President-elect Donald Trump will face significant hurdles to enacting his campaign pledge to ban transgender youth from participating in school sports that align with their gender identity. (Photo by Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump repeatedly said during the campaign that, if elected back to the White House, he would pursue a ban on transgender youth participating in school sports that align with their gender identity.

As he prepares to take office in January, experts and LGBTQ+ advocates told States Newsroom the effort would face significant delays and challenges as legal pushback from LGBTQ+ advocacy groups can be expected every step of the way.

Trump’s repeated vow to “keep men out of women’s sports” reflects his broader anti-trans agenda. Administration efforts would come as an increasing number of states have passed laws banning trans students from participating in sports that align with their gender identity.

The Trump-Vance transition team did not offer any concrete details when asked about specifics but shared a statement from spokesperson Karoline Leavitt.

“The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail,” Leavitt wrote. “He will deliver.”

Reversing the final rule for Title IX

The U.S. Education Department, under President Joe Biden, released updated regulations to Title IX in April that strengthen federal protections for LGBTQ+ students. The final rule does not explicitly reference trans athletes’ sports participation — a separate decision the administration put on hold.

The Education Department late Friday said it was withdrawing a proposed rule that would have allowed schools to block some transgender athletes from competing on sports teams that match their gender identities while also preventing across-the-board bans.

Title IX is a landmark federal civil rights law that bars schools that receive federal funding from sex-based discrimination.

The president-elect has pledged, while speaking about trans students’ sports participation, to reverse the Biden administration’s final rule for Title IX on his first day back in office.

The Biden administration’s final rule was met with forceful pushback from GOP attorneys general. A series of legal challenges in states across the country have created a policy patchwork of the final rule and weakened the Biden administration’s vision for enforcement. 

But if Trump were to try to reverse the final rule, experts say the effort would take an extended period and require adherence to the rulemaking process outlined in the Administrative Procedure Act, or APA.

The APA rules how federal agencies propose and roll out regulations. That process can take months, creating a barrier for a president seeking to undo a prior administration’s rule.

Cathryn Oakley, senior director of legal policy at the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, said that while a subsequent administration can undo the current Title IX regulations, it would take “a tremendous amount of work because a regulation has the force of law … so long as the administration has complied with the APA.”

For the Trump administration to undo those regulations, it would need to start at the beginning, propose its own rules and go through the entire process.

“I think it seems fairly likely that that’s something that they’re going to pursue, but that’s not something that the president has the capability to do on day one,” she said.

Oakley noted that the updated regulations also have the force of law because they interpret a law that already exists — Title IX.

The Trump administration is “bound by Title IX, which in fact has these protections related to gender identity,” she said.

Preparing to push back

But any action from the Trump administration regarding trans athletes’ sports participation is sure to be met with legal challenges from LGBTQ+ advocacy groups.

Oakley said though “we have many real reasons to be concerned” about what the Trump administration would do when it comes to Title IX protections and in general for LGBTQ+ people, “we also need to be cautious that we do not concede anything either.”

“We need to be trying to ground ourselves in the actual legal reality that the president-elect will be facing when he comes into office and be able to fight with the tools that we have and not concede anything in advance.”

Biden rule does not address athletics

The U.S. Education Department under Biden never decided on a separate rule establishing new criteria regarding trans athletes.

Shiwali Patel, a Title IX lawyer and senior director of safe and inclusive schools at the National Women’s Law Center, said “we could see some sort of announcement about changing the Title IX rule to address athletics” under the Trump administration. 

“Given the rhetoric that has come out of the Trump administration and this continued focus on trans athletes, I think we very well should and could expect to see something from the Trump administration on this, which is very harmful,” Patel told States Newsroom.

The Trump administration could also try to pursue a national ban via legislation in Congress.

The U.S. House approved a bill last year that would prohibit trans athletes from competing in sports that align with their gender identity. And in July, the chamber passed a measure that would reverse Biden’s final rule for Title IX.

But Patel said she could not see how any measure in Congress could get through the U.S. Senate’s filibuster, which requires at least 60 votes to pass most legislation. There will be 45 Democratic senators in the incoming Congress, though independent Sens. Angus King of Maine and Bernie Sanders of Vermont caucus with the Democrats.

Despite Washington soon entering a GOP trifecta in the U.S. House, Senate and White House, narrow margins could hinder any potential anti-trans legislation from the Trump administration. 

Broader anti-trans legislation

Across the country, 25 states have enacted a law that bans trans students from participating in sports that align with their gender identity, according to the Movement Advancement Project, or MAP, an independent think tank.

Logan Casey, director of policy research at MAP, said proponents of these sports bans are using them as a starting point to enact a broader anti-trans agenda.

“In many cases, these sports bans have been one of the first anti-trans laws enacted in recent years in many states, but then states that enact one of these sports bans then go on to enact additional anti-trans or anti-LGBTQ laws,” Casey told States Newsroom.

Casey described any controversy around trans people playing sports as “entirely manufactured.”

“In just five years, we’ve gone from zero states to more than half the country having one of these bans on the books, and that’s really, really fast in the policy world,” he said.

In March 2020, Idaho became the first state to enact this type of ban. 

Two Cooper High School students ended up heroes for jumping into action after their bus driver suffered a medical emergency, reported WCPO News.

The incident reportedly occurred Wednesday morning, when the school bus driver was transporting students.

According to the news report, Karter Dearwester, who was inside the bus at the time of the incident along with his friend Micah Jones, noticed their bus was getting too close to a mailbox.

Dearwester told local news reporters that the school bus driver was slumped over the wheel and seemed to have passed out. The teen immediately woke up Jones, who quickly got up, pushed the brakes of the bus and then removed the keys from the ignition.

According to the article, Jones checked their school bus driver’s pulse while Dearwester called first responders.

Authorities say via news reports that the school bus left the road and collided with several trees in the backyard of a home.

The boys said they recall there was a lot of screaming coming from the back of the school bus as not many students had reportedly sat in the front. The teens helped the other students, as police and other emergency crews began to arrive.

The school bus driver was rushed to the ICU and three students were reportedly hospitalized in unknown conditions. The quick actions of the two boys received praise from their principal Mike Wilson.

Wilson told local news reporters that they had no updates on the driver’s condition other than he is in stable condition and everyone at Cooper is praying for a full recovery.

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Related: Florida School Bus Driver Hailed Hero for Protecting Hit-and-Run Victim

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Madison, Wisconsin high school students march on the Capitol on Friday, Dec. 20 | Photo by Daphne Cooper

It was a brilliant, snowy Friday, the last day of school before winter break, as more than 100 students from high schools across Madison converged inside the Capitol. They gathered around the 30-foot balsam fir festooned with handmade ornaments, a model train chugging around the track at the base of the tree. At first it looked like a festive scene, but as the students poured into the first floor of the rotunda, then filled the second- and third-floor balconies, their shouting drowned out a group of Christmas carolers, who retreated, their songs giving way to chants of “No more silence! End gun violence!”

The Madison teens showed up to express their grief and outrage over the deaths this week of a 14-year-old student, her teacher and a gun-wielding 15-year-old girl who opened fire Monday in a classroom at the small private Abundant Life Christian School on Madison’s east side. It was the city’s first school shooting but, incredibly, the 323rd in the nation this year.

Gun violence is the leading cause of death of children and teens in the U.S. Shouting, chanting, demanding to be heard, the crowd of children came to the Capitol Friday demanding that we wake up and do something about this appalling fact. 

Our nation is an outlier, with a rate of gun violence that dwarfs other large, high-income countries. Firearm homicides here are 33 times higher than in Australia and 77 times higher than in Germany, according to a report from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington medical school. Not surprisingly, firearm injuries tend to be more frequent in places where people have easy access to firearms, according to a 2018 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

What other country in the world could live with the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, where 20 little children between 6 and 7 years old and six adult staff were gunned down, and respond by making no significant restrictions on firearms? 

“My parents constantly talk about how, when Sandy Hook happened, they thought that would be the end of it,” said Danny Johnson, a first-year student at Madison West High School who joined the 3-mile march to the Capitol on Friday, carrying a sign scrawled on a sheet of notebook paper that said, “Thoughts and prayers until it’s your own child.” 

“To constantly have to go through it — we shouldn’t have to be here. We should be in school not having to worry about it at all,” Johnson added.

Hanging over balconies and leaning against marble pillars, teens held up handmade signs that said; “Enough!” “You write your policies on a carpet of our dead bodies,” and “Graduations not funerals.”

In Wisconsin, the rate of gun deaths increased 45% from 2013 to 2022, compared to a 36% increase nationwide, according to the Giffords Law Center.

Every year since he was elected in 2018, Gov. Tony Evers and Democrats in the state Legislature have tried in vain to get Republican cooperation on ending the state’s current exemption from background checks for private gun sales. A proposed “red flag” law that would allow police or family members to seek an extreme risk protection order in court to take guns from gun owners who are found to be a danger to themselves or others has also gone nowhere. Both of these measures are broadly popular with voters across the political spectrum. Somehow that doesn’t seem to matter.

After this week’s school shooting. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos released a statement saying, “Today’s tragedy is shocking, senseless and heartbreaking. My thoughts and prayers are with the students, parents and faculty who will have to live with the trauma and grief of this day for the rest of their lives.” But Vos stopped short of saying he would make any effort whatsoever to protect kids and teachers from being shot to death at school. That phrase “thoughts and prayers,” rightly derided by the students who protested at the Capitol on Friday, is a pathetic substitute for action. 

“Last year it was 12 years since Sandy Hook, 25 years since Columbine, and all our politicians can say from their cushy seats is that they’re sending out their thoughts and prayers about the leading cause of death for children in America!”  yelled Ian Malash, a senior at Vel Phillips Memorial High School in Madison, pacing around the tree in the center of the rotunda. “We’re showing them right now and we are going to continue to show them that we are done with thoughts and prayers. We will make change happen because our lives depend on it.”

Vos, apparently recovered from his heartbreak over Monday’s tragedy and back to his old snarky self by Wednesday, mounted a robust defense of the status quo on X, retweeting a post from Wisconsin Right Now that mocked Democrats who “politicize this tragedy with cheap talking points.” The post claimed that, since it’s already illegal for a 15-year-old to possess a handgun, it’s ridiculous to connect the recent shooting to any effort to change gun laws.

But, as state Sen. Kelda Roys told the crowd on Friday, “We know that states that have passed gun safety laws like background checks, like red flag laws … they see gun deaths and firearm injuries go down. We can do that here in Wisconsin, too.  We just need to change the minds or change the legislators — and the judges, too, by the way.” 

“My generation and the people in this building have let you down,” Rick Abegglen, the parent of a West High School daughter who helped organize the protest, told the crowd in the Capitol. “I am so proud of each and every one of you for standing up for yourselves. A few moments ago I saw somebody close the doors of the Senate because they did not want to hear your voices. Think about it.”

As he spoke, the students yelled louder, their voices bouncing off the marble walls, becoming harder and harder to ignore.

A South Carolina man says he does not understand and disagrees with people accusing him of endangering students and calling him a menace after rolling his wheelchair in front of a moving school bus, reported Sun News.

According to the news report, Doug Champa, a U.S. Marine veteran, was arrested on Nov. 22 after he used his wheelchair to block a school bus that was attempting to drive through his Conway area neighborhood to drop off children.

Champa, 58, is reportedly accused of riding in front of the bus, preventing it from getting around him by moving in its path, and slowing the bus down to 5 mph.

Champa, who was paralyzed after a car crash in 1986, told local news reporters that he was protesting what he claimed was frequent speeding of school buses in his neighborhood over the posted 15 mph speed limit. He said his goal was not to get arrested but rather to draw attention his safety concerns because of children who live in the area as well as his 88-year-old mother.

The article states that Champa claims he and his neighbors have been dealing with speeding buses for about three years. He said he called the Horry County Schools transportation department and complained, pleading with them to have buses slow down, but is always met with the same answer.

Officials reportedly tell Champa that the buses have GPS on the vehicles and that it indicates that the buses are not speeding. Confusion may arise from the street where Champa lives compare to the next street over, Drawbridge Drive, which has speed limit of 25 mph.

According to local news reporters, Champa pointed out that a regular-sized vehicle can barely see him when he’s in front of it and emphasized that a school bus driver would definitely not be able to see him not to mention small children.

Other neighbors have reportedly raised concerns about speeding and started a petition to get speed bumps placed along the roadway. It wsa unclear if speed bumps will eventually be placed along the street.

Champa, who says he’s always been an advocate for children and people with disabilities, said he would never physically hurt anybody. He was reportedly released on a $1,000 bond for the charge of interfering with the operation of a school bus.

Related: New York Man Arrested for Speeding Past a Stopped School Bus
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Related: What Do School Bus Drivers Want to Increase Safety?

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Students and staff from Mobile County Public Schools stuffing school buses with Christmas gifts for local children and teenagers.

On Dec. 14, the school district thanked everyone who had helped “Stuff the Bus” with over 5,500 toys this month for needy children in the community. Students, faculty, staff, 54 school sites, and the district central office participated and helped collect the toys for the campaign.

According to local news, this is the 12th year for the district to Stuff the Bus. This year two buses were reportedly stuffed with gifts.

The district said via social media that while many of the donated gifts will be distributed to students in need who attend Mobile County schools, the rest will be distributed by the Salvation Army to children throughout the community

Related: Massachusetts School District to Host “Stuff-A-Bus” Event for Holiday Toy Drive
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Related: Senior Citizens Celebrate Thanksgiving at a Massachusetts Junior High School

The post Students in Alabama Collect Christmas Gift for Local Children appeared first on School Transportation News.

An Amber Alert the morning of Dec. 5 notified residents of the kidnapping of three children. By 6 p.m. the alert was cancelled, reported WLBT 3.

According to the news report, the three children “were waiting for the bus,” when a black four-door vehicle pulled up to the bus stop and took the children. Authorities confirmed the reported kidnapping took place at the Bobby’s Way apartment complex in Fishersville.

The Virginia State Police said via the article that the alert was cancelled after the children were found safe. Officials said it was determined that the children’s estranged biological mother, Shanice Davidson, was responsible for their disappearance.

Police reportedly believed the children, Jai’Marcus Lewis, 10, Ja’Miyah Lewis, 8, and Ja’Liyah Lewis,6, were with Davidson, who resides in Evergreen, Alabama. Deputies said the 911 call was from the children’s other parent at about 8:27 a.m.

Davidson was described as a 35-year-old Black female, 5 feet 5 inches tall, 184 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. According to the Alabama Highway Patrol and U.S. Marshals Service, Davidson was taken into custody in Birmingham Alabama, after a brief pursuit along Interstate 495.

Davidson was reportedly arrested on abduction warrants from the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office. The incident remains under investigation.

Related: Massachusetts School Bus Driver Accused of Kidnapping Children
Related: Tennessee Man Accused of Attempting to Kidnap Girls from School Bus Stop
Related: Virginia School Bus Aide Arrested for Alleged Assault
Related: Virginia School Bus Driver Faces Child Pornography, Contributing to Delinquency Charges

The post Three Virginia Children Found Safe After Reported Kidnapping appeared first on School Transportation News.

Melissa Yang, a student at Bethlehem Central Middle School was the winner of the 2023-2024 National School Bus Safety Poster Contest.

The theme this year was “Driving Safely into the Future”, and the National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT) released a statement on Oct. 22 expressing their thoughts on Yang’s artwork.

“Yang’s artwork skillfully captures this theme by creatively conveying an important message intended to motivate and educate the educational community. Yang emphasizes the importance of following school bus safety protocols to guarantee a thriving future for any school community. She also illustrates the past, highlighting a longstanding commitment to school bus safety over the years”

NAPT states that the poster contest is judged on safety impact, originality, artistic qualities and visual impact.

On Wednesday, Bethlehem Central School District released a statement announcing it will be participating in the 2025 NYAPT School Bus Safety Poster Contest.

Posters may be submitted under five categories:
Division 1: Grades K-2
Division 2: Grades 3-5
Division 3: Grades 6-8
Division 4: Special Education
Division 5: CAD (Computer Aided Drawing)
Division 6: Driver, Monitor and Attendant

All posters must first be submitted to and judged by the Bethlehem Central Transportation Department. A winning poster will be chosen from each division and will then be entered into the State Contest and sent to the NYAPT office. The final day for submissions will be Feb. 17, 2025.

According to NYAPT the theme for the 2024-2025 contest will be “Safety First- Safety Always”. Posters judged and selected by each chapter for entry into the State Contest must be received by the NYAPT office on or before March 1, 2025.

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The post New York Middle Schooler Wins Annual Poster Contest appeared first on School Transportation News.

Meeting the daily challenges of transporting children with disabilities is real and
complex. These challenges are not new, but they are increasingly multifaceted. On top of the challenge list in many school districts is driver shortages, followed by the cost of transportation services. What can be overwhelming is the increase in competing priorities to safely transport children with disabilities.

The pressure resulting from how to accomplish safe transportation for these children can result in inadequate decision-making. Guided by the principles of safety, responsibility and entitlement under federal and state law it is imperative to aspire to respond to challenges for safe transportation of children with disabilities by timely addressing the “Do’s and Don’ts” under pressure. I am realizing more and more about the importance of knowing what is and is not required under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

In addition to federal law, it is critical to be well-versed about state law pertaining to the related service of transportation for eligible children under the IDEA. Under the
IDEA Part B regulations, transportation is defined as a related service that includes: “(i) Travel to and from school and between schools; (ii) Travel in and around school buildings; and (iii) Specialized equipment (such as special or adapted buses, lifts, and ramps), if required to provide special transportation for a child with a disability.” (34 CFR §300.34(c)(16).

At first glance, this IDEA definition appears clear. In reality, unique individual child transportation requirements necessitate extensive knowledge about the related service of transportation and its explicit requirements.

Understanding the role of the individualized education program (IEP) team’s responsibility under the IDEA to develop, approve and implement the related service transportation is essential. Approved transportation services should always be documented in the IEP to avoid misunderstandings and potential IDEA compliance violations. The IEP team meeting should always include all the qualified personnel necessary to make an informed decision, including the parent.

Don’t make unilateral transportation decisions without the attendance of all stakeholders that are required for implementing an IEP. The following is an example of a costly mistake that happened multiple times during my career. The IEP team, under pressure from a single parent, required that a child be picked up first and dropped off last.

This was solely based upon the parent’s work schedule and not the needs of her child, based upon their disability. Unknown to transportation, the IEP team approved the request. It was not feasible to implement but still approved and written into the child’s IEP. The parent emphatically stated her request was “required under the IDEA.” The IEP team was intimidated and believed her.

This IEP decision resulted in a hearing officers’ requirement for the school district to add a new route to implement the approved IEP service. Can you imagine the unintentional effect of this IEP team’s unilateral decision? Make sure that the IEP team is fully knowledgeable about the IDEA transportation related service requirements, and do not make a decision based upon false information.

Another example of a costly mistake is when a parent at an IEP meeting claims, citing IDEA, their child is required to be transported to after-school care 17 miles away from
their home address. The IEP team unwisely believes the parent and approves their request.

The lesson to be learned is don’t believe everything that a person says without knowing how the IDEA addresses a specific issue. Be knowledgeable about what state law says on a specific topic and how the school district’s policies and procedures address the issue. In the previous example, it is likely that if the school district transports children without disabilities to requested after-school care or daycare, the school district will also be required to do so for children with disabilities as a matter of equity. These are just two examples of challenges whereby poor decision-making resulted in an avoidable costly error.

It is essential to know federal and state laws pertaining to transportation service eligibility requirements for children with disabilities. It is wise to rethink in advance
how to best provide these transportation services for children with disabilities. Utilizing school transportation data can improve decision-making. Accessing all funding sources helps to offset costly transportation services. One example is billing Medicaid when it is an allowable transportation expense.

Communication and coordination between multiple school district departments is key to problem-solving. It is key to be knowledgeable and current about best practices and school transportation literature concerning safe transportation of children with disabilities.

Editor’s Note: As reprinted in the November  2024 issue of School Transportation News.

Linda F. Bluth, Ed.D. is a national compliance and regulatory expert on IDEA transportation law and provisions. She is a tenured faculty member of the TSD Conference, a regular STN contributor, and a Hall of Fame member of the National Association for Pupil Transportation.

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The Osceola County School District is in the process of developing an maintenance apprenticeship program, thought to be the first of its kind in the state. Individuals with an interest in learning about school bus technology and to gain training and experience in repairing buses are being paid while they attend school and participate in training.

There have been other school bus apprenticeship programs in the U.S., but none at least in modern-day Florida.

“We currently have three apprentices that are working in our central bus depot in our district. There are plans to expand the program after the initial testing period,” said Borras, supervisor of transportation for Osceola County Schools, located south and east of Orlando.

The program is beneficial for mechanics by providing hands-on experience they cannot receive elsewhere. The program offers the opportunity to learn useful skills in a work environment and will assist in job placement opportunities.

According to Borras, the apprenticeship program is going well. Young people are working and learning through it and more are coming into the program.

“We are growing our new program. Our students have to take an aptitude test and, if they do well, they begin a hands-on learning process. We look for students who have an interest in being a mechanic and like to work with their hands,” he explained.

Borras hopes to get more younger people interested in careers as school bus mechanics. “We are working on creating a flow from local high school technical programs. We want to show them the advantages of working for the school district as a mechanic,” he said.

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The students complete book work or academic style courses and then they work with experienced mechanics who have the patience and willingness to teach younger people to become expert bus mechanics.

It generally takes about a year and a half for a beginning apprentice to complete a training program to be considered qualified to work more independently. Those who can pass their course work more quickly can complete the training sooner. The apprentices are being paid while they study and learn from the more experienced mechanics.

For years, young people were not encouraged to pursue careers in the trades but there are many advantages to pursuing an apprenticeship. Young people who are less interested in academics may find repairing engines or learning various trades to be more fulfilling and exciting. One can work with experienced adults and learn valuable skills quickly.

Unlike young people who go to college and pay high tuition costs, school bus apprentices are receiving a paycheck while they learn. And if they stay with Osceola or go to another county, they receive state benefits including full health coverage and a full state pension after retirement.

The post Florida School District Begins School Bus Mechanic Apprenticeship Program appeared first on School Transportation News.

A Bay County, Florida, paraprofessional for Bay District Schools is facing child abuse charges following an incident on a school bus earlier this month, reported WDHN News.

According to the news report, Panama City Police arrested 57-year-old Sylinda Goodman on Wednesday and charged her with four counts, including child abuse and simple assault with the intentional threat to commit violence.

Investigators say via the article that on Nov. 5, the school bus cameras recorded Goodman hitting, punching and pinching several children through her job as a paraprofessional.

According to the article, the video allegedly recorded Goodman instructing one student with disabilities to hit another child who is non-verbally autistic.

Goodman is reportedly being held in the Bay County Jail on a $10,000 bond. Police also charged the bus driver Althea Russell with child neglect for failing to intervene or report the alleged abuse.

Related: Virginia School Bus Aide Arrested for Alleged Assault
Related: Colorado School Bus Aid Arrested, Charged with Abusing Student
Related: Florida School Bus Driver Arrested for Alleged Assault
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The post Florida Paraprofessional Facing Child Abuse Charges appeared first on School Transportation News.

School bus crashes are a concerning issue that requires close attention. Statistics show that these types of incidents occur more often than one might expect, with thousands of crashes reported each year across the United States.

Recent statistics compiled from various sources reveal an alarming trend of school bus crashes and school transportation-related traffic incidents over the last decade.

According to an analysis of National Highway Traffic Safety (NHTSA) data, Brumley Law Firm found that approximately 976 fatal school bus crashes led to over 1,000 deaths and around 132,000 injuries, spanning the years 2013 through 2022. States like Texas and Florida emerged as hotspots for these fatalities. Texas reported 75 school transportation-related crashes and 87 resulting fatalities, while Florida reported 74 crashes and 76 fatalities. The top five was rounded out be Georgia, which experienced 65 deaths in 60 crashes, New York with 59 deaths in as many crashes, and Pennsylvania with 59 deaths in 53 crashes.

Harris County, Texas and Kings County, New York experienced the most school-transportation related crashes between 2013-2022 with 11 each. Cook County, Illinois, Los Angeles County, California, and Maricopa County, Arizona each had nine crashes.

Approximately 111 people are killed and 13,200 people are injured in school bus incidents each year, according to NHTSA. However, statistics reveal that occupants of other vehicles are more likely to become fatally injured in a school bus crash, rather than the occupants of the school bus. Only 11 fatalities on average occur on the school bus, to students or their driver, compared to about 76 occupants in other vehicles. Of the 111 fatalities in the school bus, the NHTSA data indicates 61 were student passengers and 50 were school bus drivers.

Though the school bus itself provides a reliable, secure way for transporting students, NHTSA says it remains concerned about the lingering problem of illegal school bus passing by motorists, which undermines this safety net and demands concerted efforts.

Last month, NHTSA released its review of state laws on illegal passing. It also offers an online best-practices guide designed to help reduce the number of incidents. The National Association for State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services estimates that 45.2 million illegal passings occurred nationwide last school year.

Related: Florida School Bus Crashes After Motorist Runs Stop Sign
Related: West Virginia School Hosts Mock Bus Crash
Related: What Do School Bus Drivers Want to Increase Safety?
Related: North Carolina School Bus Crashes into Home

The post Fatality Data Analysis Indicates School Bus Safety in Comparison to Other Modes appeared first on School Transportation News.

Tri-Town senior citizens in Massachusetts celebrated an early Thanksgiving dinner at Old Rochester Regional Junior High School with the help of 50 student volunteers, reported Sippican Week.

According to the news report, a Thanksgiving dinner was held on Sunday where nearly 250 senior citizens joined and enjoyed the event.

It was the 31st rendition of the annual event and school administrative assistant Toni Bailey said via the article that it was one of the largest held.

The event was reportedly funded by the Tri-Town community. Donations were raised for the turkey and other thanksgiving specialties and local farms donate apple pies and cider.

The school’s principal, Silas Coellner, said the event also provides a great learning experience for the student volunteers.

In years past, volunteers for the event had reportedly been eighth graders only; however, this year seventh graders joined them.

Students helped senior citizens find their seats, served them food, refill their drinks and clear their plates. After the meal was finished, dozens of gifts and prizes that were reportedly donated by the community were raffled off to guests.

“The kids love it, and the seniors love it” said Coellner via the article.

Related: Police Department to Host School Bus Food Drive for Thanksgiving
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Related: Wisconsin District Holds School Bus Test Drive Event

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A Colorado school bus driver was dismissed after he allegedly abandoned 40 elementary school students at the wrong bus stop in cold weather, reported NBC News.

According to the news report, the bus driver, identified as Irving Johnson, allegedly left the young students from Clear Sky Elementary School in Castle Rock about 30 miles south of Denver, in tears and seeking aid from strangers.

The Douglas County School District said via the article that Johnson was a substitute driver who failed to follow proper protocols.

Johnson reportedly skipped students’ drop-off stops while on the road and ultimately drove near the corner of East Wolfensberger Road and Auburn Drive, about two miles from the school. There, he allegedly told the kids to get off the bus into the cold around 5 p.m.

The school district reportedly sent an apology email on Wednesday to the families of the students on the bus and confirmed the driver was no longer employed by the district.

The driver shared an apology via the article and stated that he was unfamiliar with the route and his tablet had stopped working so he asked the kids for directions. When asked if he felt like he did his job of keeping the kids safe, Johnson said “No, I don’t.”

The district stated that parents have requested to see video footage from the bus during the incident; however, the footage will not be released as an active investigation with the Castle Rock Police Department is ongoing.

Related: Wisconsin School Bus Driver Arrested
Related: Former Georgia School Bus Driver Arrested and Charged
Related: Colorado School Bus Driver Facing Charges
Related: Colorado School Bus Driver Hailed Hero After Fire

The post Colorado School Bus Driver Dismissed After Leaving Students at Wrong Bus Stop appeared first on School Transportation News.

The Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building pictured on Nov. 25, 2024. (Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to get rid of the U.S. Department of Education will be far easier said than done.

As Trump seeks to redefine U.S. education policy, the complex logistics, bipartisan congressional approval and redirection of federal programs required make dismantling the department a challenging — not impossible — feat.

It’s an effort that experts say is unlikely to gain traction in Congress and, if enacted, would create roadblocks for how Trump seeks to implement the rest of his wide-ranging education agenda.

“I struggle to wrap my mind around how you get such a bill through Congress that sort of defunds the agency or eliminates the agency,” Derek Black, an education law and policy expert and law professor at the University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law, told States Newsroom.

“What you can see more easily is that maybe you give the agency less money, maybe you shrink its footprint, maybe we’ve got an (Office for Civil Rights) that still enforces all these laws, but instead of however many employees they have now, they have fewer employees,” Black, who directs the school’s Constitutional Law Center, added.

What does the department do?

Education is decentralized in the United States, and the federal Education Department has no say in the curriculum of public schools. Much of the funding and oversight of schools occurs at the state and local levels.

Still, the department has leverage through funding a variety of programs, such as for low-income school districts and special education, as well as administering federal student aid.

Axing the department would require those programs be unwound or assigned to other federal agencies to administer, according to Rachel Perera, a fellow in Governance Studies in the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution.

Perera, who studies inequality in K-12 education, expressed concern over whether other departments would get additional resources and staffing to take on significantly more portfolios of work if current Education Department programs were transferred to them.

Sen. Mike Rounds introduced a bill last week that seeks to abolish the department and transfer existing programs to other federal agencies.

In a statement, the South Dakota Republican said “the federal Department of Education has never educated a single student, and it’s long past time to end this bureaucratic Department that causes more harm than good.”

The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 proposed a detailed plan on how the department could be dismantled through the reorganization of existing programs to other agencies and the elimination of the programs the project deems “ineffective or duplicative.”

Though Trump has repeatedly disavowed the conservative blueprint, some former members of his administration helped write it.

The agenda also calls for restoring state and local control over education funding, and notes that “as Washington begins to downsize its intervention in education, existing funding should be sent to states as grants over which they have full control, enabling states to put federal funding toward any lawful education purpose under state law.”

Title I, one of the major funding programs the department administers, provides billions of dollars to school districts with high percentages of students who come from low-income families.

Black pointed to an entire “regulatory regime” that’s built around these funds.

“That regime can’t just disappear unless Title I money also disappears, which could happen, but if you think about Title I money — our rural states, our red states — depend on that money just as much, if not more, than the other states,” he said. “The idea that we would take that money away from those schools — I don’t think there’s any actual political appetite for that.”

‘Inherent logical inconsistencies’

Trump recently tapped Linda McMahon — a co-chair of his transition team, Small Business Administration head during his first term and former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO — as his nominee for Education secretary.

If confirmed, she will play a crucial role in carrying out his education plans, which include promoting universal school choice and parental rights, moving education “back to the states” and ending “wokeness” in education.

Trump is threatening to cut federal funding for schools that teach “critical race theory,” “gender ideology” or “other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content on our children,” according to his plan.

On the flip side, he wants to boost funding for states and school districts that adhere to certain policy directives.

That list includes districts that: adopt a “Parental Bill of Rights that includes complete curriculum transparency, and a form of universal school choice;” get rid of “teacher tenure” for grades K-12 and adopt “merit pay;” have parents hold the direct elections of school principals; and drastically reduce the number of school administrators.

But basing funding decisions on district-level policy choices would require the kind of federal involvement in education that Trump is pushing against.

Perera described seeing “inherent logical inconsistencies” in Trump’s education plan.

While he is talking about dismantling the department and sending education “back to the states,” he’s “also talking about leveraging the powers of the department to punish school districts for ‘political indoctrination,’” she said.

“He can’t do that if you are unwinding the federal role in K-12 schools,” she said.

A Teen in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, has been cited and must appear in juvenile court after intentionally passing a school bus while it was unloading students, reported WTRF.

The incident reportedly occurred on Nov. 5, when a 17-year-old teen girl drove through the front yard of a residence to pass an Indian Valley Schools bus while the it was actively releasing children from the bus.

According to the news report, Deputy Grant Haun with the Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office initiated an investigation after authorities received a report of reckless operation in the Wainwright area. Multiple witnesses gave statements.

The investigation reportedly concluded when the driver of the car, whose name was not included in this writing, admitted that she intentionally passed the bus because she wanted to get home quicker.

Officials state via the article that the juvenile driver was issued a citation for failing to stop for a stopped school bus in violation of Ohio Revised Code Section 4511.75 (A). The teen is scheduled to appear in court at a later date.

Related: Ohio School Bus Driver Found Not Guilty of Driving Impaired
Related: Ohio Child Struck by Vehicle While Getting Off School Bus
Related: Teen Struck, Killed by Kentucky School Bus
Related: Maryland Teen Charged as Adult for Attempted Murder on School Bus

The post Ohio Teen Cited for Reckless Driving appeared first on School Transportation News.

Cell phones in the classrooms have been a hot topic amid new state laws banning the devices, but they have long been on the minds of educators including those on school buses. Teachers have historically viewed cell phones as a disruption in educational settings because students are prone to pay more attention to their electronics instead of focusing on the classroom lesson. That is a big reason why 76 percent of schools nationwide prohibited non academic use of cell phones and other communication devices in the 2021-2022 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

In general, cell phone and electronics users have been found to be distracted by their use. On a school bus, these devices can be a welcome distraction for students, especially during long commutes. But they can also present challenges. At a moment’s notice students can visit inappropriate sites or record a crash, a student fight, even a school bus driver meltdown.

Mounting evidence illustrates the issue. A 2019 report from cell phone insurance company Asurion found that Americans check their phones an average of 96 times a day. While the American Psychological Association reported in 2018 that 43 percent of American adults “almost constantly” check their phones, admitting to disruption in their work and personal lives. So, it’s no surprise that a recent 2021 Reviews.org report showed young adults (18-24) spent 5.4 hours daily on their phones.

California law already gives school districts the leeway to pass cell phone bans for classrooms. The Los Angeles Unified School District school board enacted such a ban on cell phones that takes effect in January. The Golden State seeks to take the next step with Assembly Bill 3216 that passed the California State Legislature in late August to prohibit or limit smartphone usage by students any time they are under the supervision of school personnel. This includes from the moment students step onto school buses.

Gov. Gavin Newsom pledged support for the bill and it was expected to become law at this report, to take effect on July 1, 2026.

“As the [U.S.] Surgeon General affirmed, social media is harming the mental health of our youth,” Newsom said in June. “When children and teens are in school, they should be focused on their studies, not their screens.”

Social media is known to dominate children’s screen time use, potentially distracting them from learning. A Pew Research Center report found that 95 percent of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 have access to a smartphone, with many using it to engage on social media. About 46 percent of teens report being online “almost constantly.” Among the most popular platforms, 19 percent of teens say they use YouTube almost constantly, while 16 percent say the same about TikTok. Additionally, more than half of teens use social media daily, with 54 percent saying it would be difficult to give up.

LAUSD Board member Nick Melvoin spearheaded the Los Angeles resolution, highlighting concerns about how cell phone use, especially when combined with social media, exacerbates mental health issues like anxiety and cyberbullying. He also noted that, much like adults, students are increasingly glued to their devices.

“They’re surreptitiously scrolling in school, in class time, or have their head in their hands, walking down the hallways. They’re not talking to each other or playing at lunch or recess because they have their AirPods in,” Melvoin said. In addition to classrooms, the ban would extend to lunch time and other breaks between classes.

The benefits of cell phone bans on school buses would be the same reason they’re limited in classrooms. As Melvoin pointed out, students aren’t engaging with one another when glued to screens. This could lead to unhealthy anti-social behaviors and fixation on social media. According to Yale Medicine, American teens between the ages of 12-15 who spent at least three hours a day on social media were twice as likely to experience depression and anxiety.

Cell Phone Usage in Buses:
In comparison to the school year, which is typically 180 days long or a certain amount of classroom time, students who ride the school bus spend an average of 146 hours, or roughly 24 days on the school bus. According to Kajeet, a company that creates Wi-Fi hotspots on school buses, the time on the school bus has become an opportunity for students to do their homework.

Kajeet SmartBus solutions offer Wi-Fi connections on school buses. But it filters out social media and streaming video to make student web experiences education-based limited to class research, homework and related apps. Kajeet stressed that school buses are an ideal place for students to do their homework.

But Kajeet and other Wi-Fi hotspot providers can’t block inappropriate content or track usage on cell phones or other devices because they use individual data plans rather than the school district network.

Another potential benefit to students having cell phones on their person in school buses is they can call their parents or dial 911 during emergency situations, as illustrated again recently with the fatal Appalachee High School shooting in Georgia. According to Care.com, parents and students feel safer when they have their cell phones at hand.

The LAUSD cell phone ban policy still needs to be written, leaving the question open about school bus rides.

“The district is still in the discussion and planning phase of the policy, so nothing has been finalized or determined,” LAUSD spokesman Britt Vaughn told STN.

Florida was the first state to pass a cell phone ban last year. A representative of the Florida Department of Education did not respond to STN questions about the impact on school bus rides. But a House of Representatives fiscal note says the law authorizes local school boards to ban the devices on “school property.” That includes school buses.

Ohio and Indiana have similar laws, but officials there did not respond to requests for comment. But Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) in Virginia, where Gov. Glen Youngkin signed a cell phone ban into law in July, did.

Dan Adams, the public information officer for LCPS, told STN that a cell phone ban policy is meant to strike a balance between embracing technology’s educational potential and minimizing disruptions.

“By establishing clear guidelines for when and how students can use their devices, LCPS aims to foster a productive academic environment while also nurturing responsible digital citizenship among our students,” he said.

When asked how the ban has affected student behavior and focus during school hours, Adams noted that it’s too early to provide comprehensive feedback. “It was just enacted this school year, so we’ll have to wait and see,” he said, adding that the policy’s long-term impact will likely be monitored over the course of the academic year.

But Adams confirmed the ban applies to school buses. The state’s guidance issued last month requires school system to establish procedures for off-site events and activities, including transportation.

“Buses are considered an extension of the school, so the policy can be enforced there as well if they become an issue, but the policy is really designed to focus on instructional time,” he explained.

Regarding any exceptions to the policy, Adams assured that students with valid medical or educational needs would not be denied access to their devices. “This policy will not deny students with a valid accommodation access to their personal devices. Parents, guardians, multi-disciplinary team members, including Section 504 teams and Individualized Education Program teams, or other persons with knowledge of students who require access to personally owned devices as an accommodation shall request such accommodations through their respective teams,” Adams said.

When discussing potential safety concerns related to students not having access to their phones on school buses, Adams emphasized, “LCPS has a robust and nationally recognized safety plan in place to keep students and staff safe.”

Adams also acknowledged the potential need to adjust the policy. “We will monitor the situation as the school year progresses and can always make adjustments if needed,” he said, when asked about the trade-off between reduced distractions and potential safety concerns related to lack of cell phone access.

Adams noted community feedback to the ban has been largely positive. “The new policy has been very well received, and even students have recognized they have better conversations in class with their peers and teachers when the phones are away,” he concluded.

Editor’s Note: As reprinted in the October 2024 issue of School Transportation News.

Related: Should students’ cell phones be banned on school buses?
Related: California Student Cell Phone Ban Legislation Signed into Law
Related: (STN Podcast E229) October Updates: Green Funding, Cellphone Bans & Special Needs Legalities
Related: School Bus Tracking App Reduces Parent Phone Calls by 75 Percent

The post States Ban Student Cell Phones in Class: What About in School Buses? appeared first on School Transportation News.

FRISCO, Texas — School transportation professionals face unique challenges in keeping students safe from sexual abuse, especially those who have disabilities.

“Students are at greater risk of sexual abuse during transportation due to factors like access, privacy, and power dynamics,” explained Christy Schiller, the vice president of consulting for abuse prevention firm Praesidium during a Sunday general session at TSD Conference. “Drivers and aides have a lot of unsupervised contact with students, and there are often opportunities for privacy that predators can exploit.”

Schiller has over 30 years of experience in this field. She emphasized the importance of strategic supervision.

“If you’re not exhausted at the end of the day from vigilantly monitoring students, you’re not doing it right,” she added.

The session covered statistics on the scope of the problem, the dynamics of both adult-to-student and student-to-student abuse, and practical strategies student transportation providers can implement to mitigate these risks. Schiller urged attendees to also educate parents on the warning signs and importance of prevention.

“This abuse is preventable if we’re proactive about creating the safest possible environment,” Schiller said. “Student transportation providers play a critical role in protecting this vulnerable population.”

Related: Psychologist Shares How to Navigate Problematic Sexual Behaviors on School Bus

The discussion focused on enhancing abuse prevention and safety culture in organizations. That includes training and retraining staff to ensure that no actions with students can be misconstrued.

“Just because an adult shows a red flag behavior does not necessarily mean they’re grooming a student. It may just mean we need to remind them that we have a new normal now,” she added.

Meanwhile, she addressed the evolution of understanding grooming tactics, moving away from the “dangerous stranger” framework to recognizing the “skilled predator.” Schiller shared research indicating that survivors often reported an average of 14 unique grooming behaviors prior to the abuse occurring.

“It’s very common that we see these behaviors, I would argue, though not all of these behaviors have the same type of intent,” she noted.

Schiller emphasized the importance of conducting thorough background checks and screening, not only for transportation staff but volunteers who may have high levels of access to students.

“When there’s an incident, the plaintiff’s attorneys are saying, we want to see their personnel file, and so documenting that you have screened, you’ve talked to former employers” is crucial.

The discussion also highlighted the need for training on boundaries, separating the behavior from the person, and proactively monitoring high-risk situations. “If we can manage boundaries, we’re going to prevent a lot of abuse because we want to interrupt those behaviors early, and we want to teach people to separate the person from the behavior,” Schiller said.

She emphasized that creating a supportive environment where staff feel comfortable reporting concerns without fear of repercussions is essential. By addressing these issues, schools and districts can work to ensure the safety and well-being of students while fostering a culture of trust and accountability.

Parental involvement is also important, she said, in setting boundaries and reporting concerns as is the need for swift, compassionate responses to allegations, and the role of leadership in maintaining vigilance.

The conversation highlighted the challenges of “pass the trash” laws, which rely on self-disclosure by job applicants that they have not been previously charged or accused but perhaps not convicted of a prior crime, and emphasized the necessity of thorough screening processes and continuous monitoring. Schiller also discussed the importance of a culture that values safety, clear standards, and effective communication across all levels and with external partners was underscored, along with the necessity of addressing the forgetting curve to sustain safety initiatives.

Related: New York School Bus Aide Accused of Sexual Assault
Related: Former Massachusetts School Bus Driver Facing Charges of Sexual Assault
Related: New York School Bus Aide Accused of Sexual Assault

The post Sexual Abuse Prevention Expert Provides Strategies When Transporting Students with Disabilities appeared first on School Transportation News.

There may be no perfect solutions when it comes to routing. As can be painfully clear to all concerned, the narrow timeframes for morning and afternoon operations leave little margin for error. At the same time, requirements such as serving students with special needs add another degree of difficulty, all amid a school bus driver shortage.

For some school districts, changing bell times has brought greater efficiency to the routing process. That’s the path taken by Prince George’s County Public Schools, one of the largest school districts in Maryland, where until this year transportation staff were faced with 13 different bell times in the morning and 17 in the afternoon.

“This made routing complicated and directly impacted the timely arrival of students to schools,” said Keba Baldwin, director of transportation and central garage.

But now, the district has moved to three standard bell times, and the results have been positive. “Changes in bell times have helped to improve transportation by simplifying route planning and improving route efficiency,” Baldwin noted.

Improvements include balancing the distribution of trips, reducing delays and making optimum use of buses and drivers. District officials also feel standardization across bell times makes schedules clearer and easier for families to understand.

For Tacoma Public Schools in Washington state, a change in this year’s bell times is also expected to have a major impact.

“We’ve shifted our secondary schools, with middle school now starting first,” said Zachary Midles, director of transportation. “We have also tiered our elementary schools to have two start times versus one.”

The primary goal was to improve the ability of transportation staff to manage expectations for on-time arrival. “We’ve attempted to improve efficiency with less resources,” Midles added. “This has involved numerous hours of planning and mapping out our process.”

Prospects for attaining that improvement seem promising, as district officials anticipate saving about $1 million a year following implementation of the new schedule.

“This is due to a reduction in overhead in routes, leading to less fuel and driver pay,” Midles explained. “We also plan to reduce the length of some routes with this strategy, which will also be a savings.”

A revision in bell times has also been the story this year for Fayetteville Public Schools in Arkansas. “It allows more time between elementary/middle school runs and secondary runs,” said Michael McClure, director of transportation services. “This has improved arrival times at secondary schools and decreased the supervision times for administrators at secondary schools.”

A catalyst to the changes was an external audit conducted last spring.

“Our bell times were a glaring issue,” McClure said. “In conjunction with our central administration, we followed up with the bell time changes.” While the move has not come without some challenges, the overall results have been “significantly better,” McClure said.

“The only issues we’re running into are for elementary schools that are geographically close to middle schools,” he continued. “There is a 15-minute gap in drop off times, so some elementary students sit on the bus for 10 minutes before we can release them in the morning.”

Recently, Celina Independent School District north of Dallas, Texas, made some initial changes in bell times and morning drop-off times, with more being considered.

“One of the key challenges with managing bell times is ensuring there’s sufficient time between the first and second bells, as well as between the second and third bells,” noted Laura Carter, transportation services director. “This scheduling allows students to arrive at school on time and have adequate time for breakfast. It’s also important to account for any potential delays between bell times.”

Along with those considerations, continued driver shortages are also a problem. That will be the impetus for proposing a three-tier bell schedule going forward, Carter added.

Addressing Special Needs:
With special populations, which pose their own set of challenges, restructuring bell times can be a plus. If that move brings overall efficiency, it can free up drivers for other than routine routes. “This has helped with on-time deliveries to our secondary schools for both general ed and special needs,” Carter reported. But that’s only a partial solution, and in some cases isn’t an option. Such is the situation for City Schools of Decatur, Georgia, a district with a small geographical footprint but with routes congested by Metro Atlanta traffic.

“The problem is that we have a three-tier system and only 45 minutes between each tier,” said LoWanda Bowman-Brown, director of transportation. “And the kicker is we have five lower elementary schools that all start at the same time. Someone is going to be late if you have one driver going to multiple schools.”

The district has three special needs drivers, one who travels out of district to a neighboring school. “Not only does this stretch things for them, but the bell schedule makes timing tight for others,” Bowman explained. “The bell schedule means the regular drivers are constantly driving with no break to use the restroom or speak with the administrators about any problems arising on their bus.”

Currently, however, there is no official discussion of adjusting bell times. “Since the community is very small, with a radius of only five miles, most parents are opposed to adjusting bell times,” she continued. “And due to the athletics department needing to leave at four for most games, it’s unlikely that bell times will be changed.”

Geography is also a limiting factor for Fayetteville Public Schools. “Our district is elongated from an East/West perspective and the corridors are not conducive to heavy traffic,” McClure noted. “Special needs students may attend school a significant distance from their residence, which causes longer travel times.”

Baldwin shared that Prince George County’s use of routing software can be helpful in this area, but that additional challenges may come into play when students require individualized accommodations such as wheelchair access, specific seating or aides.

“The software helps tailor routes to meet these needs, but balancing efficiency with safety is difficult, especially with longer loading times and specialized stops,” he said. “Additionally, maintaining route consistency during driver changes and quickly adjusting to updates in students’ IEPs requires constant oversight.”

While the software streamlines much of this process, he added, ensuring seamless communication between transportation, schools and parents is key to providing the best service for these students.

Making the Change:
Whether it’s an effort to improve overall routing or enhance services to students with special needs, the process requires a cooperative approach as well as a measure of thick skin.

“Expect issues and criticisms when implementing any new procedure, program or technology,” McClure in Arkansas said. “Trust that with time and a team working on those issues that everything will improve.”

Collaboration in dealing with such challenges is a must, Texas’ Carter noted. “Involving the
transportation department in the planning process has proven effective,” she said. “It’s essential to build strong, positive relationships with administration, campus staff, and
the special education department to ensure you have a voice in decision-making processes.”

Bowman in Georgia emphasized that communication, whether with the school district finance department to ask for a new driver, or the special needs department for support, is key to any solution. Whenever possible that means not just telling, but showing.

“Show them what transportation looks like so they will understand the challenges,” she advised. “Ask them to ride the bus or show them camera footage so they can see the challenges that may hold the bus up.”

As an example, he said it can be revealing to observe a staff member trying to put a student in the seat who refuses to get in it. “Innovation is key,” Washington’s Midles said, adding that “this is the way we’ve always done it” doesn’t mean it’s the right way.

“Partner with your district as much as you can to work as a team and put the students first as much as possible,” he concluded.

Editor’s Note: As reprinted in the October 2024 issue of School Transportation News.

Related: Politics of Bell Time Changes Impact School Bus, School Transportation Responses
Related: Electric School Buses: Optimized Routing
Related: Using School Bus Routing to Improve Workplace Culture, Retain Drivers
Related: How Technology Solves School Bus Routing Challenges

The post Changing, Correcting Bell Times Can Have Positive Effect on Routing appeared first on School Transportation News.

FRISCO, Texas — School transportation professionals at every level can ease the extreme fear and stress that students with autism experience each day and help them reach their full potential by shifting conventional thinking about service delivery.

That was the message from keynote speaker Patrick Mulick to start Saturday’s session at TSD Conference. Accomplishing those goals are part of the transportation department’s duty but will create a tremendous sense of joy and accomplishment said Mulick, who is also the director of student engagement for the Auburn School District in Washington and a board certified behavior analyst.

“We get to be part of their stories. We get to help shape their worlds and help unlock the autism they carry around with them. I feel such joy when I reflect on the faces that I’ve had a change to impact and I look at the work ahead and I look at the faces we have now,” said Mulick who relayed the stories of students that he played has helped over the years. “For you, you have faces, you have names in front of you every single day. What you do for them matters. So, feel that sense of purpose but that sense of responsibility that we need to step up and do what’s right for these kids that not given everything they need for life. These kids need us to be at our best in supporting them. So, continue to go the extra mile for them. They’re certainly worth it.”

Mulick, a popular speaker delivering his fourth keynote address at a TSD Conference, said one reason his remarks focused on autism was due to its rising prevalence. In 1975, one in 5,000 children. “Today, it’s one in 36. This data is four years old and there’s great variance from state to state. California is one in 26,” he stated.

He encouraged his audience to remember that every person with autism is an individual and they should never have a preconceived based on well-known people on the autism spectrum, such as Elon Musk, or someone they personally know. “If you know one person with autism, you know one person with autism. That’s it,” he added. “We need to be careful not to categorize persons with autism.”

Mulick said that he spent the summer of 2000 working with a non-verbal, 4-year-old girl with autism who had behavioral issues related to her disability. Within weeks, she began to speak three-word sentences. Children with autism “know what they want to say but can’t get the words out,” Mulick said.

“There’s a person in there dying to get out but they do not understand the world and the world does not understand them. When she could speak, it gave her autonomy,” he said. “What I was able to do was unlock autism,” he continued.

The experience convinced him that he wanted to devote his life to helping autistic children succeed.

Mulick explained that the education system has broken down numerous barriers to equality over the decades. However, he added, considerable work remains in the realm of services for children with disabilities and special needs.

“For (them), the conversation goes to the kid as the problem,” he said.

Noting that school buses have been redesigned to accommodate students with accessibility challenges, he insists school transportation needs to be rethought and redesigned to better serve children with special needs, including autism.

Mulick cited a quote from psychologist and author Ross W. Greene, “Behaviorally challenging kids are challenging because they’re lacking the skills to not be challenging.”

He added, “When we think of students with autism on our bus, instead of asking, ‘What’s wrong with them?’ We really need to be asking, ‘What are they experiencing and how can we help them?’”

Related: (STN Podcast E223) Challenges & Consistency: Patrick Mulick Unlocks Autism on the School Bus
Related: TSD Conference Opens with Message of Empathy for Challenging Behaviors on School Buses
Related: School Districts Explore Ways to Reduce Behavior Problems on School Buses
Related: From Silos to Circles: How to Improve School Bus Rider Behavior

He shared a 12-point strategy to improve the transportation process and everyday life for students with autism:

1. Get out of our silos. School personnel and transportation departments can and should use all appropriate technology tools to communicate proactively and more effectively when problems arise. It is not helpful for drivers to receive a 26-page individualized education program. Instead, drivers need to receive a student transportation plan with the necessary information to help them safely transport students and support positive behavior.

2. Visualize expectations with pictures. Students with autism may miss words but a laminated sheet with pictures of instructions will provide a child with guidance and reassurance day in and day out. Mulick shared the story of a boy with autism who had been hitting himself because of the stress of his daily school bus rides. Individualized instructions for “show safe hands” included a picture of a hand firmly planted on the bus seat. The boy drew an outline of his hand on his usual seat, too. “Yes, that’s graffiti but it’s much better than him hitting himself,” Mulick said.

3. Give voice. “Behavior is communication. If you don’t give your student a voice, then you leave them with no other choice.”

4. Engage. Give children with autism time to process information. Always state their name first and be careful with phrasing.

5. Value the routine. Surprises are scary. “If it is routine, then it is predictable. If it’s predictable, it’s reliable. If it’s reliable then it can be trusted. And if it can be trusted then it’s safe,” he said. For that reason, don’t tell a child on a random day that they have to sit in a different seat.

6. Warn about changes. Let the child with autism know well in advance if the school bus driver is going on vacation or there’s a change of bus number, assigned seat, route or other riders.

7. Get them engaged. The biggest transition and potential anxiety in an autistic child’s day is the ride to and from school. Ensuring they have something to engage with is a source of comfort. “The engaged mind forgets to misbehave.”

8. Be careful with the collaboration at the handoff. Avoid chit chat. If the conversation is about the child, bring them into the conversation. Even if they’re nonverbal, don’t pretend they aren’t there.

9. Be Mindful of unique fears and fixations.

10. Reframe deficits into strengths. Convert lessons into child’s favorite fixation. Mulick shared several effective examples, including creating a “Jedi Tool Kit” that provided a range of de-escalation actions for a child fascinated with “Star Wars.”

11. Use today’s knowledge for today’s challenges. “When we know better, we can do better. There are old ways we need to move away from,” he said. Mulick shared that when he took a job in 2011 there was a 1980s-era cassette tape in his desk. Several in the room gasped when he showed a slide with its title: “Working with Angry, Rage-filled Children.” He noted that the increase in board certified behavior analyst (BCBA) positions – from 780 in 2010 to 65,366 in 2023 – is an example of a new resource that can be accessed.

12. Don’t force it. Forcing a child with autism to do something they don’t want to do will often lead to behavioral outbursts. “If it’s not going to work for the student, it’s not going to work for the student.”)

Mulick offered one final piece of advice: “When you work with kids with autism, you should be learning with them every day.”

The post Mulick Returns to TSD Conference with Keys to Unlocking Autism appeared first on School Transportation News.

FRISCO, Texas – In a proactive move to address growing concerns over incidents of abuse and neglect on school buses, transportation leaders from across the nation gathered for a training seminar focused on building effective programs for school bus attendants and monitors.

The TSD Conference “Best Practices for the Training of School Bus Monitors & Aides” seminar on Friday, led by Launi Schmutz-Harden and Randall Crawford, brought together a room full of transportation professionals eager to learn, problem-solve and share best practices.

“Safety has to be the top priority, and that starts with ensuring our bus attendants have the right training, tools and support to handle any situation that may arise,” said Schmutz-Harden, a TSD Tenured Faculty member who retired after 30 years as a school transportation director in Utah. “We can’t afford to underestimate the abilities of these students or the importance of having qualified, well-trained staff on our buses.”

The training covered a range of critical topics, from understanding the unique needs of students with disabilities to mastering de-escalation techniques and emergency preparedness. Attendees also discussed the challenges of hiring qualified candidates and the importance of ongoing collaboration with human resources, special education departments and other key stakeholders.

“It’s not enough to just provide the bare minimum training,” said Crawford, director of transportation for Clay County Schools in Jacksonville, Florida. “We have to be proactive in equipping our bus attendants with the knowledge and skills to handle the real-world situations they’ll face on a daily basis.”

One key takeaway from the three-hour seminar was the need for hands-on, scenario-based training that allows attendants to practice skills like properly securing students in wheelchairs or responding to behavioral outbursts. Attendees also emphasized the value of learning from past failures and using those experiences to continuously improve their training programs.

Schmutz-Harden and Crawford provided attendees with several real-life scenarios to discuss and problem-solve.

“There’s no one-size-fits-all solution, but by sharing our challenges and successes, we can all learn from each other and raise the bar for student transportation safety,” said Harden.

As school districts across the country grapple with staffing shortages and budgetary constraints, the TSD Monitor Training Seminar underscored the critical importance of investing in comprehensive training programs for school bus attendants. With the safety and well-being of students at stake, transportation leaders are committed to making this a top priority.

Schmutz-Harden and Crawford discussed with attendees the challenges of hiring qualified attendants, including physical fitness requirements and communication skills. The discussion covered the importance of comprehensive training covering student behavior management, emergency preparedness, understanding disabilities, the need for collaboration with HR, special education departments, and other stakeholders to develop robust training programs and identifying any gaps or needs, sharing of real-world examples and failures to learn from and improve training, emphasis on ongoing communication, monitoring, and continuous improvement of training efforts.

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The session also discussed the legal and compliance requirements for training monitors, including CPR and first aid certification. The attendees shared their experiences with training requirements and the challenges of finding time to conduct training.

Harden-Schmutz and Crawford emphasized the importance of meeting legal requirements and the potential financial implications of not doing so. The group discussed the need for better training on legal requirements and the importance of ongoing training and support for monitors. This, they concluded, should include a process of conducting ride checks, either in person or using video monitoring to ensure protocols are being followed.

“Checks and balances –if you don’t have that, put it in place because you can find those actionable items that are there,” Crawford added.

The main action items for attendees at the conclusion of the seminar were to evaluate their current practices, advocate for increased training resources, and explore partnerships to enhance their bus attendant training programs.

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