will be presented Friday, Nov. 6 by Denise Donaldson, a certified child passenger safety technician instructor and editor and publisher of Safe Ride News. The session will give school transportation professionals practical experience installing and using conventional child safety restraint systems, or CSRS, for preschoolers and other students who require them.
The training comes as occupant protection for young children remains a prominent school bus safety issue. In April, a school bus carrying six preschool students in Meridian, Idaho, was involved in a crash that resulted in one student and a bus monitor being transported to a hospital for evaluation.
Student transporters continue to examine lessons from the March 2024 school bus crash near Dale, Texas, in which a bus carrying 44 preschool students ages 4 and 5, and 10 adult chaperones was struck by a concrete pump truck and rolled over. The National Transportation Safety Board has reiterated that preschool children should be transported using child restraint systems appropriate for their age, weight, height and individual needs.
That backdrop makes proper selection, installation and use of CSRS especially important for transportation professionals serving younger students.
Conventional child safety restraints are designed primarily for passenger vehicles, so they may not always be the first option considered by school bus operators. But Donaldson noted that for many children from birth through kindergarten, as well as some students with disabilities, conventional restraints can be the only suitable option. The TSD training is designed to provide the basics of using those systems correctly in a school bus environment.
TSD Conference participants will work directly with conventional CSRS and school bus seating to see how the restraint interacts with the bus seat, practice making necessary adjustments and learn to identify common installation and usage errors.
The timing is also significant for Head Start transportation providers.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families in August proposed a sweeping rewrite of the Head Start Program Performance Standards that would significantly reduce federal regulation and return greater authority over transportation practices to states and local programs. The proposed rule would remove many of the detailed transportation requirements now contained in federal Head Start regulations.
Among the changes, the proposal would eliminate the federal requirement that at least one bus monitor be aboard whenever Head Start children are transported. Programs would instead have more flexibility to determine transportation staffing based on local operations and applicable state or local rules.
The proposal would go further by removing the existing federal regulatory definition of “child restraint system” from the Head Start regulations, as well as the definition of an “allowable alternate vehicle.”
However, the proposal would not mean Head Start programs are free from child-passenger-safety requirements. ACF states that programs would still have to comply with applicable state and local regulations, including state requirements governing child safety restraints in moving vehicles, and would remain responsible for the safety of enrolled children. Programs could also voluntarily continue practices contained in the current federal standards even when they are not required locally.
That potential shift makes understanding the fundamentals of proper restraint use especially relevant for Head Start transportation personnel. Rather than relying solely on a detailed federal transportation framework, programs could increasingly need to understand how state requirements, vehicle type and accepted child passenger safety practices apply to the children they transport.
Donaldson’s training will also address transportation in vehicles other than traditional school buses. She noted that much of the information translates to alternative vehicles, while important differences in installation and use between vehicle types will also be explained.
The Friday scheduling provides another benefit for teams competing in the special needs team roadeo, giving them an opportunity for hands-on practice before the competition’s car-seat event on Saturday. Participation in the roadeo is not required to attend Donaldson’s training.
Attendees are encouraged to bring questions about conventional CSRS. Donaldson will draw on her experience as a CPST instructor to help participants work through installation and usage issues they may encounter in their own transportation operations.
The Transporting Students with Disabilities and Special Needs Conference Early Bird registration is $499 through Oct. 2, a savings of $100 off the standard registration rate. The conference runs Nov. 4-10, located in Frisco, Texas. Attendees can register and view the latest conference agenda at TSDConference.com.
A proposed overhaul of federal Head Start regulations could significantly change how transportation services are governed, and attendees at the Transporting Students with Disabilities & Special Needs (TSD) Conference this November will have an opportunity to examine what the changes could mean for daily operations.
A special conversation scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 7, will focus on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Reducing Federal Burden for Head Start Programs. The session will provide attendees with an update on the status of the rulemaking as of the conference and bring the discussion directly to transportation professionals who serve Head Start children and families.
The Administration for Children and Families published the NPRM Aug. 7 and set an Oct. 6 deadline for public comments. It proposes to rescind and replace the Head Start Program Performance Standards most recently revised in 2024, including those for transportation. ACF said the changes are intended to reduce federal regulatory burden, eliminate requirements it considers duplicative of state and local rules, and return greater decision-making authority to Head Start agencies and families.
The NPRM proposes removing the detailed federal transportation requirements contained in 45 CFR 1303.70 through 1303.75. Those provisions currently address vehicle selection and operation, routing, safety procedures and transportation of children with disabilities. Under the proposal, Head Start programs would instead continue to follow applicable state and local licensing and transportation requirements, along with remaining federal statutory obligations.
One of the most closely watched provisions is the existing federal requirement for a bus monitor aboard vehicles transporting Head Start children. ACF proposes eliminating that mandate and allowing programs greater flexibility to determine transportation staffing based on local operations, safety practices and state or local regulations. The agency’s regulatory analysis states some programs could reduce staffing costs, while also acknowledging that programs may continue using monitors because of state or local requirements or their own safety practices.
That distinction is expected to be central to the TSD Conference conversation.
Rather than simply reviewing regulatory language, the Nov. 7 session will examine the operational questions the proposal raises for the people responsible for transporting young children. Among them: Would programs continue using monitors even if they are no longer federally required? How might requirements vary from state to state? What could changes to federal vehicle, routing and safety rules mean for training, staffing and equipment? And how could programs balance potential new flexibility with the unique transportation needs of preschool-age children and children with disabilities?
Those questions have surfaced repeatedly in interviews conducted by School Transportation News, which will report on the topic in the upcoming November edition of the magazine. Issues cited include the role monitors play in securing young children in child safety restraint systems, supervising students and assisting during loading, unloading and emergencies. Others pointed to transportation access as an especially important issue for rural families and programs already confronting driver shortages and increasing operating costs.
The discussion will also distinguish between what has been proposed and what programs are currently required to do. The NPRM itself does not change existing Head Start transportation requirements while the rulemaking process continues. The TSD Conference session will reflect whatever action, if any, HHS has taken following the close of the public-comment period.
The 2026 TSD Conference and Trade Show runs Nov. 4-10 at the Embassy Suites Dallas-Frisco Hotel & Convention Center in Frisco, Texas. The event brings together student transportation, special education, safety and industry professionals for general and breakout sessions, specialized training, hands-on activities, networking and a trade show focused on transportation for students with disabilities and special needs.
Early Bird main conference registration is $499 through Oct. 2, a savings of $100 off the $599 standard registration rate. Registration includes keynote, general and breakout educational sessions as well as the Welcome Party at Topgolf The Colony, the Ride & Drive + Technology Demonstration and the TSD Tailgate Trade Show Reception. Certain specialized training programs require separate registration and fees. Visit TSDConference.com to register and view the latest agenda.
The roadeo for teams of school bus drivers and aides who serve students with disabilities and preschooler returns to the TSD Conference this November with expanded hands-on training, new team challenges and an open invitation to school transportation professionals who want to test — and strengthen — their skills in real-world scenarios involving students with disabilities and special needs.
The roadeo sponsored by Q’Straint/Sure-Lok will be held Friday and Saturday, Nov. 6-7, in conjunction with the Transporting Students with Disabilities & Special Needs Conference and Trade Show in Frisco, Texas. The event is produced and organized by the industry group WIT., LLC, Women in Transportation, which is dedicated to leading, mentoring and empowering women in student transportation,
The teams from across the country will take written exams Friday. Prosper Independent School District is again hosting the Saturday competition that is open to all.
Participation is not limited to teams that have qualified through a state or regional competition. Driver-attendant teams may represent a school district, contractor, state association or other organization, while independent participants and “pickup” teams are also welcome to take part in the challenging professional-development experience.
While friendly competition remains part of the roadeo, the emphasis is on learning, teamwork and strengthening the skills needed to safely transport students with disabilities.
Teams will need to work together throughout the course, with particular attention paid to communication with students, safety and care. This year’s event will also feature additional activities and hands-on training designed to challenge participants beyond traditional driving skills. On-site team challenges will provide opportunities to earn extra credit during the competition.
The Saturday course at Prosper ISD will place driver-attendant teams in situations that require them to communicate, make decisions and apply best practices while working together.
Preparation begins well before teams arrive in Texas. The 2026 roadeo test package will be distributed to registered teams by Oct. 1. As in previous years, the written portion of the competition will be open book, allowing participants to use the preparation process as another opportunity to build their knowledge of specialized transportation.
Friday, Nov. 6 will combine roadeo preparation with access to TSD Conference education. Registered team participants can attend the opening keynote by behavior expert Patrick Mulick, who will present “Promoting Independence and Reducing the Reliance on 1:1 Adult Support.” Mulick will examine how student transporters can maintain safety while helping students develop greater independence.
Roadeo participants will also have access Friday to the Foundations of Transporting Students with Disabilities & Preschoolers seminar, which provides instruction on laws and regulations, the IEP process, terminology, operational practices and other fundamentals involved in transporting students with disabilities and young children.
The roadeo team and judges meeting will be held Friday afternoon in preparation for Saturday’s competition.
Those remaining through Sunday morning can participate in American Sign Language for Student Transporters, which provides practical instruction for improving communication with deaf and hard-of-hearing students. The hands-on training introduces useful ASL phrases, accessibility considerations and strategies transportation teams can apply on the school bus.
The broader access to TSD Conference education is intended to make participation in the special needs team roadeo more than a one-day skills competition. Drivers and attendants can learn from national experts, practice techniques with other transportation professionals and then apply those lessons to challenges modeled on situations they may encounter while serving students with disabilities.
Team registration is separate from main TSD Conference main registration. Visit the TSD Conference website for registration information, scholarship details and the latest event agenda.
The 2026 TSD Conference and Trade Show takes place Nov. 4-10 at the Embassy Suites in Frisco, Texas, and features specialized education and training focused on transporting students with disabilities and special needs. Early Bird registration is currently available through Oct. 2, a savings of $100 off the standard registration rate. Main conference registration includes keynote, general and breakout educational sessions, networking events, the Ride & Drive + Technology Demonstration, and the TSD Trade Show and reception.
The new school year has begun in the Empire State, and local school districts and bus companies have an additional five years to transition to all-electric fleets. But transportation leaders and policymakers say the clock is still ticking on major funding and infrastructure challenges that could make or break the ambitious mandate.
As part of the 2027 fiscal year budget passed in May, lawmakers extended the deadline for full compliance with New York’s electric school bus mandate from 2035 to 2040 and the requirement for all new school bus purchases to be zero-emission from 2027 to 2032. The move is widely viewed as a necessary reset for the nation’s largest school transportation system, but sources caution that time alone won’t solve the structural barriers districts face in electrifying their fleets.
“It’s great that both parts of the legislation were moved down five years, but the looming questions weren’t answered, and the school districts still have so many questions that the contractors really can’t answer,” said Corey Muirhead, executive vice president for New York City contractor Logan Bus. “They still don’t understand how the state funding is going to work and how they’re going to get reimbursed.”
A First Step, Not a Finish Line
For years, the state’s three primary school transportation associations—the New York Association for Pupil Transportation (NYAPT), New York School Bus Contractors Association (NYSBCA) and New York State Bus Distributors Association (NYSBDA)—have warned that the mandate, as originally written, was moving faster than the market, utilities and school budgets could reasonably support.
“Over the past five years, New York’s school transportation industry…has collaborated closely with Gov. [Kathy] Hochul’s administration and state lawmakers,” said lobbyist Andre Claridge, who represents NYAPT and the NYSBDA and formerly worked with the NYSBCA. “We have kept state leaders updated on our progress toward meeting the electric school bus mandate while highlighting the significant challenges faced by local school districts and industry partners.”
Claridge called the five-year extension “a welcome first step,” but stressed that the law’s language “leaves no room for innovation and requires revision.” He and other industry leaders are pushing for not only extended timelines, but increased state investment and regulatory flexibility that would allow other zero- and near-zero-emission technologies to count toward compliance.
“We opposed the mandate from the beginning and advocated for no mandate or a more realistic timeline. Finally, they heard us,” commented David Christopher, executive director of NYAPT. “We are now looking at how we will lobby going forward, because five years will go by quickly, and we need to provide realistic transition plans for the legislature to consider. Hopefully they will listen.”
Tim Flood, executive vice president for New York school bus contractor The Trans Group, said the compliance delay offers a little relief but noted the challenges “are still very real and numerous.”
“I think there will be changes to the mandate. I certainly hope there will be,” he continued, citing a belief that ongoing negotiations will add more delays between now and 2032. “But at this point and time, we have to move forward as it is exactly how it is.”
The new deadline could also be impacted by upcoming political election cycles, he added.
Meanwhile, the extension could provide breathing room to build out a more data-driven, district-by-district, company-by-company approach.
An electric Type A school bus operated by Trans Group company Educational Bus Transportation, Inc. on Long Island, New York.
Where Electric Buses Prove Viable Is a Diverse Playing Field
“There is no category of district based on what we’ve seen where an electric school bus is inherently not viable,” said Alok Disa, senior advisor for the New York State Energy and Research Development Authority’s (NYSERDA) clean transportation team.
NYSERDA is tasked by the state legislature with awarding funds to districts for purchasing electric school buses and related infrastructure as well as developing electrification plans for fleets. Disa pointed to real-world operations in rural, suburban and urban communities based on the organization’s experience work with school districts across the state.
About 50,000 school buses of all fuel types operate across New York. The split between large school buses and Type A “vans” is about 60-40.
Disa explained that more than 350 electric school buses are currently registered in New York state, up from roughly 250 to 275 the previous year, and 54 school districts currently have at least one electric school bus deployed. The World Resource Institute’s Electric School Bus Initiative says the number is more like 561 ESBs deployed in New York, with over 1,200 in the pipeline or “committed” to a school district or bus company through state or federal funding.
Despite the figures, most electric school buses operate outside New York City, countering the perception that electrification is only advancing in dense urban markets, Disa noted.
Early data from NYSERDA’s work with school districts on the fleet electrification planning program suggests that approximately 80 percent of routes statewide fall within the range today’s electric school buses can handle, once reasonable safety margins and cold-weather performance are factored in. In general, Disa said NYSERDA estimates that roughly 70 to 80 miles per day is the typical working range for many morning and afternoon home-to-school routes, even in cold regions such as the Adirondacks, Western New York and the Finger Lakes.
“We recommend that districts begin their electric school bus transition with some of their a.m./p.m. routes…rather than starting with extracurricular or longer trips,” he said, adding that districts operating buses in severe winter conditions have largely been able to keep those vehicles in service with appropriate planning and protocols.
Challenging Case in Point
In addition to being the transportation director for Naples Central School District, located about an hour drive southeast of Rochester, Pat Elwell also owns personal electric vehicles. That led him to push the district to apply for the first round of EPA Clean School Bus Program funding in 2022, around the same time the state legislature passed the electric mandate.
Elwell is also a bus mechanic, so his attention was finely tuned to how the ESBs would operate once the first two were delivered in March 2024. The district also has an electric Chevrolet Equinox used for students served by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.
“Our first issue came right out of the gate when our Level 2 chargers were taking 17-plus hours to charge our buses,” he shared with STN. “Working with the charger company, and getting a crash course in charger programing, we were able to fix this problem to where they [now] charge up within six to eight hours.”
Otherwise, he said maintenance has been “negligible,” though brake inspection intervals had to be cut in half to six months or 6,000 miles.
“I received a frantic radio transmission one morning from the driver that she smelled a burning smell on the bus. When the bus made it to the transportation facility, I quickly found that the smell was from the right front brake,” recounted Elwell, who is also the president of NYAPT’s Wayne-Finger Lakes chapter. “Turns out that with one pedal drive the drivers do not use the brakes much, therefore the pads had seized in the caliper bracket.”
While he said the ESBs only need one daily charge to operate all in-district and the one out-of-district route in 40- and 50-degree spring temperatures, an obvious challenge has been heating the ESBs in winter. Elwell said he learned the 10kWh heat pumps originally installed were too small for the cabin heating system. Even then, issues have remained.
“Working with the engineers at IC Bus they came to the conclusion that a 20-kWh pump should fix this problem,” he explained. “We did swap them out, and the difference in heat and battery consumption was significantly better. Fast forward to winter 2026, with sustained temps in the single digits and below zero, and the buses could not produce heat to be able to operate the buses safely and comfortably. Therefore, we moved the runs to diesel buses.”
He added that a repeated test of winter-time range in January and February 2025 documented the need for mid-day charging to complete back-to-back runs within the district service area, “which still holds true to this day,” he said.
The longest Naples routes are 80 miles round trip per day, Elwell continued, with the average morning and afternoon routes being 29 miles. In addition to the two EVs, the fleet currently consists of 13 diesel Type C school buses, six gasoline Type A vans, three SUVs, and a sedan.
“We currently use diesel/gasoline buses for out-of-district routes and field/athletic trips as the ESBs do not have the range,” he added.
So far, he said he has calculated a cost of around $0.57 per mile/kWh for his ESBs and $0.65 per mile for diesel. He added that he has been working with NYSERDA to develop a better formula.
Meanwhile, there’s the issue of support. It was only a couple of years ago Lion Electric filed for bankruptcy protection and was then acquired by Montreal investors, with the caveat that the electric school bus line would only be sold and serviced in Quebec. Other players in the segment have also fallen by the wayside, which creates concern for long-term customer support and warranty coverage.
“Some of those chassis, those companies aren’t even in business anymore, and I think that’s going to be one of the challenges,” commented Trans Group’s Flood. “Maybe not as much in the vehicles but in charging stations, in charging software. There are a lot of options, but how many are going to be there three, four or five years from now?”
“We don’t find a problem with electric buses because we are lucky enough to be in a location with sufficient power and have routes that are relatively short … [W]e’ve never had a bus where the batteries have been drained fully,” commented CEO Matt Berlin. “We are not worried about someone being stranded in the middle of rural New York. In the worst case, they’re in the middle of Queens.”
Berlin added that if NYCSBUS was running 100 ESBs, it might be a different story.
New York City formed the non-profit NYCSBUS in 2021 after acquiring the assets of school bus contractor Reliant Transportation. NYCSBUS operates a fleet of over 900 school buses with 888 routes. Twenty-nine of the school buses are electric. All so far are Type A’s consisting of 22 Micro Birds, six Type A Collins Bus (five with Lightning eMotors electric drives and one with a Motiv), and a RIDE Achiever.
As of the new school year, Berlin said the average daily route any school bus travels a day is 65 miles, which is normally within range of an ESB. A quarter of the 888 daily routes are 30 miles or shorter.
“We are not putting our EVs on every single route. We’re lucky that the city is compact,” he explained, adding that ESBs aren’t currently used on longer routes from Queens to New Jersey. “We’re lucky that regenerative braking benefits urban driving more than rural.”
He said the 29 Type A ESBs cost $0.13 per mile to operate, compared to $0.45 per mile for gasoline ($4.10 per gallon and 9 mpg) and $1 per mile for diesel ($6 per gallon and 6 mpg).
Like elsewhere in the state, Berlin said winter temperatures impact the range. He added that a proprietary route planning tool calculates which routes are best served by an ESB or an internal-combustion bus. The set goal is to return the former to the depot with a 20-percent charge remaining each day.
He also is looking at the viability of adding repowered school buses with electric batteries.
“We think the promise of repowering is terrific, if it worked right, and we haven’t seen it work. But if it did, it would cut the [purchase] price by a third,” he added. “Not to mention create jobs in New York City and train another generation of mechanics in how to work with these vehicles.”
Billions Still Needed for Buses and Charging
While route viability is trending positive, at least in some areas, dollars remain a major sticking point.
“It’s a massive capital outlay to reach this goal for many folks,” observed Flood at Trans Group. “For us as contractors, for school districts, whether they’re operating their own [fleet] or contracting or a combination of both, allocating or acquiring the capital to do those things … it’s just a challenge.”
Logan Bus’s Muirhead noted that new purchase costs of ESBs, could range from 30-percent to as high as 70-percent more than an internal combustion engine bus, putting school districts between a rock and a hard place.
“A school transportation’s budget was $2 million, and now it goes to $5 million?” he asked. “The way that I understand state reimbursement is that the district has to fund that $5 million, and then at the end of the year they get reimbursed by the state. This [is] the biggest elephant in the room that’s not addressed.”
Lobbyist Claridge said the industry has consistently told state leaders that fully funding the transition, “covering the billions required for new buses, charging infrastructure and power grid capacity,” he shared, is essential if New York is to convert what is “arguably the largest land-based mass transit system in the nation.”
Without that, he warned, the mandate risks outpacing realistic district budgets.
Another issue is the additional parking space needed for ESBs based on charging needs. Berlin said the NYCSBUS yard would need to be 25-percent larger to park ESBs with traditional bollards and in-ground chargers.
“That is certainly an issue for us. It is an additional cost of these vehicles,” he said. “It requires more parking, which is more space, and you know in New York City that’s expensive.”
He added NYCBUS has considered overhead chargers, portable charger carts and even induction or wireless charging.
So far, NYSERDA administers $500 million from the state Bond Act through the New York School Bus Incentive Program, with another $100 million added in the state budget, for a total of $600 million earmarked specifically for electric school buses and associated infrastructure.
Disa said that when NYSERDA incentives are combined with State Education Department aid formulas, “for a lot of districts…inclusive of the charging costs, it can be the equivalent, or even it can be cheaper to acquire an electric school bus than a diesel or combustion bus right now,” with no additional local tax impact.
Still, those funds represent the early days of a far longer and more expensive transition. With roughly 50,000 school buses operating statewide, and only a fraction on the road being electric or in the pipeline, tens of thousands of vehicles will still need to be replaced by 2040. Claridge argued that even with the extension, “meeting these goals will ultimately require additional time, state investment and flexibility.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected to announce the return of the Clean School Bus Program by next month. Nearly $2.5 billion must still be awarded nationwide. How much will go to New York school districts and bus companies remains to be seen.
Three electric school buses operated by school bus contractor Logan Bus in New York City.
Utilities and Infrastructure: ‘Early and Often’ Engagement
Beyond fleet costs, infrastructure and utility partnerships may pose the steepest near-term challenges for school districts and contractors.
“One of the critical elements that distinguish an electric school bus deployment compared to a traditional combustion bus is you do have to have a couple new stakeholders in the room, and one of those is your electric utility,” Disa said. “We recommend until we’re blue in the face that you’ve got to start talking to your electric utility early and often.”
Through NYSERDA-funded fleet electrification plans, school districts like Naples CSD are working with engineering firms to assess route energy needs, depot capacity, interconnection timelines and likely utility bill impacts. Disa said many districts currently have enough available capacity to support at least a few buses while longer-term upgrades are planned and financed, but those efforts take time and coordination.
Infrastructure upgrades are Naples CSD’s “biggest hurdle,” Elwell added. He said the district currently has adequate electricity for adding one more ESB to the fleet before utility provider NYSEG will need to upgrade the transmission line.
Claridge noted that utilities and the broader grid are central to whether the mandate can be implemented on the ground. “Fully transitioning [to electric buses] is impossible without adequate power grid capacity, charging infrastructure and funding,” he said.
Disa again pointed to NYSERDA’s fleet electrification plans led by consultants to help.
“These plans receive input from utilities, which can help determine infrastructure needs and next steps,” he explained.
For example, First Student announced Tuesday it is partnering with Con Edison and NYSERDA to demonstrate First Charge, the school bus contractor’s above-ground charging infrastructure. The organizations claim that installation could reduce infrastructure costs by 20 percent through less construction.
First Student is adding 40 ESBs in New York and is considering expanded solar and creating a smart energy hub.
“Deploying electric school buses at scale requires more than vehicles. It requires the right infrastructure, technology and utility partnership,” said Kevin Matthews, head of electrification at First Student. “Working with Con Edison, we’ve demonstrated a more efficient approach that can help overcome some of the cost and construction challenges that have traditionally made fleet electrification difficult in dense urban environments.”
Con Ed and NYSERDA are funding the project, which includes six bus vouchers through the New York School Bus Incentive Program and four retrofit buses.
Third-Party Testing and Policy Uncertainty
Another unresolved issue is a state law passed in last year’s budget requiring independent third-party testing of electric school bus range on specific routes and under varying conditions—a provision Claridge and other stakeholders describe as “overly complex” and disconnected from market realities.
Claridge said NYSERDA “continues to grapple with the implementation of this overly complex legislation,” and that the working group tasked with developing a regulatory framework “appears to have stalled” due to the law’s lack of clarity and practicality. He characterized the agency as “attempting to fit a square peg into a round hole.”
Disa said NYSERDA is using empirical fleet data and route planning results to answer the core questions lawmakers raised, such as how climate and terrain affect electric range. He noted NYSERDA convened a working group of industry stakeholders last September to help identify information that could benefit school bus operators and support industry stakeholders in finding their own paths to compliance.
‘Not a Time to Sit Back and Wait’
Everyone agrees that, despite the five-year extension, school districts cannot afford to wait.
Claridge emphasized that while the electric school bus mandate “has clear value,” the current policy framework “requires revision” to create space for innovation and realistic funding mechanisms.
Disa framed the extension as an opportunity for districts to move from planning to pilots and then to scale deployments, not as a pause button.
“Even though there is some extra time … it’s not a time to sit back and wait for years to elapse,” he said.
Districts that haven’t started a fleet plan should begin now, he added, while those with plans in hand should work with NYSERDA to get their first buses on the road and then scale up.
NYAPT’s Christopher said two important challenges remain.
“School districts vote on their budgets here, so regardless of the state mandates, if local district residents say no, buses are not purchased. This remains unresolved to date, putting a district in an untenable situation,” he explained. “Secondly, we have multiple utility companies operating in the state, and they all do business differently. It’s difficult for a school district or NYERSDA, for that matter, to sort through all the different rules and processes each utility follows in order to build out infrastructure.
“There needs to be more coordination and more attention to districts that need infrastructure built out if the mandate holds in five years,” he continued. “Districts need certainty from utilities regarding costs and timelines to secure voter approval and funding. It’s complicated to say the least.”
TSD Conference attendees making travel plans for November may want to think twice before booking their flight home.
A new two-hour experience, “Big Ideas and TSD Takeaways,” concludes the 2026 TSD Conference on Tuesday, Nov. 10, from 8 to 10 a.m. Rather than simply recapping the event, the interactive session is being designed to challenge attendees with the kinds of complicated, real-world situations that student transporters regularly encounter, and that are not addressed in a student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP).
The featured workshop, “Twists, Turns & Modifications: A Scenario-based Workshop for Achieving Safety, Compliance & Best Practices in Transportation,” will ask participants to work through scenarios involving students with disabilities and special needs. The answer may not be as simple as following a written procedure, and it is highly likely is no time to wait for an IEP team to reconvene and address the issue.
School buses and other school vehicles are dynamic environments. An IEP may establish transportation requirements, but not every situation that develops during a route can be anticipated on paper. Safety concerns, changing student needs, medical issues, behavior and other circumstances can require transportation professionals and collaborators to assess what is happening, determine what can safely be done in the moment and understand what should happen next.
That intersection between compliance and real-world decision-making will form the foundation of the closing workshop. Organizers are developing scenarios that will allow attendees to discuss possible responses, hear different perspectives and examine how transportation, special education, medical and therapeutic considerations can influence a decision.
The goal is to make the final two hours of the TSD Conference some of the most participatory and practical of the entire conference — while giving attendees an opportunity to connect lessons learned throughout the week and take those ideas back to their operations.
Twists, Turns & Modifications” also serves as the logical bookend for Friday, Nov. 6 opening general session “When Guidance is Incorrect or Missing.” Following a keynote by behavior expert Patrick Mulick, TSD Tenured Faculty members Alexandra Robinson, Launi Harden and Sue Shutrump will discuss the importance of not accepting direction from superiors that contradicts regulations, compliance or best practices. The session is based on an article written by fellow TSD Tenured Faculty Member Emeritus Linda Bluth, which will appear in the October edition of School Transportation News magazine. Attendees will receive strategies on how to handle these situations.
Main Conference registration is currently $499 under the Early Bird rate through Oct. 2, a $100 savings from standard registration beginning Oct. 3. Registration includes access to keynote, general and breakout educational sessions as well as conference networking events.
School bus drivers, aides and other transportation staff will gain practical American Sign Language (ASL) training to develop skills and emergency-planning strategies during a returning general session at the Transporting Students with Disabilities & Special Needs (TSD) Conference this November.
“American Sign Language for Student Transporters” is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 8, from 9:15 to 11:15 a.m. at the Embassy Suites Dallas-Frisco in Frisco, Texas. The session will be led by specialists Rachella Moore and Ursa Rewolinski with the Texas School for the Deaf in Austin.
The ASL training builds on a takeaway general session Moore and Rewolinski presented at the 2025 TSD Conference. It introduced attendees to common misconceptions about the deaf and hard-of-hearing (d/hh) community, transportation accessibility challenges, collaboration with special education departments, and routine ASL phrases that can help build relationships with students.
This year, Moore and Rewolinski will place additional emphasis on emergency preparedness and practical communication. Moore noted that transportation staff cannot assume deaf students will receive the same auditory warnings as other riders during an emergency.
“When there’s no hearing, there’s no warning sound, no siren, no shouted instruction,” she wrote in an email to School Transportation News. “Deaf students need visual signals.”
Attendees will use the ASL training to discuss evacuation planning, assigned seating, visual signals for commands such as danger and stop, and the importance of regularly practicing those procedures. Moore and Rewolinski will also address the need for transportation personnel to communicate with special education staff, parents and interpreters so they understand an individual student’s communication method, calming strategies and emergency plan.
The session will also be hands-on. Participants will pair up to practice ASL and receive feedback while learning signs they can immediately use with students, including “bus,” “stop,” “sit” and “thank you.”
Moore is an outreach specialist with the Texas School for the Deaf Statewide Outreach Center and holds a master’s degree in deaf education. She has served as a deaf mentor and brings both professional and personal experience to her work, having grown up in a deaf family and raising two deaf children.
Rewolinski is a sign language specialist with the Texas School for the Deaf Outreach Center and earned a master’s degree in sign language teaching and education from Gallaudet University. She has taught ASL in secondary and higher-education settings.
The 2026 TSD Conference runs Nov. 4-10 in Frisco. Main conference registration is currently available for $499 with the Early Bird discount through Oct. 2, a savings of $100 off the standard rate. The agenda includes general and keynote sessions, educational workshops, networking events, the Ride & Drive + Technology Demonstration, and the trade show and reception. Visit the TSD Conference website and click Register Now to reserve a seat.
Introducing a new story series from author Gabrielle Marie Kelley, a school bus dispatcher for Irving Independent School District in Texas. The story advisor is Fredrick Tottenham, student safety specialist with Irving ISD. Follow the adventures of Calvin, an anxious but dutiful bus driver, and his sentient and safety-conscious school bus named Christina. The short story follows Calvin’s route adventures while highlighting very real circumstances that drivers face and underscoring the importance of student transportation safety. Find group discussion prompts at the end of each article. The series will resume on the second Tuesday of each month.
Hi. My name is Calvin, and I am a bus driver for Ervens Independent School District in Ervens, Texas. I’ve been driving for nine years, and by now, you’d think I’d have everything figured out. Well, you’d be wrong.
You see, my anxiety is a constant passenger, and without permission, it rides along whenever it wants. Things are always changing around here. Routes and rules disappear like ghosts and reappear in dierent forms, only to haunt me
until they become familiar.
I have a girlfriend named Sasha. Olive skin, beautiful ebony locs, and a smile that could stop a fleet. She always knows the right thing to say and her touch washes away the stress of any day. She is something, alright, but she is not the only special lady in my life.
There’s also Christina.
I know what you’re thinking. You named your bus? Yeah, I know it’s sort of odd. But I’m sort of an odd guy. Besides, if you spend enough early mornings sitting behind the wheel, hearing the low hum of the bus speak into the quiet and dark streets, you start to feel like your bus has a personality of its own.
Christina does.
And when it comes to student safety, her personality shines as bright as her yellow coat. She hears everything. And sometimes I swear she knows things before I do. Don’t believe me? Well, you’ll see for yourself, I’m sure.
Right now, I’m standing in front of the dispatch counter, waiting to grab my smart tablet. Beads of sweat forming on my forehead while I try to focus on the cinema that Benjamin Stevens, known as Ben to fellow drivers, is recounting. His flailing expressions reveal armpits that have also succumbed to the summer’s heat. I cross my arms as he gets to the end of his story and I think to myself, Christina would never allow such a thing.
“Cal! You should have seen it! My crossover mirror flew—”
“Mr. Stevens. In my office, please.” Mr. Pottenham, the safety specialist, calls with a stern expression.
With his arms frozen in gestures, Ben looks at Mr. Pottenham, smiling sheepishly. I wring my hands and say, “Well, I guess I’ll catch you later Ben!”
Would I see him later? The safety of our students was no laughing matter, and the look on the safety specialist’s face proved it.
But I have enough problems of my own, don’t I? My nerves are all over the place ever since Sasha stood in the doorway this morning and said, “We need to talk.”
Maybe she wants to talk about our prolonged engagement. Perhaps it’s the dishes I left in the sink last night. Maybe it’s something deeper. God, I hope she’s not pregnant.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Calvin, ready for your PM route?” Ms. Bineht, the dispatcher asks chipperly as she reaches for my smart tablet and keys.
I greet her and Ms. Debbie, the other dispatcher, and quickly make way for other drivers to do the same. I dash to the parking lot to escape the hustle and bustle of animated drivers and to keep my promise. Christina hates it when I’m late.
She is parked in her usual spot, facing me. I wave inconspicuously and a driver with her back to Christina thinks the greeting is meant for her. Christina’s left windshield wiper rises and then falls without a squeak before the driver turns.
I climb the steps of the bus to put away my backpack so that I can start the exterior inspection. Christina’s odometer beeps and flashes: 7 MIN.
“I know, I know. I’m on it, girl.”
I dismount the bus and inspect the front, the passenger’s side, and then I go around the back. I close the back door and just like a phantom, Ben appears and is so close he’s almost kissing my lips.
“Man, you’re not going to believe your ears!”
I swear, all the saliva in his mouth lands on my upper lip. I’m sure this counts as a French kiss. Second base, minimum.
“…And they wrote me up for that!”
Aggressively wiping my mouth, I reply, “A slap on the wrist for attempted murder?” His face says that, unlike his saliva, my joke didn’t land.
“Listen, I’m sorry Ben. I really am. But my route starts in less than seven minutes. Glad you’re still with us, buddy—And the students, too.”
I wink and pat his shoulder. He relaxes but his demeanor is screaming for a more sympathetic ear.
I perform the interior inspection and then I climb into the driver’s seat and turn the key.
Nothing.
“Come on, girl. What’s the deal?”
Again. Nothing.
The doors slowly swing open.
What is it?
I exit the bus with my back to Christina’s doors and the smart tablet in my hands. I look to my left. Nothing is out of place. I look to my right: Christina’s passenger side. I go around the back and as soon as I turn to the other side of the bus, it dawns on me: I forgot to perform the driver-side inspection. I must have accidentally tapped “Next” when Ben startled me. Thanks, Ben.
No. Thanks, Christina.
“Alright girl, let’s try this again.”
Her engine roars awake and the doors close.
As I exit the bus lot, the radio crackles with excitement and then Ms. Debbie’s voice comes through, loud and clear:
Base to all drivers! Base to all drivers! A 9-32 is in effect. Please avoid Culter Road and Pits. This area is blocked due to a 9-32 at the pharmacy on the corner. Please avoid this area.
My heart dropped into a bottomless pit in my stomach. What would an active shooter want with the local pharmacy?
Thankfully, for the students’ safety, my route is in the opposite direction, but my satisfaction quickly fades into a sickening sensation: The pharmacy on Culter and Pits—Sasha works there.
Ask Your Team:
What steps can you take to avoid distractions while performing pre-trip inspections?
Next Stop: Episode 2
Follow the Yellow Brick Line—Proper student loading and unloading
The National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT) is opening nominations for three seats on its board of directors, including its newly created region representing Canada and other international members.
NAPT announced Wednesday in an email that nominations for directors of Regions 2, 4 and 6 will be accepted from Aug. 27 through Sept. 25. Electronic voting is scheduled for Nov. 16 through 20, with results announced Nov. 23.
Candidates must be NAPT members in good standing and first submit a letter of intent outlining their background, qualifications and reasons for seeking office. Each candidate needs at least two nominations from active NAPT members within the same region. All materials must be emailed to NAPT President-Elect and nominations committee chair Melody Coniglio by Sept. 25.
Qualified candidates will have until Oct. 7 to submit a required questionnaire and resume, as well as an optional introductory video. Candidates attending NAPT ACTS in Louisville, Kentucky will be introduced during the National Transportation Briefing on Oct. 4.
Candidate campaign pages are scheduled to go live beginning Oct. 12, with campaigning continuing through Nov. 13.
The Region 2 seat is currently held by Alex Spann of Tennessee, while Rosalyn Vann-Jackson of Broken Arrow Public Schools in Oklahoma serves as secretary and Region 4 director. NAPT currently lists the Region 6 director position as vacant.
Region 6 is the newest addition to NAPT’s governance structure. Association members approved a change to the bylaws in January to establish the region and provide representation for international members, with a particular focus on Canada.
The region includes all Canadian provinces as well as Mexico, Europe, Africa, the Middle East/North Africa and the West Pacific, including China, Japan and Singapore.
Meanwhile, Region 2 encompasses Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. Region 4 includes Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah.
The National School Transportation Association (NSTA) is calling on all motorists to obey traffic laws and exercise caution around school buses as students return to classrooms nationwide.
The warning follows the release of new data highlighting the ongoing problem of illegal passing of stopped school buses. According to results presented by the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services at the 2026 NSTA Annual Meeting & Convention last month, 101,334 school bus drivers in 39 states and the District of Columbia (approximately 26 percent of the nation’s school bus drivers) voluntarily participated in a one-day count in the spring. They reported a total of 56,024 illegal passing motorists.
When projected nationally, the data suggests more than 213,800 illegal passings occur each school day, totaling over 38.4 million violations annually. This latest figure indicates a decrease from the 45.2 million violations estimated for the 2023–2024 school year. NASDPTS projected a total of 39.3 million violations for the 2024–2025 school year.
“School bus safety is a shared responsibility, and this data is a reminder that motorists play a critical role in protecting student,” said NSTA President Patrick Dean stated of the back-to-school reminder.
The school bus contractor association also continues its #KidsDeserveABrake social media campaign through September to raise awareness about the return of school buses to the roads. The association is advocating in Congress for H.R.2348 and S.2812, known as the Brake for Kids Act, which would direct the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to conduct a nationwide public safety campaign about the dangers of illegal school bus passing.
“Every time a motorist illegally passes a stopped school bus, children’s safety is put at risk. As the school year begins, NSTA is calling on drivers, law enforcement and communities to treat these violations with the seriousness they deserve and to help ensure every student gets to and from school safely,” added NSTA Executive Director Curt Macysyn.
Assigning dedicated adult support a student with disabilities on school buses can resolve immediate safety or behavioral concerns. But without a clearly defined purpose and regular reevaluation, that well-intentioned intervention can become a permanent arrangement that limits the student’s opportunities to grow, a leading child behavior expert says.
Board-certified behavior analyst and school district administrator Patrick Mulick will address that tension during an opening keynote at the Transporting Students with Disabilities and Special Needs Conference and Trade Show. Mulick will present “Promoting Independence and Reducing the Reliance on 1:1 Adult Support” from 8:30 to 10 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 6 to officially open TSD Conference, which is scheduled for Nov. 4-10 at the Embassy Suites Dallas-Frisco Hotel and Convention Center in Frisco, Texas.
During a recent interview for an upcoming episode of the School Transportation Nation podcast, Mulick explained that school districts frequently respond to challenging student behavior by assigning a one-on-one adult chaperone or aide. The response may provide immediate stability on the school bus, but he cautioned that it does not necessarily address the underlying reason for the behavior or build the skills the student needs to succeed more independently.
The longer a student relies on an adult to provide continuous directions, reminders and assistance, Mulick said, the greater the risk that the student begins to believe success is not possible without that person nearby. A constant adult presence can also affect relationships with peers and result in a student receiving far more correction and redirection than other riders.
Meanwhile, transportation departments must contend with the staffing, scheduling and financial implications of maintaining intensive support for an extended period. The keynote will explore how districts can protect safety while moving away from adult proximity as the default measure of student support. The session description promises transportation directors, supervisors and other district leaders a practical blueprint for creating sustainable systems that prioritize student agency.
Defining Adult Support
The behavior expert stressed that the objective is not to arbitrarily remove school bus aides or other necessary services. Some students require intensive adult assistance, and those supports must remain in place for as long as the individual needs exist.
Instead, he wants teams to become more precise about why a dedicated adult was assigned, what the adult is expected to accomplish and how the student’s continuing need will be reviewed. A support that was necessary in elementary school, or that has been in place on the bus for several years, should not automatically continue without asking whether the student’s abilities and circumstances have changed.
A central question, he said, is what skill the student has not yet developed that makes one-on-one support necessary. Once that skill is identified, transportation personnel can work with special education staff, behavior professionals and the student’s family to teach it rather than simply completing the task for the student.
That collaboration is especially important because transportation is too often informed of a staffing decision only after it has been made. Mulick said transportation professionals should be included earlier so they can explain the realities of the bus environment, help identify the support the student actually needs and understand the intended role of the assigned adult.
The conversation must then continue after the aide steps onto the bus. Without a specific plan, a one-on-one adult may naturally begin doing more for the student, making it increasingly difficult to determine what the student can do independently.
Mulick will demonstrate how teams can begin to “outsource” some of that adult support to the surrounding environment. Rather than verbally walking a student through each part of boarding, finding a seat and preparing for the ride, for example, staff might introduce a visual sequence and allow the student sufficient time and space to follow it.
Visual reminders can also prompt a student to use a familiar self-regulation strategy without an adult repeatedly telling the student what to do. As the student demonstrates greater competence, teams can gradually reduce the intensity of the prompt, the frequency of the reminder or the adult’s physical proximity.
Those changes may appear small, Mulick noted during the interview, but repeated opportunities to complete manageable tasks can build confidence and independence over time. The goal is not a rapid withdrawal of assistance. It is a purposeful progression from direct adult intervention to supports the student can recognize and use with less help.
Mulick is currently a director of special education for Auburn School District in Washington state. He earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in special education and behavior analysis from Gonzaga University and previously taught students with disabilities from preschool through high school. He has since trained teachers, administrators, therapists, paraeducators and school transportation professionals across the country.
He is also a familiar presenter to STN conference audiences. His previous sessions have addressed student behavior, autism, positive reinforcement and the need to connect transportation more closely with the classroom and the rest of the educational program. His 2024 TSD keynote challenged attendees to reconsider the experiences of students with autism and provide more individualized, informed support on the school bus.
Early Bird registration for the TSD Conference is $499 through Oct. 2. Main conference registration provides access to workshops, breakout sessions, general and keynote sessions, networking events, the TSD Trade Show and reception, and the Safety and Technology Product Demonstration and Special Needs Ride & Drive. Visit the TSD Conference website to register and view the latest agenda.
Article written with the assistance of an AI transcript.
Special education attorney Julie Weatherly, Esq., will bring four decades of legal experience to the Transporting Students with Disabilities & Special Needs (TSD) Conference and Trade Show this November, helping school transportation professionals understand how recent court decisions can affect every day operational choices and potentially expose districts and transportation providers to litigation.
Weatherly will present “The Wheels of Justice: Important Case Law Impacting Transportation of Students with Disabilities” Saturday, Nov. 7, from 9 to 10:45 a.m. The keynote is part of the 2026 TSD Conference, scheduled for Nov. 4-10 at the Embassy Suites in Frisco, Texas.
During a recent interview on the School Transportation Nation podcast, Weatherly reflected on beginning her special education law practice in 1986, when litigation surrounding the federal special education law was still developing. Since then, she has watched the field evolve through new regulations, federal guidance, civil-rights investigations and major U.S. Supreme Court decisions. That long view will frame a keynote focused less on legal theory and more on what court rulings mean for student transportation services during the individualized education program process.
Weatherly plans to use real-world scenarios and recent decisions to address four areas of growing concern: Personal injury-type monetary damages in special education cases, student discipline, transportation as a related service under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and requests involving service animals. The goal is to help attendees recognize where legal vulnerabilities can arise while providing safe, equitable and individualized transportation.
One focal point will be the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2025 decision in A.J.T. v. Osseo Area Schools. The unanimous Court rejected a heightened “bad faith or gross misjudgment” standard that had applied to certain education-related claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Instead, the Court held that students bringing those claims are subject to the same standards that apply in other disability-discrimination contexts. Weatherly indicated she will explain why the decision matters when parents seek compensatory damages over alleged failures involving transportation and other special education services.
The keynote will also examine cases addressing what transportation actually means as an IDEA-related service. Attendees can expect discussion of individualized transportation needs, questions surrounding door-to-door service and the point at which operational policies must yield to decisions made by an IEP team. Weatherly will also connect transportation-related discipline to the district’s obligation to maintain required services when a student’s behavior results in removal from the school bus.
Service-animal requests present another developing area. Weatherly plans to review how courts have responded to the accommodations requested by families and how far districts may be required to go. For transportation teams, those cases can raise practical questions about boarding, student and staff responsibilities, safety planning, supervision and the need for an individualized response rather than a blanket policy.
Her broader podcast conversation underscored the rapidly changing environment in which those decisions are being made. Weatherly discussed uncertainty surrounding federal special education and civil-rights enforcement while emphasizing that the legal rights of students with disabilities remain in place. She also cautioned districts against treating AI as a substitute for qualified legal advice or individualized educational decision-making, citing the potential for inaccurate information, confidentiality problems and generic, cut-and-paste planning that does not address a specific student’s needs.
Weatherly is the founder of Resolutions in Special Education, Inc., a Mobile, Alabama-based legal and consulting firm that assists education agencies with disputes arising under IDEA, Section 504, the ADA and related laws. A graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law and a member of the Alabama and Georgia state bars, she provides legal and consulting services to school agencies nationwide and is a frequent presenter at state and national special education law conferences.
Main conference registration is currently available at the $499 Early Bird rate through Oct. 2, a savings of $100. Registration includes the main conference workshop, general and keynote sessions, networking events, the Ride & Drive + Technology Demo, and the trade show and reception. Visit TSDConference.com and clicked the Register Now button to reserve a seat.
As another school year begins nationwide, transportation departments are again measured by a basic expectation: Every route needs a safe, reliable school bus ready to roll. This means fewer last-minute swaps, fewer missed instructional minutes and fewer calls from concerned parents. It also depends on what happens in the garage long before a driver turns the key.
I saw that connection between preparation and performance firsthand last month at STN EXPO West in Reno, Nevada. The National School Bus Inspection Training Program brought together transportation professionals determined to go beyond checking boxes.
It challenges participants to dig deeper into the vehicles entrusted with carrying students. Forty-eight participants began July 10 with classroom instruction. The program developed by Marshall Casey, a former South Carolina Department of Education maintenance director and creator of the America’s Best School Bus Inspector and Technician Skills and Training Competition, goes beyond minimum state and federal Department of Transportation inspection requirements.
The next day, 44 participants traveled to Washoe County School District’s newly constructed George Getto Central Transportation Yard in Sparks for the hands-on portion.
The $33 million facility is an impressive backdrop for any discussion about fleet readiness. Named for Washoe County School District’s first transportation director, the 36,396-square-foot building includes an eight-bay school bus shop, a separate three-bay white fleet shop, a bus wash, parts and tire storage, offices, training space
and a driver break room.
Yet a modern building and new equipment only reach their potential when skilled people know how to use them. The best inspection techniques and enhanced training are vital to this end.
On July 11, the STN EXPO West participants moved through guided inspections with the instructors before 13 elected to compete that afternoon. They inspected school buses on their own and completed a written test, with their combined scores determining their finish.
Larry Noble, a mechanic with Shasta Union High School District in California and a first-time STN EXPO attendee, took first place.
Instructor Harley Pinson, director of fleet maintenance for Paulding County School District in Georgia and a 2016 America’s Best participant, told me the training brings previously unknown information to light and gives technicians a path to finding the correct answers to everyday shop questions. He was especially impressed by the participants’ engagement, overall knowledge and test scores, which ranked among the highest he has seen.
That is the value of pairing training with competition. The contest creates pressure and recognition, but winning is not the only point. A missed defect becomes a learning opportunity. A test question leads technicians back to the inspection manual. A conversation beside a lifted bus can provide a better process to take home and share.
A great example of building upon that opportunity was the Washington Association for Pupil Transportation sending several technicians to Reno. Winners from the state’s 2025 competition attended and competed, with Benjamin Ortiz of Sunnyside School District finishing in second place. Maurine Simons, herself a former school bus mechanic and a 2016 America’s Best participant as well as a WAPT board member, said the association plans to send this year’s winners to STN EXPO West 2027. That is an investment in employees and a pipeline for professional growth.
We understandably devote considerable attention to the school bus driver shortage. But the technician shortage is just as serious, and in some operations it may be worse. Recruiting drivers and purchasing new school buses don’t matter if too few qualified people are available to inspect, diagnose and repair an increasingly complex fleet. Professional development, modern working conditions and meaningful recognition tell technicians their employer values their expertise.
The same principle applies across student transportation. At the TSD Conference, Nov. 4-10 in Frisco, Texas, the special needs roadeo gives teams a hands-on opportunity to sharpen skills for safely transporting students with disabilities and special needs. At STN EXPO East, April 1-6, 2027, in Charlotte/Concord, North Carolina, the inspection training and competition will provide another opportunity to learn from instructors and peers nationwide.
State associations, school districts and contractors should make room in their budgets for these experiences. Do not view professional development as time away from the job. It is an investment in doing the job better and in keeping talented people in the profession.
The best-equipped garage with the newest software, lift or diagnostic tool cannot guarantee uptime by itself. Uptime begins with professionals who know what to look for, where to find the right answer and when to act before a defect becomes a failure. As another school year begins, investing in those people is one of the smartest fleet-management decisions an operation can make.
Editor’s Note: As reprinted from the August 2026 issue of School Transportation News.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration-sponsored Child Passenger Safety on School Buses National Training returns to the 2026 Transporting Students with Disabilities and Special Needs Conference and Trade Show but on a new day.
The all-day, hands-on training is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 5 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Embassy Suites Dallas-Frisco Convention Center. The new date places the course one day before the main TSD Conference educational program begins. Participation is limited to 50 people. Separate registration and fees are required.
The course provides an overview of the proper use of child safety restraint systems on school buses, with a particular focus on preschool-age children and students with disabilities. Classroom instruction and videos are combined with guided hands-on practice, allowing participants to work directly with the equipment and procedures discussed during the seminar.
NHTSA’s supporting curriculum demonstrates the installation and use of rear-facing and forward-facing child restraint systems as well as safety vests. The agency identifies pupil transportation administrators and supervisors, school bus drivers and monitors who transport young children — including preschoolers, Head Start students and infants — among the course’s intended audience.
The hands-on component allows participants to practice correctly installing restraint systems and positioning children under the guidance of experienced instructors. The format is designed to help transportation professionals apply the course material when training staff or working with students on daily routes.
TSD Conference attendees participating in the Child Passenger Safety on School Buses seminar practice properly securing a rear-facing car seat on a school bus seat.
The seminar may be purchased as an add-on to the TSD main conference registration or taken as a stand-alone course. This allows transportation professionals to attend the specialized training, even if they are unable to participate in the entire conference.
The 2026 TSD Conference and Trade Show is scheduled for Nov. 4-10 in Frisco, with the Transportation Director Summit being held the first two days. The event brings together school transportation, special education and safety professionals for specialized training, keynote presentations, breakout sessions, networking and a trade show featuring equipment and services designed to support students with disabilities and special needs.
Register and view the latest agenda at TSDConference.com.
Main conference registration is available at the $399 Super Early Bird rate through Friday, Aug. 7. The NHTSA training requires an additional fee and must be selected separately during registration.
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