Hundreds of police officers from across the state packed into Elmbrook Church in Brookfield to pay their respects to Milwaukee Police Officer Kendall Corder.

The post Hundreds gather at funeral for Milwaukee police officer killed in line of duty appeared first on WPR.

A state board heard directly on Friday from two Wisconsin brothers who served more than two decades in prison for a murder they didn't commit. David and Robert Bintz are asking for over $2 million each as compensation for their wrongful convictions.

The post Claims board hears from Green Bay brothers who spent decades in prison for murder they didn’t commit appeared first on WPR.

On “Wisconsin Today,” Evers discussed the next steps for closing the Green Bay Correctional Institution, education funding and reelection plans. 

The post Evers touts Wisconsin budget as bipartisan compromise in a purple state appeared first on WPR.

Immigrant families lacking permanent legal status will no longer qualify for federally funded preschool through the Head Start program, the Trump administration announced this week.

The post New Trump rule bans undocumented immigrant families from Head Start appeared first on WPR.

The younger inhabitants of the hotel find ways to let their hair down; Cecil and Jack shake on a shady deal for the sale of the Ainsworth family heirloom.

The post Hotel Portofino:Invitations appeared first on WPR.

Transylvania goulash; heirloom beans; shredded Swiss chard salad; escarole; beans and greens.

The post Cook’s Country:Pennsylvanian Melting Pot appeared first on WPR.

Roger teaches how to care for orchids; Tom fixes a window that was not hung properly and is now letting air in; Mark demonstrates how to clean brick with acid; […]

The post Ask This Old House:Window Gap; Solar Drinking Water appeared first on WPR.

Child care provider Corrine Hendrickson addresses a rally in front of the state Capitol Friday demanding a re-do on the state budget to increase child care funding. (Photo by Erik Gunn/Wisconsin Examiner)

While Gov. Tony Evers has touted the new state budget’s child care funds as a compromise victory, some providers say they’re deeply disappointed. 

“This was not a win,” said Bloomer child care provider Caitlin Mitchell at a rally outside the Capitol Friday morning organized by Wisconsin Early Childhood Action Needed (WECAN). “It was a temporary fix with long-term consequences.”

A press release from Evers’ office after he signed the budget early on July 3 said the document contains “Over $360 million to support Wisconsin’s child care industry and help lower child care costs for working families, a third of which is in direct payments to providers.”

A majority of Democratic lawmakers voted against the budget, citing shortcomings in funding for public schools as well as for child care. Assembly and Senate Democrats who voted in favor of the plan described it as a compromise. 

“I really really wish that the governor and the Democrats had just admitted that this was the best that they could do and that it’s still not good,” Corrine Hendrickson, a child care provider and WECAN co-founder, told reporters at the Friday morning rally.

“Everything we’re being told about the budget absolutely does not help children in our state at all,” said WECAN’s other co-founder, Brooke Legler. “The only compromise was the children’s safety. And this isn’t OK.”

WECAN members say that the budget’s child care funding is well short of what they need, and that regulatory changes are bad for providers, families and children. 

A pilot program increases Wisconsin Shares payments by up to $200 a month if providers agree to higher ratios of four children to one teacher for children 18 months or younger, and seven children to one teacher for children 18 months to 2½ years old. Wisconsin Shares subsidizes child care for low-income families.

According to Hendrickson, the ratio increase lowers the quality of care, and tying it to the subsidy program treats the poorer children differently than the rest of the children in care.

“Those children deserve to have more time and attention,” she said in her address to the rally. “Their parents are loving, their parents are caring, but their parents are stressed because they’re in poverty and that affects those kids.”

Child care providers should refuse to participate in that pilot, she said. 

Another provision lowers the minimum age for an assistant child care teacher to 16 from 18, while retaining the education requirements for the position.

“Sixteen-year-olds are wonderful human beings but they are not teachers of young children,” said Hendrickson.

“Those exact same policies were presented two years ago through the normal process of creating a bill. And we as a state overwhelmingly said no,” said Legler. “It did not even make it out of committee.”

In addition to $110 million in direct payments to providers, the child care total’s other big ticket items include $123 million to increase reimbursements that providers get for children in the Wisconsin Shares subsidy program and $65 million for providers who participate in a new “school readiness” program similar to 4-year-old kindergarten.

The $110 million direct payments, which would end after the budget’s first year, amount to about one-fourth of the $480 million that Evers originally sought. His budget proposal aimed to continue the state’s Child Care Counts program, funded by federal pandemic relief money.

At its height, Child Care Counts paid out $20 million a month and was credited with helping providers boost wages for child care teachers without raising tuition for parents. Two years ago the Evers administration dialed the program back to $10 million a month to stretch out its payments. The federal funds have now run out.

In a survey of child care providers earlier this year the University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty reported that about one in four said they could close without continued payments. Evers cited the survey during the spring while campaigning for his original $480 million child care proposal.

WECAN leaders sent Evers a statement Friday, calling on him to order a special session of the Legislature and seek the full amount of child care support that he originally submitted for the 2025-27 state budget.

“We’re asking Gov. Evers to finish what’s been started,” Mitchell said in her rally speech. “Temporary funding and weakened standards are not enough. We need a comprehensive long-term investment in child care.”

After the 2023-25 budget was enacted without the child care investment that Evers sought, the governor called a special session and introduced a bill that included funding for child care, education and other priorities. The Legislature’s Republican majority rewrote the bill, replacing his provisions with tax cut measures that Evers vetoed. 

Hendrickson acknowledged the outcome of the special session call two years ago, but said in an interview that Evers should pursue  effort anyway. 

“This is the only thing that we can do to keep this in front of everybody, to keep it top of mind,” she said. 

“The $110 million over the next 11 months is around 20% less than we are currently receiving,” WECAN’s letter to the governor states. “So, no, tuition prices will not be lowering; in fact, they will be going up next month to cover this loss, or providers will be closing their doors, especially in rural areas.”

The WECAN statement tells Evers that his public assertion that the child care provisions will lower costs “creates confusion and parents will blame us; disrupting our important relationship due to the distrust your words have sown.”

Legler told the Wisconsin Examiner later Friday that when the WECAN group delivered the letter and spoke with Evers’ communications director, Britt Cudaback, the conversation didn’t go well from her perspective.

“We felt very minimized, unheard and condescended to,” Legler said.

Evers’ office has not responded to requests for comment.

The Waupun prison sits in the middle of a residential neighborhood (Photo | Wisconsin Examiner)

Most of those speaking at the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC) online public hearing on community supervision – parole, probation and extended supervision – said the system is  too rigid. Instead of helping people successfully integrate back into society, they said, the system creates a tripwire of rules that can easily be broken and result in too many people being ordered back to prison when supervision is revoked.

The public hearing on July 8 took up proposed rules to amend the DOC’s Administrative Code because of a law passed in April 2014, Act 196, that directs the creation of a system of appropriate short-term sanctions for violation of conditions of supervision. The law sets out  eight criteria, including minimizing the impact on the offender’s employment and family, and offers rewards for those complying with conditions of supervision.

Of the 18 members of the public who spoke at the hearing, most addressed the need for implementing the spirit of the 2014 law to create a less burdensome system of community supervision and reduce the number of revocations that in 2023 represented over 30% of those entering prison and in 2024 reached nearly 60%.

Several people who had been on community supervision or were still serving on supervision also spoke and asked that the DOC do more than just provide accountability and make the system less oppressive and also offer resources, such as help obtaining housing.

One of the first to speak was Tom Gilbert, an advocate for WISDOM, a statewide network working on reform of the prison and criminal justice systems and other social justice issues. Gilbert, whose son has twice had supervision revoked, has been pushing since 2019 for the DOC to implement Act 196.

“Act 196 is a good law passed with broad bipartisan support, and it calls for a cultural shift in how the Department of Corrections administers its supervision programs,” he said. 

“For many years, WISDOM has called on the department to implement the law and thereby provide a solid alternative to thousands of revocations each year,” he added. 

However, Gilbert said, when he read DOC’s proposed rules for implementing the law he was upset that the DOC only stated the eight criteria without creating or describing a system for “new and revised policies and practices.”

Gilbert accused the DOC of not wanting to fulfill the intent of the law.

“This cannot be an oversight. It is a conscious omission,” he said. “To me, it signals that the DOC is not committed to creating a system of short-term sanctions, that it is not serious about shifting the community corrections program from an operation that sabotages the successful reentry of people into their communities to an operation that is focused on healing individuals, families and communities by providing the treatments and supports needed to accomplish that goal.”

Gilbert challenged the DOC’s current protocol of calling 90 days of jail a short-term sanction because, he said, even 60, 30, 21, or 14 days in jail has a negative impact on employment and family.

He also challenged the DOC’s perspective that the rules revision would only impact those on community supervision, vendors and DOC staff.

 “The decisions you and your agents make every day regarding people under your supervision widely affect families, employers, health care providers, social service providers, schools — in  other words, whole communities and this whole state,” Gilbert said. “The proposed rules should be revised by adding back the language from Act 196 that explains its whole purpose — creating a system of short-term sanctions.”

Sean Wilson, senior director of organizing and partnership of Dream.Org, a national non-profit working on social justice issues, was also critical of the proposed rule for offering no description for short-term sanctions.

“There’s no real short-term sanctions framework,” Wilson said. “Instead of building a system that redirects people before they spiral back into incarceration, this proposal simply restates the existing law; meanwhile, revocations without new convictions in Wisconsin still account for 40% of our prison admissions.” (The rate rose from 40% early in 2024 to nearly 60% at the end of the year)

“Here in this state, there are no guardrails to prevent over-punishment,” Wilson added. “The proposal leaves full revocation on the table for things like substance abuse, missed check-ins, minor violations that are far too often treated as major. There’s no real focus on rehabilitation. There’s no clear investment in helping people reintegrate successfully, and no mention of support, supportive services, trauma-informed care, or reentry pathways.”

He said the rules are “vague about how sanctions will be applied, who will review them, and how racial disparities, which are deeply embedded in our system, will be addressed.”

He also raised concerns about private contractors offering supervision, creating a “financial incentive that undermines fairness and accountability.”

Carol Rubin, a former administrative judge, also encouraged the implementation of Act 196 and was also critical of the proposed rules not fleshing out the intent of the 2014 law.

“I want to express my dismay that DOC has delayed issuing formal rules for Act 196 for 11 years, despite being ordered to issue rules in 2014 by the Wisconsin Legislature,” she said. “In the meantime, thousands of individuals have been denied the benefit of a real, short-term sanction system with trained agents that could have stabilized their new lives in the community.”

Rubin said the DOC should provide examples of how short-term sanctions should be employed to minimize the impact on employment.

“For a low violation, consider imposing a short-term sanction that does not restrict the hours that a client could be available for employment, such as a verbal or written reprimand,” she said. “For a medium or high violation, consider a brief house arrest or weekend jail sanction of two days or less that will not interfere with the client’s current or future hours of employment; if appropriate, a weekend home arrest could be repeated.”

Liz Monroe noted that the DOC’s manual for Evidence Based Response to Violations (EBRV) has two mentions of using rewards, including stating that rewards are “more effective than only using sanctions” and that incentives and rewards are “helpful for compliance and positive behaviour and that there should be at least four rewards for every sanction.”

As a reward for compliance, she encouraged reducing the supervision time, such as 30 days of compliance resulting in 30 fewer days on supervision.

Barbie Jackson, vice president of MOSES, an affiliate of WISDOM, asked for a description that “clearly defines short-term sanctions to assure that they focus on helping people avoid harmful behaviors and fulfill societal obligations, minimize disruption of the impacted person’s employment, minimize the effect on the impacted person’s family and establish incentives and rewards for compliance and positive behavior.”

Jeremy Dings, who said he had been originally sentenced to five years in prison but ended up serving 12 because of two revocations, talked about how he was unable to help his family during a health crisis after he broke a rule and was revoked. He was allso not allowed to attend his mother’s funeral.

“People on supervision have families, too, just like all of you,” he said. “Revocation for rule violation ends the person’s employment and their ability to support their family and themselves.”

Marianne Oleson, operations director for Ex Incarcerated People Organizing (EXPO), noted she had been on supervision for eight years and still had 18 more years to serve.

“I’ve rebuilt my life. Started over with nothing, and dedicated myself to helping others,” she said, “but despite everything I’ve done, I wake up every day with 18 more years of supervision ahead of me, not because I’ve reoffended, not because I’m a danger, but because the system has failed to evolve with science.”

She contended that recent research on community supervision says the ideal period is three to five years.

Oleson noted that her clients include many who have been revoked and sent back to prison for a technical rule violation. 

She said the present system often does not have the goal of rehabilitation but “surveillance disguised as support.”

“People on supervision are trying to live,” said Oleson. “We’re parenting, working, healing and giving back, but we live in fear that one misstep will erase years of progress. You have a chance to change that, to lead with justice instead of fear. Please rewrite this to reflect what the courts, the research and those of us directly impacted are telling you. Our futures matter. Please treat us like they do and we do.”

JenAnn Bauer of West Bend who had been in prison and on supervision said that “excessive supervision” creates challenges for rebuilding a life.

“Every job, every lease, every new agent and every step forward comes with extra scrutiny and extra risk,” she said. “I have done everything the system has asked of me. I pay taxes, I’ve reintegrated, I’ve contributed. These things don’t just affect the formerly incarcerated. They affect our families, our children and future generations. When a parent is stuck under financial pressure or the constant threat of being sent back for a technical violation, it creates instability that reaches far beyond one individual, it holds entire families hostage and in survival mode, and that affects the health, safety and future of whole communities and our entire state.”

Robert Thibault, vice president of Prison Action in Milwaukee, said he had been on supervision for 15 years and had experienced a “huge inconsistency” in how supervision was administered depending on the parole or probation officer (PO), adding the attitude of a PO over the interpretation of “arbitrary rules” could result in a revocation.

Meah Flowers of Madison talked of having family members going in and out of prison and the disruption that revocation causes. She encouraged implementing Act 196 to help families.

Eric Howland said there is an expectation that those coming into community supervision obtain employment, housing and a positive social network, but a 90- or 60-day jail sentence for a supervision violation negatively impacts those goals.

Why 11 years?

The DOC has not yet responded to questions from the Examiner on why it has taken 11 years to implement Act 196.  

Wisconsin Fair Maps Coalition signs on a table outside the Capitol meeting room where the coalition took testimony opposing a Republican redistricting proposal. (Wisconsin Examiner photo)

A new lawsuit filed this week in Dane County Circuit Court seeks to have Wisconsin’s congressional maps declared an unconstitutional, anti-competitive gerrymander and thrown out. 

The suit, filed Tuesday, is another attempt by Democrats and their allies to have new maps drawn before the 2026 midterm elections. Just a few weeks ago, the Wisconsin Supreme Court declined to hear two challenges to the current congressional districts. 

Republicans currently hold six of the state’s eight congressional districts. Democrats have focused on southern Wisconsin’s First District, currently held by Rep. Bryan Steil, and western Wisconsin’s Third District, currently held by Rep. Derrick Van Orden, as possible targets. 

The current maps were drawn by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and selected by the state Supreme Court, which was at the time controlled by conservatives. In that case, the Court had ruled that any proposed maps must follow a “least change” standard and adhere as closely as possible to the maps installed by Republicans in 2011. 

The new lawsuit was filed at the local level, rather than directly with the Supreme Court as an original action, a slower process but perhaps more likely to be taken up by the Court — which has declined to hear challenges to the congressional maps a handful of times in the last few years, despite the Court’s liberal wing gaining majority control after the 2023 Supreme Court election. 

The new suit was filed by attorneys from voting rights focused Law Forward on behalf of the bipartisan business group Wisconsin Business Leaders for Democracy Coalition, arguing that the current maps are unconstitutional because they’re anti-competitive. Previous challenges to the maps argued the districts were rigged to benefit the Republican party and violated equal protection laws. 

“Wisconsin’s current congressional plan presents a textbook example of an anti-competitive gerrymander,” the lawsuit states. “Anti-competitive gerrymanders are every bit as noxious to democracy as partisan gerrymanders and racial gerrymanders.”

The lawsuit adds that Wisconsin’s maps are an “anti-competitive gerrymander that artificially suppresses electoral competition.” The suit argues that when the congressional maps were drawn in 2011, the lines were drawn to protect incumbents of both parties. When those maps were largely kept intact by the Supreme Court’s “least change” standard in 2021, the decision to insulate incumbents was carried over. 

“After the Wisconsin Legislature adopted the 2011 congressional map, congressional races over the ensuing decade were, as intended, highly uncompetitive,” the lawsuit states, noting that only one congressional election under those maps was decided by less than 10 percentage points. “The Court’s adoption … of the ‘least change’ congressional map necessarily perpetuated the essential features — and the primary flaws — of the 2011 congressional map, including the 2011 congressional map’s intentional and effective effort to suppress competition.”

Nichole Robarge, right, describes the challenges faced by people with disabilities she assists when enrolling in Medicaid. With her is Kathleen Cummings, who provides similar assistance to people 60 and older. Both said impending changes to the program are likely to increase those challenges. (Photo by Erik Gunn/Wisconsin Examiner)

With the Congressional mega-bill that cuts $1 trillion from Medicaid now law, people who have relied for their health care on the state-federal insurance plan and their advocates are scrambling to figure out  how and when it will hit home.

The timing of many of the law’s changes is still uncertain.

“This bill was written very hastily,” said Tami Jackson, policy analyst for the Wisconsin Board for People with Development Disabilities (BPDD), at a discussion of the law Thursday morning in the Wisconsin Capitol.

“There are implementation dates for various pieces of Medicaid that are not all in alignment,” Jackson said. “So, you’re going to get this in waves.”

Janet Zander of the Greater Wisconsin Agency on Aging Resources paraphrased promises from members of Congress who publicly defended the bill.

“It’s really easy to listen to what we’re hearing about — ‘This isn’t going to harm us here in Wisconsin. We’re not doing anything that’s going to hurt older adults, people with disabilities, low-income families,’” Zander said. “Those of us who are working in these programs know that’s not the case at all.”

The new law imposes requirements for Medicaid participants to work or be preparing for work — although a majority already are working — or else be approved as exempt from having to meet the requirement.

That provision’s implementation date of Jan. 1, 2027 is less than 18 months away, Jackson said. And it could be up to a year before the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) produces an administrative rule to direct states on how they manage the requirement.

That doesn’t allow for much time to work out “20 or 30 unanswered questions” about how to require people to demonstrate they’re working, qualify for an exemption or prove that they’re exempt, Jackson said.

The added requirements will also impose new demands on agencies in charge of implementing the Medicaid changes in each state, as well as county agencies that help people navigate the program.

“If you are ramping up the workload and how much people have to do, and ramping up the staffing it takes to do that, that’s a lot more that counties are going to be doing locally, or will have to do,” Jackson said. “That’s going to exacerbate how many people lose coverage.”

Other items have no implementation date — which is usually interpreted as taking effect with the bill’s signing, said William Parke-Sutherland, government affairs director at Kids Forward.

“This bill, which is being kind of talked about as a tax and spending bill, is really a health care redesign bill, and it makes the most substantive changes to the health care system that we’ve seen since the Affordable Care Act,” Parke-Sutherland said.

That national health care law had four years to be implemented. With the new Medicaid changes, “we have no time in comparison.”

But the probable long-term impact remains dire, advocates said — making it harder for people to get coverage and keep coverage.

Taking together the projected loss of Medicaid coverage as well as the projected loss of Affordable Care Act coverage for low-income people who lose subsidies for their premiums that expire at the end of this year, as many as 17 million people in the U.S. could lose health care and long-term care coverage, Zander said.

The state Department of Health Services estimated in April that at least 52,000 Wisconsin residents could lose Medicaid coverage. Changes the Senate made in the bill will likely increase those estimates, however, according to advocates.

Safety-net barriers, old and new

As ultimately passed by the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives and signed into law by President Donald Trump, the legislation has thrown new barriers in front of the nation’s safety-net programs, including Medicaid as well as the federal food aid program, SNAP.

Existing barriers were already very high, advocates said.

Kathleen Cummings works for the Columbia County Aging and Disability Resource Center assisting people who are 60 or older applying for Medicaid and other benefit programs. Based on their annual income and total assets, some people on Medicare also qualify for Medicaid to cover their out-of-pocket Medicare costs.

Cummings recounted the experience of a woman who had qualified for Medicaid but recently contacted her because she was getting bills for her health care. The woman accidentally failed to renew her Medicaid coverage when the renewal form she received got buried in a flurry of other Medicaid-related mail, Cummings said.

Under current law the client can get coverage retroactively for bills incurred in the last three months. But with the new law, “that will be changing to 30 days, so we will not, in the future, be able to request that backdated coverage for bills under the situation that she is in,” Cummings said.

Another client has had extensive treatment for lung cancer, she said. The man “is just barely, barely over the federal poverty level” — about $1,300 a month.

“A lot of my clients are very proud and do what they can with what they have,” Cummings said. “But when something like lung cancer comes along, he’s suddenly faced with all these bills that he only had limited coverage [for].”

She’s helping the man apply for Medicaid coverage backdated three months to cover those bills, she said. “Once he shows proof that he qualified, which he will, [he can] get some of these bills paid.”

Nichole Robarge also works for the Columbia County ARDC, helping people from ages 16 to 59 who qualify for federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability benefits and other programs.

Robarge said that currently the disability application takes 12 to 18 months for a decision. As many as 85% of applications are denied at first, she said, and about 20% get overturned on appeal, which takes another 18 to 24 months. A second appeal, with a hearing before an administrative law judge, can take another two years.

In Wisconsin, approval for SSI automatically qualifies a person for Medicaid coverage. Until the SSI decision is resolved, however, the applicant has to apply for Medicaid separately, Robarge said — something that a disability can make much more difficult.

She pulled out the Medicaid application, which currently must be completed annually — a 41-page document that is a half-inch thick.

“Can you imagine getting one of these in the mail and having a cognitive disability or a physical disability, or maybe you had a stroke?…Or maybe you can’t read at all,” Robarge said.

“I bought a house and had less paperwork. I’ve bought a car and I’ve had less paperwork than what it takes to fill one of these out,” she added. “It’s tedious and it’s treacherous … This first barrier is huge, and this is even without getting the documents that you need to provide the proof that they’re asking for.”

Unintended consequences

The new law is poised to make those delays worse, advocates argue — blocking people from Medicaid coverage even though they meet the program’s qualifications.

“Medicaid is a wildly complicated program,” said Lisa Hassenstab, public policy manager for Disability Rights Wisconsin. “What we’ve seen in this bill is that all of these little changes [and] the unintended consequences, because people don’t understand what the program is. They don’t understand what it is, and so they don’t understand what the impact of these changes is really going to be.”

One thing the law won’t do, advocates said, is protect taxpayers.

“It won’t protect me,” said Tyler Engel, whose Medicaid coverage enables him to live more independently in the community with coverage for his caregivers.

“This bill saves money by making it so that, for somebody who is now currently eligible for health care, the provider who provides that care is not going to get paid,” Parke-Sutherland said. “This saves money by people who are currently eligible for health insurance” with federal help “not getting health insurance or having to pay more for it. That’s the only way that this bill saves money.”

Two-thirds of Medicaid participants are working, and therefore they are taxpayers, too, Jackson said.

“It’s a cost shift to the taxpayers,” said Jackson, because when people aren’t covered by Medicaid, “somebody else picks that up — whether it’s uncompensated care, whether it’s a medical bankruptcy, whether it’s your private insurance or your group premium going up.”

“If you stop paying for care, people’s care needs don’t go away,” Parke-Sutherland said. “You still pay. So this isn’t a boon to the taxpayers.”

In this "What the F is Happening" episode, I'm joined by Jane Flegal and Jesse Jenkins to perform a wake for the Inflation Reduction Act after the passage of the GOP's "Big Beautiful Bill." We sift through the wreckage to see what was saved versus what was buried, analyze the political forces that determined the outcome, and debate the core theory of ch…

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RENO, Nev. – STN EXPO West kicked off with a welcome reception on Thursday evening and proceeded into intensive training classes on Friday.

Dick Fischer and Pete Baxter, who together have over 100 years of service in pupil transportation and are both are expert witnesses in court for legal cases involving school bus collisions, led a class on school bus accident investigation.

The specially developed National School Bus Inspection Training Program and the official NHTSA Child Passenger Safety on School Buses National Training also took place, as well as a new 4-hour seminar on school bus routing.

AMF-Bruns also presented its Mastering Wheelchair & Occupant Securement Training Certification Class.

The education continues Saturday.

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The post Gallery: Special Training Sessions Launch STN EXPO West appeared first on School Transportation News.

RENO, Nev. — In a four-hour seminar on routing, consultant Kerry Somerville spoke to attendees at STN EXPO West about everything from implementing routing software and the RFP process to training and using the software.

Whether attendees came to the class Friday to become up to date on the offerings after retirement, or because they were a school bus driver being told to route themselves, or even due to being the director of safety and wanting to see the benefits of routing, all left with a deeper understanding of route specifics.

“I’m not here to talk bad about [any company], but I want you guys to be aware, to ask questions about what you’re buying and how you’re implementing it,” said Somerville owner of Transportation Planning Solutions as well as a transportation supervisor for Show Low Unified School District in Arizona.

Related: (STN Podcast E263) Not an Easy Button: Expert Gives School Bus Routing Technology Tips

Somerville explained that the RFP is the district’s opportunity to specify exactly what they want and need from software. “Designate who’s going to run the software,” he shared, adding that there needs to be a backup in case that person is unavailable.

He noted that when creating the RFP, one needs to be realistic and not ask for things that aren’t possible. Similarly, he noted it’s important to be prepared to pay for solutions that meet the requirements being asked for. He also advised not asking for good references, which any company can provide. Instead, he suggested asking about failed implementations and why they occurred.

Somerville noted that a phased implementation is a better approach, rather than implementing technology all at once. And while some districts have the expectations that the lowest bid must be accepted, that may mean they don’t get the features or functions they want or need.

One attendee shared his operation is in search of its third routing software.

When discussing what is wanted versus what is needed, Somerville noted that the bandwidth of people and the size of operation play important roles. Ask yourself, what is your end goal, he noted, adding that sometimes it’s not necessarily about implementing a new product but training on a current one.

Once new routing software is implemented, the next stage is training. He noted that five days of intense training may seem like it’s the best approach, but when it gets to day five, employees might have forgotten what you learned on day one. Instead, he advised districts engage in continuous ongoing training, citing the importance of creating a training plan.

He also said training is both the vendor and district responsibility and should include routes. If a district is implementing remote training, he said it’s important to determine if it will really work for the team.

Other aspects of implementation include student data and working with one’s IT department to make sure the nightly download is accurate. He also advised working with the district’s management team to ensure that student data is accurate and highlighted the importance of how good address data is critical.

Plus, he asked, how does your software handle changes such as adding students and routes, changing bus stop locations and deleting information? “There is no such thing as a perfect map,” he said.

He outlined pros and cons to the various type of maps available.

Maps change, Somerville explained, and there needs to be away to update them. Plus, he added that data affects the quality of routes. For instance, a left turn may have a greater penalty than a right turn, adding that UPS trucks in the U.S. are programmed to minimize or avoid left turns due to safety and efficiency benefits. On the other hand, being able to adjust speed data via software can make a significant difference in the accuracy of your runs. Other data that affect routing include attendance boundaries, hazards and walk zones.

Related: STN EXPO Scholarship Winner Has Personal Passion for Student Transportation Safety
Related: Innovation Awards Returns to STN EXPO, Vote on Site
Related: Download App for 2025 STN EXPO West Conference

Somerville said optimization should be used as a tool, not a solution. He said every year there’s a big story about a school district being promised to save millions of dollars with optimization and then it failed day one of school start up. He said all data elements affect optimization. He advised testing the runs — everything from timing, routing, time spent at each stop, and speed — the software products prior to the first day of school.

Overall, when using software, he advised using it every day as practice makes perfect. He said he finds that most school districts only use about one-tenth of the function that the software can do. “Keep the data fresh,” he said, adding to avoid the “this doesn’t work trap.”

This, he said, is why it’s important to get what you want in the RFP process.

He concluded by urging the audience to not give up. “Learning new software, new ways of doing things can be a challenge, difficult and frustrating but the reward is at the end when you can provide the answers people need quickly and easily,” he said.

The post Ins, Out of Routing Software Discussed at STN EXPO Reno appeared first on School Transportation News.

RENO, Nev. — STN EXPO West kicked off with school transportation experts Richard Fischer and Peter Baxter, who presented the “School Bus Accident Investigation: Be Prepared for a Lawsuit” session.

“You need to know more than you need to know,” said Peter Baxter Friday as the four-hour-long accident investigation session began. With the play on the famous Oscar Wilde quote, Baxter aimed to emphasize the need for transportation professionals to acquire more knowledge than they believe they will need to know in the industry.

Attendees at the session were taught about the importance of safety and preparedness within the student transportation sector, particularly as it pertains to handling incidents involving school buses. Both Fischer and Baxter said their goal was to equip attendees with essential skills in mitigating risks associated with school transportation.

Dick Fischer is widely recognized as the Father of School Bus Safety Week for successfully petitioning President Richard Nixon in 1972 for the first federal proclamation. He and Pete Baxter, a retired state director of student transportation for the Indiana Department of Education are both members of the National Association for Pupil Transportation Hall of Fame. Baxter is one of only two people to serve as president of both NAPT and the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services.

Fischer, who was recognized at the 2024 STN EXPO West with a lifetime achievement award, noted that the main priority of transportation professionals should be the students they transport. He emphasized the acronym “GOAL,” short for get out and look, when addressing how drivers should not be reluctant to exit the bus when they can’t see if a student crossed or to do a  maintenance check on the bus if needed during a route.

Fischer explained that many student transportation professionals believe that it is illegal for school bus drivers to exit the vehicle while on route. However, that is not the case. Currently, California is the only state where drivers must get off the bus to cross the road with elementary students when the bus is stopped on the opposite side of where the student’s home is located. This law was established in 1932, and since then reportedly no student or driver has been killed by an illegal passing incident.

During the seminar, Fischer transitioned into the topic of the danger zone, which refers to the 10- to 12-feet hazardous area surrounding school buses where students are at the most risk during loading and unloading. He highlighted the importance of being able to look over the hood of the bus when driving.

A scenario was acted out, where two attendees with different heights represented the difference between a shorter and taller school bus driver and how their respective danger zones are different. Fischer explained the importance of setting the driver’s seat at its lowest point to get an accurate description of the true danger zone for each driver. The ability to maintain awareness of one’s surroundings is pivotal in preventing incidents and ensuring student safety.

When the question, “What do you think the toughest task is in preventing a collision?” was asked by the speakers, many attendees were quick to respond. Some of them agreed that the toughest task is predicting the other behavior of other motorists on the road.

Fischer recommended that school bus drivers conduct department safety meetings. He suggested for directors of transportation and/or safety trainers to assign a month to drivers for organizing safety meetings while sharing ideas with them on what they could discuss during these meetings.

He also pointed out that school districts with school buses equipped with cameras should look at the recorded videos on a daily basis to prevent school bus related incidents from continuously occuring. Safe behaviors that are rewarded will be repeated but wrong behavior that is not called out or reported will be repeated as well. This is why both Fischer and Baxter emphasized the importance of reporting any unprofessional behavior instead of looking the other way. They referred to this as “CYA” or covering your “Adam’s apple.” In other words, the advised taking appropriate measures to protect oneself from potential blame, legally or otherwise.

Related: Dick Fischer School Bus Safety Scholarship Offered for STN EXPO West
Related: STN EXPO Scholarship Winner Has Personal Passion for Student Transportation Safety
Related: Accident Investigation Training Returns to STN EXPO West

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DENVER, Colo. – EverDriven, the nation’s leader in Alternative Student Transportation, today announced a major investment in technology and talent as part of its bold vision to redefine the modern student transportation experience. EverDriven’s commitment is driven by a clear mission: to build a future where every student’s journey is safe, reliable, and fully transparent. Central to that mission is future-proof technology that puts students, caregivers, and districts at the heart of our approach.

“As we look ahead, we see technology as the key enabler of modern student transportation, where seamless access, real-time visibility, and peace of mind are the standard for every ride,” said Mitch Bowling, CEO of EverDriven. “This vision drives our investment in both world-class talent and next-generation technology. We’re not just responding to today’s needs; we’re actively building the infrastructure for tomorrow’s student journeys.”

To realize this vision, EverDriven is expanding its product engineering hub and tripling its technology workforce, adding new roles across product development, UI design, engineering, and quality assurance. This investment will accelerate platform innovation and support the infrastructure needed for a more intelligent, user-centered transportation system—one that evolves alongside the changing needs of the districts, caregivers, and students EverDriven serves.

EverDriven’s innovation rollout is already underway, with new features launching in August, including real-time vehicle tracking, historical trip analysis for smarter routing, and automated driver assignment capabilities. These advancements mark the first step in a broader strategy to set new standards for safety, efficiency, and transparency in student transportation.

“We’re investing in the people and technology that will define the future of student transportation,” said Mon-Chaio Lo, Chief Product and Technology Officer at EverDriven. “Our next-generation platform will empower districts, caregivers, drivers, and students with the tools they need for the safest, most efficient experience with 360-degree visibility today and for years to come.”

To learn more about EverDriven’s commitment to modernizing student transportation through a tech-enabled, human-led approach, visit https://www.everdriven.com/technology/.

About EverDriven:
With nearly 700 school district contracts and over 31,806 students served last year alone, EverDriven is the leader in safe and technology-enabled Alternative Student Transportation. Leveraging proprietary routing technology and customized transportation services, the company has been instrumental in addressing driver shortages, helping reduce chronic absenteeism, accommodating varying bell times, and serving unique student needs related to the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, special needs, ESSA, hard-to-serve trips, and out-of-district placements. For more information, visit everdriven.com.

The post EverDriven Accelerates Vision for the Future of Modern Student Transportation with Major Tech Investments and Talent Expansion appeared first on School Transportation News.

Audi of America is growing their electric vehicle lineup as the 2025 Q6 Sportback e-tron and SQ6 Sportback e-tron will arrive at dealerships later this month. Both will be available in three different trims with prices starting at $69,600.

The entry-level Q6 Sportback Premium costs $5,800 more than the standard model and features a swoopy roofline that is 1.4 inches (37mm) lower than the traditional SUV. The crossover coupe also comes equipped with an S line exterior and 19-inch wheels. Rounding out the highlights are leather seats, a panoramic sunroof, an 11.9-inch digital instrument cluster, and a 14.5-inch infotainment system.

More: Audi Q6 And SQ6 Sportback E-Trons Bow With Sleek Styling And Up To 510 HP

The $73,400 Premium Plus trim adds an upgraded interior with a heated steering wheel, a Bang & Olufsen premium audio system, and an LED interior lighting plus package. The model also sports additional driver assistance systems such as adaptive cruise assist and an augmented reality head-up display.

The $75,400 Prestige goes even further thanks to acoustic front door glass and a 10.9-inch front passenger display. Buyers will also find an adaptive air suspension and fancier daytime running lights.

Power comes from a 100 kWh battery pack that feeds a dual-motor all-wheel drive system producing 422 hp (315 kW / 428 PS). However, this climbs to 456 hp (340 kW / 462 PS) when using Launch Control.

The setup enables the Q6 Sportback e-tron to accelerate from 0-60 mph (0-96 km/h) in 4.9 seconds, before hitting a limited top speed of 130 mph (209 km/h). Customers can also expect up to 319 miles (513 km) of range as well as a battery that can go from 10-80% in as little as 21 minutes when using a 270 kW DC fast charger.

The SQ6 Sportback e-tron is similar, but starts at $76,300. It’s distinguished by a slightly more aggressive design with alu-optic accents and 20-inch wheels.

Interior changes are more noticeable as the crossover coupe comes equipped with a three-spoke sport steering wheel and leather/Dinamica sport seats. They’re joined by stainless steel pedals, carbon fiber trim, and massaging front seats.

Styling aside, the SQ6 has an upgraded dual-motor all-wheel drive system producing 483 hp (360 kW / 490 PS) or 509 hp (380 kW / 516 PS) with Launch Control. Thanks to the extra oomph, the 0-60 mph (0-96 km/h) time falls to 4.1 seconds, while the top speed climbs to 143 mph (230 km/h). Unfortunately, the range drops to 283 miles (455 km).

On the topic of performance, the crossover has a sport-tuned adaptive air suspension as well as an upgraded front braking system. The latter boasts six-piston calipers as well as larger 14.8-inch (375 mm) discs for added stopping power.

2025 Audi Q6 / SQ6 Sportback E-Tron Pricing

Launching a robotaxi service in a major city has long been a benchmark for autonomous driving technology. Last month, Tesla took a step toward that goal by quietly rolling out a small-scale robotaxi program in Austin, Texas.

Although the service remains limited in scope and footage has shown autonomous Model Ys making some questionable moves, Elon Musk already has his sights set on expanding. His next target? The San Francisco Bay Area.

Read: Tesla’s Robotaxi Was Caught Making A Turn It Immediately Regretted

Musk made the announcement on X when asked about a potential expansion into San Francisco. According to the him, Tesla is “waiting on regulatory approvals,” but said the service will “probably [launch] in a month or two.”

In all likelihood, Tesla will adopt a similarly cautious approach in San Francisco as it did in Austin. Currently, the Austin pilot operates within a tightly geofenced area and every vehicle includes a human safety supervisor in the passenger seat. In a recent post on X, Musk said the service’s footprint in Austin will grow this weekend, though he didn’t say how much additional ground it will cover.

San Francisco is likely to prove a more challenging area for Tesla’s self-driving systems. The city is significantly more densely populated and has more challenging roads, largely due to its extreme topography and steep streets.

Stricter Regulations

Unlike Texas, where autonomous services face relatively few restrictions, California enforces tighter oversight. To operate in San Francisco, Tesla will need to secure approvals from both the California Department of Motor Vehicles and the California Public Utilities Commission, according to Reuters.

And with Waymo already running its own robotaxi service in the city for quite some time, Tesla will not only need to navigate regulation but also public perception and direct competition. Earning the trust of San Francisco riders may prove just as crucial as earning the trust of regulators.

Electric vehicles may be at the center of the automotive industry’s future, but the road to widespread adoption remains anything but smooth. Most legacy automakers say that they are huge fans of electric vehicles and want nothing more than for them to dominate the auto industry and to be in every motorist’s garage.

However, according to Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe, the biggest resistance to electrification isn’t coming from political opposition, but from the industry’s very own heavyweights.

Read: Rivian’s New R1 Quad Has 1025 HP And Tesla Charging

Since returning to the White House for a second term, President Donald Trump has made EVs a frequent target. Even before getting elected, Trump promised to scrap the ‘EV mandate’, even though no such mandate technically existed. He followed through with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which eliminated both new and used EV tax credits.

Perhaps surprisingly, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe doesn’t appear overly concerned with recent policy changes. Speaking with Business Insider, he downplayed the impact of political shifts. “Policy changes, in the end, don’t change anything,” he said.

His view is that recent shifts may even benefit Rivian and its competitors in the EV-first space “I think that the move away from some of the tailwinds that were previously in place for electric vehicles is actually good for Rivian, it’s good for Tesla, it’s bad for the US auto industry, and it’s bad for my kids,” Scaringe added.

Since neither the R1S nor the R1T qualified for the $7,500 credit to begin with, Rivian isn’t directly affected by the change. Scaringe’s focus lies elsewhere, as he is much more concerned with legacy carmakers.

The Fight Against OEMs

“We’re basically on an island fighting all the other OEMs,” he told BI. “They would never say this publicly, because publicly they’re pro-EVs — but the biggest adversaries against electrification are big OEMs. So we fight that hard. It’s so frustrating to see companies talk out of both sides of their mouth when they say they’re pro-electrification, but they’re just gloves off on the policy side. So anti-EV.”

It’s easy to understand where Rivian’s boss is coming from. Executives from many US carmakers frequently change their positions depending on which political party is in power and which policies will impact them in the short term.

Earlier this year, GM pushed tenaciously to stop California from having the ability to set its own emissions standards. Soon after, they got what they wished for, as Senate Republicans voted to strip the state of its authority to determine its own vehicle emissions rules.