There were over 70 school referendum questions on ballots across Wisconsin Tuesday, and according to preliminary results, about 62% passed and 38% failed.

The results determine whether school districts can keep up with costs, will need to make difficult decisions about cuts or even put themselves on a path to consolidation or dissolution. April ballot measures are just the latest round of school funding requests as school districts continue to struggle under the state’s current funding system.

Department of Public Instruction (DPI) Superintendent Jill Underly said in a statement that the slate of referendum requests this spring is a “clear signal” that the state is falling short of providing every child in Wisconsin with a quality education. 

“Years of chronic underfunding from the state, combined with rising costs, have pushed too many districts into an unsustainable cycle, forcing communities to repeatedly turn to voters just to meet simple, basic needs like keeping schools staffed and the lights on,” Underly said. “This is unfair to students, educators, and taxpayers alike, and it is placing an increasing strain on communities across our state.”

Underly called on the state to reinvest in students and the state’s public schools to ensure districts can “deliver the high-quality education students deserve, without being forced to rely on repeated referendums to survive.”

School districts in Wisconsin go to referendum in order to exceed state-imposed revenue caps by getting approval from voters. The practice became a part of Wisconsin’s school funding equation in the 1990s when lawmakers put caps on school revenue as part of an effort to control local property taxes. School districts’ revenue limits used to be tied to inflation, but that ended in the 2009-11 state budget, instead leaving increases up to state lawmakers and the governor, who have not provided predictable increases budget to budget. 

As a result, school districts have increasingly gone to referendum to secure funding through local property tax increases.

There were 56 nonrecurring operational requests on the ballot in April, which are revenue limit increases with an end date. In addition, there were six recurring operational requests, which do not have an end date — totaling over $1 billion in requests.

Of the nonrecurring requests, 32 passed and 24 were rejected. Of the recurring requests, five were successful and only Sauk Prairie School District’s request was rejected. 

There were 12 capital funding requests this April. Nine passed, including Howard Suamico’s $147 million funding request, and three failed, including Whitefish Bay School District’s $135 million request. 

The passage rate is a slight increase from the last election year and comes as Wisconsinites have become more concerned about property taxes, according to recent polling. In the spring of 2024, there was a passage rate of 60.2% with 103 requests on ballots. A Wisconsin Policy Forum report notes that passage rates tend to be higher amid the higher voter turnout of presidential and midterm election years. 

Some districts’ results were decided by thin margins. Butternut School District’s $2 million nonrecurring referendum request passed by one vote. Lena School District’s $6 million nonrecurring request failed by 17 votes. The Hustisford School District sought a two-year nonrecurring referendum for $1.875 million each year. It failed by about 200 votes and now the district is looking at possibly dissolving. 

A third attempt for an operational referendum by Dodgeville School District, one of three districts the Examiner profiled before the election, was rejected in a 1,680 to 1,619 vote. 

District Administrator Ryan Bohnsack said in a Facebook post that the failed referendum is not the “end of the conversation.” He told the Examiner ahead of Election Day that the district was already looking at going to referendum in November if the April request was rejected, and the request then will likely be higher. 

“It is a continuation of our next steps together,” Bohnsack wrote. “The financial challenges we face remain, and we will need to continue working through them thoughtfully and responsibly. Our focus will be on developing a plan that prioritizes our students and our staff.” 

Bohnsack also encouraged community members to advocate at a statewide level as Dodgeville’s challenges aren’t unique. 

“I encourage you to stay in contact with our state legislators and continue to ask for clear communication, transparency and long-term solutions to how schools are funded in Wisconsin,” Bohnsack wrote.

In February, a group of Wisconsin teachers, parents, students and other stakeholders represented by progressive firm Law Forward and the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the state’s largest teachers union, sued the state Legislature over the school funding formula in Eau Claire County Circuit. The lawsuit argues that the current system is unconstitutional because it does not meet the state’s constitutional obligation to provide educational opportunities to all students.

Voters rejected the $5.8 million four-year nonrecurring request by Necedah Area School District, one of the parties to the lawsuit, that was aimed at replacing the district’s last nonrecurring referendum which was first approved in April 2022 and was expiring. The request would have allowed the district to access $1.2 million in the first year, $1.4 million in the second year and $1.6 million in the third and fourth year.

Tanya Kotlowski, who has served as superintendent of the district for nine years, told the Examiner that the district has been “blessed” to pass two referendums in the past, but the recent result is “disheartening.” 

“To have this one fail after that kind of devotion we’ve tried to create, it’s hard, it’s heartbreaking, but I also am very aware of the burden that we’re placing on our taxpayers because of how schools are funded,” Kotlowski said. 

Kotlowski said the school board has not had a conversation about whether they will try again, but that cuts are likely.

“We do not have enough fund balance or enough savings to offset the costs that we’re going to have the next two years, so if, you know, if our board doesn’t have that, and we can’t run a deficit budget because we don’t have enough money in our savings account to run a deficit budget, it forces them to have to make decisions, so they will be in that position, for sure,” Kotlowski said. “Certainly we will have that conversation in April and beyond when we’re talking reductions and what the next game plan will be.”

Kotlowski said her district’s previous referendum was helping cover the full costs of special education, which are federally mandated services. The state currently picks up a little over a third of special education costs for public schools, despite promises during the state budget cycle to cover 42% this school year.

Even with the referendum, Kotlowski said her district will need to pull some money from savings to balance the budget. Now that the referendum has failed, the district will be looking at cuts, including to staff and programming. 

“We’re going to come up with as much as we can,” Kotlowski said. “If we came up with $1.4 million in one year of reductions, it would be pretty devastating, so we will come up with what we can. We’ve had conversations already today… I can say with certainty, everybody’s going to be impacted in our community.”

Kotlowski said the referendum result and the school district’s circumstances are one example of why the state’s funding formula is unsustainable and why the lawsuit is needed. 

“We’re really trying to figure out a path to financial stability, where we can anticipate and plan and predict adequate funding for the needs that we have of children within our school district,” Kotlowski said.

Wisconsin has fallen to 26th in the nation in per pupil K-12 education spending and is spending 10% below the national average, according to 2023 census data. In 2002, the state was ranked 11th and spent 11% above the national average.

“For our Necedah School District, when you look at our revenue limit, which is the authorized revenue we can bring in annually based on state law, when you look at the percentage our local taxpayers pick up and what percentage the state picks up, we have a significant gap. Our taxpayers are picking up almost 80% and the state’s picking up 20[%],” Kotlowski said. “Is it a state responsibility or local taxpayer responsibility?”

Kotlowski said that since the announcement of the lawsuit, a group of about 40 residents in the county have formed a taxpayer advocacy group. She said she thinks that the residents, who will show up to vote in November, will have a louder voice when it comes to advocating for a change in the way the state funds schools. In November, Wisconsin voters will decide who should fill the governor’s office as well as who should control the state Assembly and Senate.

“I had a taxpayer who said to me, ‘My first question for anybody who’s running for office is, How are you going to change the formula for how you fund public schools?’ That’s their first question, and depending on your answer, will decide if I vote for you,’” Kotlowski said. “We are at a breaking point, and if our community doesn’t represent that … I don’t think there’s any story that can express the lack of tolerance we have right now to fund schools the way that we have done it now for decades.”

Pennsylvania officials are investing nearly a quarter million dollars to train new school bus drivers as part of a new program aimed at improving student transportation safety across the state.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation said in a statement last month the funding will help seven school districts and transportation providers cover costs tied to training nearly 90 new drivers, including commercial driver’s license training, trainee wages, testing fees and permit costs.

Officials said the funding is part of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s newly established School Bus Safety Program, designed to expand the number of qualified drivers and strengthen safety measures for students traveling to and from school. The national school bus driver shortage remains one of the greatest challenges faced by school transportation.

“Ensuring enough drivers to safely get our students to school is another way we’re focusing on our children’s futures,” said PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll in a statement.

He added that the funding will help schools and transportation providers make student transportation more reliable.

The funds awarded will support driver training programs across multiple counties. Recipients include the Chartiers Valley School District in Allegheny County, which received $17,256 to train 12 new drivers, and Fullington Auto Bus Company serving Centre and Clearfield counties, which received $42,500 to train 25 drivers.

Other recipients include contractor Krapf School Bus – GKJ Inc. serving Chester, Dauphin and York counties, which received $98,160 to train 32 drivers; Boyo Transportation Services in Dauphin County, which received $31,250 to train 10 drivers; the North East School District in Erie County, which received $8,160 to train eight drivers; the Laurel School District in Lawrence County, which received $1,000 for driver certification costs; and DMJ Transportation in Westmoreland County, which received $50,000 to train additional drivers.

Program award funds comes from fines collected through Pennsylvania’s automated school bus enforcement system. State law allows school buses to use camera systems to capture motorists who illegally pass buses with flashing red lights and extended stop arms.

Officials said $25 of each $300 fine issued through the enforcement system goes toward the School Bus Safety Grant Program. STN contacted the districts awarded but had not heard back at this writing.

Related: Ohio Announces School Bus Safety Grant Recipients for Technology Enhancements
Related: Iowa Launches Inaugural School Bus Safety Week Poster Contest
Related: The Importance of Streamlined Communication in School Bus Transportation for Safety and Efficiency
Related: (STN Podcast E296) Technology Has Blossomed: School Bus Mirrors & Student Safety

The post $250K in Funds Awarded to Train New Pennsylvania School Bus Drivers appeared first on School Transportation News.

This report is republished by agreement with the Racine County Eye, where it originally appeared.

Democratic State Reps Angelina Cruz of Racine and Christian Phelps of Eau Claire are proposing a new plan aimed at lowering property taxes while increasing funding for public schools by using a portion of the state’s budget surplus.

Cruz hosted a media roundtable in Racine Wednesday, March 25, alongside State Rep. Greta Neubauer (D-Racine), during which they talked about the plan with the superintendents, school board presidents, and parents from Racine and Kenosha Unified School Districts.

The proposal comes as Wisconsin is set to have a $2.5 billion surplus in its 2025–27 biennial budget, according to lawmakers. Cruz and Phelps’ bill would allocate about $1.3 billion of that surplus toward education.

Both the Assembly and the Senate have held their last regular floor sessions for the 2025-26 term, so the proposal is unlikely to get a vote this year.

According to a statement released by Cruz on March 20, the proposal would increase general school aid and raise the state’s reimbursement rate for special education costs. The goal is to reduce the financial burden on local property taxpayers while improving stability for school districts.

“The proposal would use a portion of the state’s surplus to increase general school aid and raise the state reimbursement rate for special education costs, helping ease pressure on local property taxpayers and providing greater financial stability for school districts,” the release states.

Under the plan, general school aid would increase by $445,949,400 for the 2026–27 school year. By shifting more responsibility to the state, the bill would reduce reliance on local property taxes, which have been rising as districts struggle to cover costs.

Kenosha Unified Superintendent Jeff Weiss noted that property taxpayers have already seen increases of up to 29% on their tax bills.

A key component of the proposal focuses on special education funding.

Cruz and Phelps recommend raising the reimbursement rate to 60% for both the current and upcoming school years, with funding guaranteed to cover that percentage.

“While this still falls short of the level of support many districts need, increasing reimbursement to 60% would provide critical relief for public schools,” Cruz said. “It would help stabilize school district budgets and reduce the need for operating referendums in communities across Wisconsin.”

School officials say education funding needed

Currently, many districts rely heavily on referendums to maintain staffing, programs and daily operations because of limited state support.

Racine Unified Superintendent Soren Gajewski emphasized the strain this has placed on communities.

“Once again, this community and Racine have stepped up to the plate and done everything they can to support their public schools,” Gajewski said. “But the problem is, we continue to have the cost of education and the revenue limits because the revenue coming in does not match, or isn’t even close.”

Gajewski also pointed to rising costs driven by inflation and contracts for services such as food, transportation, and electricity. About 18% of students in Racine Unified receive special education services, further adding to budget pressures.

In a public letter, Gajewski joined superintendents from Madison, Milwaukee, Kenosha and Green Bay in calling for increased state support. They specifically requested raising the special education reimbursement rate to 45% instead of the current 35%, along with additional general funding.

The issue of special education funding has been especially contentious. The state’s reimbursement rate was lowered this school year, according to the Department of Public Instruction, a change that Cruz’s and Phelps’ bill would reverse.

Kenosha Unified Board of Education President Mary Modder criticized the current system.

“With special education, we have people out in the public who are saying, ‘Well, you guys got a huge increase in special education’ without realizing that we really didn’t,” Modder said. “It’s kind of a bait and switch, and then we have to make up the difference.”

Local leaders say the lack of consistent state funding has forced districts to make difficult financial decisions.

Racine Mayor Cory Mason expressed frustration with what he sees as the state shifting responsibility onto local taxpayers.

“Year after year, we see the state walking away from its responsibility to adequately fund education and putting more and more of it on local property taxpayers,” Mason said. “There’s no future where we’re successful without great public schools.”

Cruz said the proposal is intended to address what she described as years of underinvestment in public education.

“We have been living with the consequences of long-term disinvestment in our public schools,” she said. “This legislation is a step toward correcting that. By increasing the state’s investment in public education, we can support our schools while delivering meaningful relief to property taxpayers.”

This report includes additional information from the Wisconsin Examiner. 

Reports republished from the Racine County Eye are not available for republishing elsewhere.

It’s alarming: A staggering 8,000 drivers illegally passed a stopped school bus, with the stop arm deployed and red lights flashing between mid-August and Feb. 10 in Austin, Texas alone.

The Austin Independent School District (AISD) partners with BusPatrol to install cameras on every bus in the district. When a car illegally passes a stopped school bus with the red flashing lights and stop arm deployed, police issue a $300 citation after confirming a violation on video provided by BusPatrol. Every school district should be capturing the license plate of offenders. BusPatrol system has no up-front cost for a school district because they fund the program out of the revenue from fines.

The City of Austin passed an ordinance in 2015 allowing the school district to implement the program. The fine is an effective deterrent because only 1 percent of drivers who are issued a ticket re-offend. Since mid-August, 25 Waymo driverless taxis have blown by stopped school buses illegally.

Three Ways to Look at These Statistics
1. Waymo’s 25 violation are small in comparison.
2. There are 2.1 million vehicles in the greater Austin area and just over 100 Waymo autonomous vehicles. One out of every 263 normal vehicles illegally drove by a stopped school bus but one in four Waymo vehicles did. On a per vehicle basis, Waymo has 65 times more illegal drive-bys than average motorists.
3. Human drivers have a 1 percent repeat rate. Waymo AVs repeated the mistake 24 times in the last seven months.

School buses are designed to have the highest visibility possible. They’re painted bright yellow. They have flashing red lights when stopped and an arm that comes out into traffic.

Alarmed about these incidents, Kris Hafezizadeh, Austin ISD’s director of transportation, got in touch with Waymo and offered to run tests in a safe parking lot in early December so that Waymo engineers could solve this problem. Waymo updated its software a couple of weeks later as a result, but violations still have occurred since the updates.

Hafezizadeh and Austin police suggested to Waymo representatives, that until the problem is resolved, Waymo not drive during the hours that school buses are picking up and dropping off students. Waymo representatives refused and said that the cars will keep driving.

The video documentation of these violations is an important part of this story because without this evidence, Austin ISD would not know the extent of the threat that children face and the National Transportation Safety Board and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration would not have had the data that prompted their investigations.

A Waymo spokesperson is quoted by Reuters as saying, “Our safety performance around school buses is superior to human drivers” But it depends on how you look at the numbers.

In an interview with Bloomberg on Feb. 11, Waymo Co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana would not unequivocally confirm the problem has been solved.

Frightening Figure: National Epidemic
Every year, the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS) conducts a voluntary, one-day study to document how many cars illegally pass stopped school buses. Last year, bus drivers in 36 states and D.C. participated. The data was annualized and extrapolated to cover all U.S. jurisdictions. The figure is frightening: 43.5 million illegal passes a year. A NTHSA study as to why this is happening is equally disturbing: Over 30 percent didn’t care, 25 percent were in a hurry, 24 percent said they didn’t know the law, and 12 percent were distracted.

A staggering 94 percent of car crashes are due to driver error. As a result, 44,000 people are killed every year in car accidents in the U.S. and another 2.6 million end up in the hospital. So, the long-term promise of driverless vehicles is great. No more drunk driving, no more distracted driving accidents. However, currently there is a big, yawing gap between the promise and the practice.

Why Is This Important Now?
This is important right now because there is a rapid expansion of driverless cars in certain jurisdictions. In July, Waymo reported that it had completed 100 million fully autonomous rides and 250,000 paid rides per week. We are in an era of rapid expansion of driverless vehicles. This makes it critical to fix this problem as soon as possible.

Waymo operates in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Austin, Atlanta and Miami and plans to expand into Washington, Detroit, Las Vegas, San Diego, Denver and nine other U.S. and international cities this year. The service will hit more than 1 million paid robotaxi rides a week in the U.S. by the end of 2026, up from the current 400,000 paid rides a week, according to Mawakana.

It’s not just Waymo that’s rapidly expanding, all car manufacturers are deploying autonomous features. China is the most advanced market globally with 3,500 robotaxis deployed, but Goldman Sachs predicts that there will be 500,000 robotaxis across 10 Chinese cities by 2030, and UBS predicts there will be four million in China by the late 2030s. China shows us a vision of our own future. So, this problem is going to intensify.

The Way Forward
Waze and Google Maps are both owned by Waymo’s parent company Alphabet. Why not require Waze and Google Maps to publish all the school district locations on their maps and verbally warn human drivers to slow down in school zones and pay attention to stopped bus flashing lights and force Waymo vehicles to do the same?

Today, driverless vehicles only react to what they can “see” with Lidar and cameras. Future V2X technology will enable communication between autonomous systems. So, school buses will broadcast signals that Waymo and other driverless vehicles will detect and, as a result, be triggered to slow down and stop.

Predicting Illegal Passing
Safe Fleet has an AI-based Predictive Stop Arm. It looks at the speed of a vehicle and predicts whether it will illegally drive by the bus. This allows the bus driver to prevent students from getting off the bus. The system also comes with loudspeakers on the under side of the bus that warn children of a car that is not going to stop and to not cross the road.

Many school districts face serious budget cuts and constraints. The violator-funded model is not only a good deterrent but also makes the program financially possible. Districts might consider launching a public education campaign on media and social media similar to the highly effective ones launched by Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Editor’s Note: As reprinted from the March 2026 issue of School Transportation News.

Jim Harris is a one of North America’s foremost thinkers, authors and on-air analysts on AI, disruption and innovation. He keynotes internationally at more than 50 in-person and virtual conferences and events a year. Association magazine ranked him as one of North America’s top ten speakers. Jim has published five books. Blindsided! was released in 80 countries and is a No. 1 International bestseller.

Related: NHTSA Investigates Autonomous Waymo Rides After Illegal School Bus Passing
Related: Waymo Driverless Vehicles Continue to Illegally Pass School Buses
Related: Investigation into Waymo Driverless Vehicles Continues Following Latest Collision with Student
Related: (STN Podcast E297) Deep Dive into Safety: Illegal Passing & Child Restraints, Plus Green Bus Funding

The post Intersection of Autonomous Vehicles and School Buses appeared first on School Transportation News.

More than 70 school referendum questions will appear on ballots across the state in April, continuing the trend of school districts going to voters to ask permission to raise property taxes to keep up with costs.

The requests this spring include 60 operational referendum requests, totaling over $1 billion in requests, and 14 for capital expenses. Two school districts, Sauk Prairie and Howard-Suamico, have a capital and an operating request on the ballot.

The requests come as state leaders debate the best way to provide property tax relief to Wisconsinites, as a group of teachers, students and community members have turned to the court system to find relief and as districts grapple with the consequences of referendum outcomes. 

Ahead of Election Day on April 7, the Wisconsin Examiner checked in with three school districts seeking to raise property taxes to help with costs. The stakes are high in local communities as passage or rejection will determine which school programs are offered, whether staff get pay raises and whether school consolidation may be on the table.

Dodgeville tries for operational referendum for a third time

Dodgeville School District is one of four school districts in southeastern Wisconsin that have not passed an operational referendum, though not for lack of trying. 

The district is asking voters in the spring to weigh in on a $7.5 million request that would provide $2.5 million annually for operational expenses over the next three years. 

The district had a failed referendum in November 2024 and another failed request in April 2025. Its new request is a slimmed down version of the last one.

A Wisconsin Policy Forum report from April 2025 found that “retry” efforts have increased as districts have become more willing over time to retry operating referenda that failed. According to the report, from 2000 to 2017, about half of failed operational referendum requests were not retried within two years, but since 2018, more than three-quarters of operating referendum failures were retried. 

District administrator Ryan Bohnsack told the Examiner the district needs additional funds to keep up with costs. He said the district has been making cuts where it can, including by delaying technology upgrades, day-to-day maintenance and curriculum upgrades, but that can only go so far.

“We’ve gotten to the point where we know we don’t have the funds to keep operating,” Bohnsack said, adding that the district’s fund balance is below its operational balance and it will  need to start borrowing money to pay its bills.

Bohnsack said rising costs, including for staff pay, declining enrollment and stagnant state aid have all played a role in the district’s financial situation.

Randell Thompson, the treasurer for the Dodgeville School Board, emphasized that the district’s need for an operational referendum is not unique.

“If you look across the 421 school districts in Wisconsin, the vast majority have needed to go to an operating referendum at some level,” Thompson said. “Part of the state funding formula is to get local taxpayers to have a say in how much of the school budget they want to cover.”

According to 2023 census data, Wisconsin has fallen to 26th in the nation in per pupil K-12 education spending and is spending 10% below the national average. The state was ranked 11th in 2002, and at the time spent 11% above the national average. 

In the most recent state budget, lawmakers invested state funds in special education, though recent estimates find the amount of money set aside will not be enough to reimburse school districts at the promised 42% rate. The Legislature also declined to provide additional state aid to schools — blaming Gov. Tony Evers’ 400-year veto that extended  districts’ authority to bring in an additional $325 per pupil, which districts will only be able to take advantage of through raising property taxes.

A lawsuit recently filed in Eau Claire County Circuit Court is challenging the state’s school funding formula, arguing that it is unconstitutional as it does not meet the state’s constitutional obligation to provide educational opportunities to all students. 

State leaders are also discussing ways to provide property tax relief through special education funding, school funding and school levy tax credits, though discussions so far have not yielded any results. While Gov. Tony Evers wants to provide additional funding to school general aids, Republican lawmakers have proposed investing in the school levy tax credit, which provides property tax relief but doesn’t provide direct dollars to school districts. 

The last time Dodgeville had an operational referendum was in 2012, which was just a one-year ask. The district has passed two capital referendum requests since then. 

Bohnstack said this means that an operational referendum is a “new concept” to many residents in the area, but that “given the strategy at the state level now… we’re now kind of at the mercy of the local control being able to support the school through the operational day to day expenses.”

The school district lays out the distribution for the referendum on its website. A little over $1 million annually, or 43% of the referendum, would be used for staff costs, $525,591 or 21% would be for the district’s fund balance and the rest would go towards technology costs, curriculum, facilities, playground safety updates at the elementary school and classroom supplies. 

In addition to inflationary costs, Bohnstack said the district is grappling with declining enrollment, which has not helped its financial situation. 

Data from the Department of Public Instruction reports that Wisconsin public schools lost 14,087 students this year. Wisconsin school funding is a complicated per-pupil formula that is tied to student enrollment, meaning that districts receive less state funding if they have a drop in the number of students.

“The challenge I have is I could lose 100 kids in my school district, but not be able to eliminate a single teaching position, because those kids are spread out over 12, 13 different age groups, and if I was originally of class sizes in the thirties, and I now have class sizes in the twenties, I still need a teacher either way,” Bohnstack said.

The state’s funding system also leaves districts with few options, he said.

“They don’t fund special education in a way that you can budget for it,” Bohstack said. “I also see this stalemate right now all because of this 400-year [veto], $325, and to me, who pays the price right now because they won’t work together, is the educators, the kids caught in the middle and the schools and the communities,” Bohnstack said, adding that lawmakers should make use of the $4.6 billion state budget surplus to fund Wisconsin schools.

Over the weekend, Democratic lawmakers introduced a $1.3 billion proposal that would provide over $445 million towards general school aid for the 2026–27 school year and provide schools with a special education reimbursement at 60% sum sufficient, meaning schools would be guaranteed that rate. It’s unlikely that the package will advance in the Republican-led Legislature. 

Bohnstack isn’t holding his breath for action. 

“Hope is not a strategy. I have no hope that they will do anything… Let’s solve our own problems, and in the end, if they do well, we adjust,” Bohnstack said. 

Without the referendum, Bohnstack said the district is looking at freezing staff salaries. He said the district is already preparing to go to referendum in November if voters reject their spring request, though it would likely mean a larger request. 

“There were certain positions that we cut that we cut deeper than what we needed to, and we need to ensure we have the programming in place to recruit and retain teachers, so there are some staffing positions that we need to rebuild,” Bohnstack said. He added that the technology and curriculum in the district needs to be updated.

Thompson said that a later referendum likely won’t be “any easier for people from a tax standpoint, I suspect,” but the district has to “be realistic about it and plan for what happens if it doesn’t pass.”

And still, the passage of the referendum wouldn’t be the end of Dodgeville’s referendum conversations. Its nonrecurring request would end in 2029 and could put it back at the financial point where it is now.

“Either the Legislature changes the formula, or we’re going to be coming back for a referendum in three years,” Bohnstack said. “We’re not going to be able to cut our way out of this challenge that we’re currently in.”

Lake Country’s referendum to determine consolidation or dissolution conversation

Chad Schraufnagel, the district administrator of the Lake Country School District, said his district has no choice but to go to referendum. The district, which is one of seven public school districts that feed to Arrowhead Union High School District, is going for its third “retry” attempt. 

One operational request in 2024 failed, though a capital referendum passed that same year. A second operational request failed in April 2025

Schraufnagel said that without a referendum to help with operational costs, the district is looking at dissolving. 

The Lake Country request would provide the district with the ability to bring in $800,000 annually for four years through property taxes. Schraufnagel said the funds would be enough to “just give us time to try and figure out a strategic way to consolidate and move forward.”

“If we don’t get the referendum, our district [is] going to dissolve,” Schraufnagel said. “It’s going to be hard for us to keep the doors open beyond ’26-27.”

The last school district in Wisconsin to dissolve was the Ondossagon School District in 1990. It was absorbed into the Ashland, Drummond and Washburn districts.

Schraufnagel said he explains the difference to residents this way: “Consolidation, it’s a three-year, three- to four-year process, heavily involved, and it takes a lot of time to do it correctly and strategically, given all of the tax implications, contract implications, costs and things like that, but with consolidation, you have local control… Dissolution the state of Wisconsin is going to tell you how it’s going to go, and you have no more local control.”

Schraufnagel said the factors that led to the district’s financial difficulties are threefold: state aid not keeping up with inflation, overstaffing and the cost related to an unemployment benefit that could’ve been cut many years ago. 

“Those three things really were the financial nightmare for the district,” Shraufnagel said. “We could have as a district, I think, survived a combination of the two, but you cannot survive all three together.”

Schraufnagel said the district has worked to make over $1.6 million in cuts including by increasing class sizes, cutting post-employment benefits and eliminating programming such as band and Spanish courses.

“Those were very significant costs on the district that really were in control of the district… Now our problem is we’ve done all those things, but now it’s a matter of the state funding not keeping up,” Schraufnagel said. 

Schraufnagel said the previous requests were likely rejected for a number of reasons, including a large operational request for the Arrowhead Union High School District that was on the same ballot and was also rejected. He said that the district has also worked to be direct with residents on the issues at hand and why the district needs the referendum. 

Kelly Hoesly, a mother of three Lake Country School District students, is leading the “ Vote Yes” advocacy group in the district. She said the group is taking a new approach to informing community members about the referendum including watching social media and hosting events at local bars to provide answers to questions. She spoke with the Examiner one day after an event where she handed out about 130 “Vote Yes” signs to residents. 

Hoesly said she made the decision to send her children to the district because “it just felt like home” and reminded her of “my elementary school that I had growing up,” and she said she is hopeful the referendum will help prop up the district so it can make decisions about its future without its “back against a wall.”

“This referendum is about maintaining that quality of education that our students have today and supporting that,” Hoesly said. “I’m encouraged by how our community’s been engaging this time around. People are asking questions, they’re attending the meetings, they’re having conversations even with different viewpoints. It shows people care. I’m hopeful.”

The effort has not been without its challenges. Hoesly said there is a misunderstanding among some about what could happen if the referendum doesn’t pass. 

“There’s this appetite in our area to consolidate, and when talking about consolidation, everyone thinks it’s easy,” Hoesly said. 

This legislative session, Republican lawmakers, who have pointed out declining enrollment as the main reason for the funding issues plaguing schools — rather than state aid lagging inflation — have proposed that school districts look at consolidation as a solution to the funding woes that are pushing them to go to referendum. They’ve said the state’s 421 school districts constitute an “unsustainable” number of districts. 

During a public hearing in November on a package of bills meant to encourage school consolidation, Rep. Amanda Nedweski (R-Pleasant Prairie) said many districts have gone to referendum to “backfill” the loss of state aid due to declining enrollment, but that there “is no referendum that can be passed or law that can be signed to single-handedly reverse decades of birth rate declines to alleviate the stresses of declining enrollment in our schools. It’s clear that a more long-term solution is needed to address these demographic challenges because the status quo is not sustainable.”

The bills were framed as an option for schools, not mandatory. It is unclear whether the bills, which have passed the Assembly, will become law. They still need to pass the Senate before they can go to Evers to be signed or vetoed. 

Hoesly said that she has concerns given the complicated nature of school consolidation and the need for a referendum approving any consolidation. 

“In order for two districts to consolidate with one another, both voting communities have to go to the polls in a referendum vote and vote to approve it, and if one does and one doesn’t, then what?” Hoesly said. “If the communities don’t approve it, you are back at square one.” 

Schraufnagel told the Examiner that he didn’t think consolidation would not solve the school funding issue.

“If 87% of all districts, those that are K-12, are going to operational referendum, what is consolidation going to do? It’s going to delay you needing to go to an operational referendum for maybe two or three years. The funding has not changed,” Schraufnagel said. 

After consolidation, Trevor-Wilmot Consolidated Grade School District still goes to referendum

School consolidation did not end funding concerns for Trevor-Wilmot Consolidated Grade School District, though it did help stave off financial crisis for about a decade, according to District Administrator Tracy Donich.

The district was one of five school consolidations in Wisconsin between 2000 and 2022, according to WPR.

Donich said that when the districts consolidated in 2011, the move cut down on costs in some areas including as the district cut administration down to one principal and one superintendent. The state also provided incentives for school districts that opt to consolidate.

But, Donich said, costs remained the same in other areas.

“The things that don’t change are the number of students. You also have the same amount of transportation, so there are a lot of other costs that don’t go away when you consolidate, but they did what they should. That helped for a little while, and eventually that temporary funding ran out,” Donich said. 

Donich said the district “started to see a deficit budget,” which led to it going to referendum in 2022. Since the referendum was approved, Donich said the district has been considering the next one. 

Trevor-Wilmot Consolidated Grade School District is seeking a $6.8 million nonrecurring referendum. It would provide $1.1 million in year one and $1.9 million in years two, three and four. 

Donich said the district is fortunate that the community has been supportive in the past, and they have worked to provide financial updates at school board meetings as well as set up  displays at athletic events and posts on social media and the school website. 

“We’re really trying to be very transparent with the community and give them all the information they need to make an informed decision,” she said. 

This year’s April requests come as Wisconsin voters appear to be less friendly towards school funding referendum asks. Recent polling from Marquette University Law School found that 57% of voters said they would be inclined to vote against a referendum to increase taxes for schools in their communities. 

Donich said the state’s funding formula “is definitely needing some updates… so the local taxpayers aren’t feeling that pinch quite so much.”

This year, the district’s request has increased from the previous referendum to deal with inflationary costs and a lack of state funding. Donich noted that the district has to transfer over $1 million each year from its general fund to its special education fund to keep up with the mandated costs. 

“If we would not have to do that, it would really help us with having to go to referendum, possibly we wouldn’t even have to go to referendum if they had kept up even with half the amount of inflation,” Donich said. “We wouldn’t be in this situation at all.” 

Without the referendum, Donich said the district will look to cut costs by delaying technology upgrades and having classrooms cleaned less frequently.

“We need to find a way that’s sustainable to help our school system thrive and not being able to rely on the factors at the state level definitely encourages people to go to more referendums,” Donich said. “When we have to do a budget without having any idea what the state will be able to provide, federal funding shifts, the most reliable thing we have is our local community.”

School transportation departments navigate constrained budgets, staffing challenges and rapidly evolving technology that rely on procurement tools: Request for Information (RFI), Request for Proposals (RFP), Request for Bids (RFB) and pilot programs.

Using those tools properly yields optimal results. RFIs help districts—particularly large ones—understand market capabilities before committing to specifications.

RFPs allow districts to evaluate solutions based on expertise, implementation plans and long-term value utilizing a scale or scoring system for multiple companies offering similar products or services. Factors include sustainability, customer support and training. RFBs are critical for standardized purchases, ensuring transparency, fairness and fiscal accountability through objective competition. Bid specs yielding the most results consider the operational needs and what problem needs resolution.

Industry consultant Alexandra Robinson noted an RFI is a fact-finding process to ask questions, research the product and conduct demonstrations. These findings result in writing the RFP or RFB. The proof is in the real-world pilot test of the solution.

A School Transportation News reader survey last year indicated 32 percent of transportation directors and supervisors engage in pilot programs. Thirty-five percent said they submit an RFI prior to submitting an RFP. Software provider Transfinder noted it participated in 217 percent more RFPs in 2025 than in 2024.

Ashley Jones, assistant director of special projects for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) transportation department in North Carolina, noted challenges faced in preparing for an RFP process include the hurdle of balancing the wish list of operations and maintenance with budget restraints.

“We also struggle with ensuring what we buy today won’t be obsolete in two to three years,” she added. CMS released an RFP in December for transportation telematics service and hardware, to improve upon GPS tracking, driver behavior metrics and on-time arrival rates. The district formed an RFP team including transportation operations, IT team members and finance. “This prevents us from buying a software solution we can’t support or maintain,” Jones said.

CMS utilizes a weighted scoring rubric that considers pricing, experience, specific vendor offerings, and references. It holds a pre-bid meeting internally but not publicly for potential companies placing a bid, Jones noted.

“This is included in the bid and part of our scope of work,” she added. “Vendors can ask additional questions during the process if needed.”

The decision to bid is based on several review meetings involving the CMS internal transportation team to determine basic needs and potential operational gaps.

“Before drafting the scope of work, the team collaborated to categorize requirements into fundamental needs versus additional capabilities,” said Jones. “Key drivers identified for this included the benefit of an accurate telematics platform including the essential need for accurate reports for bus arrivals, the desire to improve transparency between parents and school transportation, and the requirement for advanced diagnostic tools to streamline workflow for the maintenance team.”

When developing specifications, it is crucial to ensure a district is requesting technology that is current and open to competition, Jones noted.

“Specifications must be developed from market research, pilot program opportunities and the internal transportation team,” she added.

A standardized amount of bonding and insurance is required of all vendors. Onsite maintenance is handled through an internal team for oversite. The bid winner produces a maintenance and return merchandise authorization plan.

Jones noted each vendor has different parameters regarding their product warranties. This information is included in the grading rubric and considered during bid awards. To ensure system effectiveness, the RFP includes a mandatory continuation plan.

“We require the selected vendor to assign a dedicated, full-time employee to oversee the entire initial rollout,” Jones said. “The dedicated support must continue for an additional six months to facilitate continuous training for staff and immediately address software or hardware issues that may occur in the rollout period.”

Daniel Kang, Los Angeles Unified School District transportation director, noted a source selection committee was established in the district’s most recent RFP for upgraded GPS, tablets and camera systems.

The committee of subject matter experts from dispatch, technology, fleet, and the deputy director interviewed those who already utilize the top three scoring systems.

“Having direct conversations with fellow school districts allowed for honest feedback,” noted Kang. Key questions addressed the system’s highlights, outstanding concerns, whether the district would purchase the product again, and lessons learned.

When Austin (Texas) ISD put out an RFP in 2017 for stop-arm camera technology, it included a request for a six-month pilot program “to see how they would perform—the technology, reporting system, our interaction with our police department,” said Kris Hafezizadeh, Austin ISD executive director of transportation and vehicle services.

Austin ISD used the previous solution until last April, at which point district officials released another RFP to review other existing technologies, vendors and opportunities, using similar specs from the first RFP.

Hafezizadeh assembled a panel including transportation, law enforcement and legal representation to observe a presentation by top vendors, awarding the contract after school board approval to BusPatrol effective last May 1.

Hafezizadeh noted the district’s procurement office handles much of the RFP details: Writing the correct specs, considering the technology involved, and others involved in the process.

The district’s panel viewed proposals using Bonfire procurement technology, a cloud-based platform offering online solicitation, submission contract evaluation and management, and vendor performance. Hafezizadeh said RFP priorities were customer service, quality and responsiveness followed by financial and technical aspects.

“If you’re dealing with a district [of] our size, we are not awarding something to a company that may not know anything about [the issue] and are still trying to get the experience,” he said.

The contract stipulates Austin ISD gets 65 percent of each $300 citation, and BusPatrol gets 35 percent. “With the stop-arm cameras, we want the highest revenue shared with us, and the best technology and process as possible,” Hafezizadeh said.

Equipment, installation implementation and maintenance is no cost to the district, said Hafezizadeh, adding funds from the citations are used to pay police officers for time they invest in approving or disqualifying violations as well as the appeal judge the district hires to hear monthly appeals.

Hafezizadeh noted support requires attending community and PTA meetings and discussions with local and state legislators. The Austin ISD web page outlines the stop-arm law and consequences when motorists are cited.

In creating specs, Hafezizadeh said he wants a turnkey operation, including maintenance. Also, key are the implementation timeline and training bus drivers on the technology.

The RFP also addresses district and vendor responsibilities regarding financial matters, bonding and insurance. The process includes what kind of insurance the company needs to have to be qualified to send its proposal. When a video camera is not working properly, BusPatrol is tasked with sending a maintenance team to check on its status and make repairs. Hafezizadeh serves as project manager. A district police chief serves as a direct contact for violations, hearings or legal issues.

In its contract, BusPatrol indicated what it will take care of in the case of a collision, such as if a camera is hit and damaged.

“They replace it,” Hefezizadeh said. “The equipment belongs to them.”

As part of a continuation plan, he meets with BusPatrol bi-weekly to review previous months’ reports and discuss topics such as providing more community educational opportunities.

Ohio Pilot Programs Target Improved Reliability, Efficiency

As student transportation professionals across the country grapple a host of challenges, two pilot programs in Ohio seek insights into how to improve access, reliability and cost-effectiveness in pupil transportation.

The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (ODEW) said the pilot programs aim to inform future strategies and guide the development of comprehensive solutions to address ongoing absenteeism, high transportation costs, outdated student rosters, noncompliance with individualized education programs (IEP), and reliability and efficiency.

Established under the 135th General Assembly’s House bills 33 and 250, the programs are designed to explore alternative transportation methods and address inefficiencies in the current system. ODE established the pilots for the Educational Service Center of Central Ohio (ESCCO) and the Montgomery County Educational Service Center (MCESC). They launched the pilots for the 2024-2025 school year. In a program summary, ODEW said both organizations are tasked with identifying students facing transportation difficulties, arranging approved vehicles for eligible students, and ensuring compliance with transportation requirements for students with disabilities as outlined in their IEPs.

ODEW funds the programs by deducting the statewide average cost per student—$1,214.29 for fiscal year 2025—from participating districts’ state transportation payments. Additionally, the educational service centers received federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief grant funds to support transportation expenditures.

The MCESC pilot program, branded as Ride Smart Ohio, focuses on using alternative vehicles with a capacity of nine passengers or fewer, according to ODEW.

The program not only provides transportation for students but also creates flexible income opportunities for teachers, staff and community members. Ride Smart Ohio utilizes advanced software from Trust-Ed to ensure a secure and user-friendly system, empowering school staff to play an active role in transportation efforts.

In fiscal year 2025, MCESC received over $493,000 in funding for the pilot program. For fiscal years 2026 and 2027, the program will receive $250,000 annually to continue its operations.

As of November, Ride Smart Ohio entered service contracts with six districts, including West Carrollton, Mad River, Valley View, Northmont, Oakwood Schools, and Dayton Public Schools. Seven active drivers currently provide daily transportation for 13 students, including seven who attend Ohio Deaf and Blind Education Services.

The program has prioritized safety and compliance, completing 100 percent of vehicle inspections and driver physicals before the school year began. Updated driver training modules have been implemented to align with state rules. Looking ahead, Ride Smart Ohio plans to recruit and onboard new drivers, enhance data reporting, schedule refresher training, and review fleet management before winter maintenance.

The ESCCO pilot program, which concluded last June, focused on providing transportation for Columbus City Schools. During its operation, 23 drivers transported 60 to 65 students to three community schools. The program received over $5 million in funding for fiscal year 2025.

ODEW highlighted key findings in September. It found that participating students saw improved attendance, averaging 13 more days in school compared to the previous year. Non-school bus transportation using smaller vehicles proved effective and reliable, but the cost of third-party contractors was significantly higher—more than five times the amount received through state transportation funding.

Additionally, outdated and inaccurate student roster information from schools created delays and extra work. Despite these challenges, families and community school participants expressed high satisfaction with the program state funding model.

Editor’s Note: As reprinted from the March 2026 issue of School Transportation News.

Related: Building a Successful RFP
Related: Student Transportation Veteran Provides Tips for School Bus Technology RFPs
Related: Leading the Modernization of Student Transportation
Related: (Recorded Webinar) Evaluating School Bus Technology RFPs and Suppliers

The post More Than a Letter Game appeared first on School Transportation News.

A St Croix County school district that has become the target of right-wing politicians and activists for allowing students to use restrooms corresponding to their gender identity is now being investigated by the Trump administration Department of Education over the practice.

The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced in a press release Thursday it was investigating the New Richmond School District “based on reports that the District is allowing biological men to use female restrooms.” 

The head of a Wisconsin LGBTQ+ rights group Friday called the administration’s action an attempt to “bully” school children. 

“The law protects trans girls and their ability to use the girls’ bathroom,” said Abigail Swetz, executive director of Fair Wisconsin. “A federal department’s press release does not, and cannot, change law. However, a federal administration can bully our kids, and that is exactly what this announcement of an investigation is.”

The New Richmond district superintendent, Troy Miller, was not available for comment early Friday afternoon. 

New Richmond policy attacked, defended

The Trump administration’s action follows its increased targeting of states that allow students to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity, including threatening to withhold federal funding. It also follows increasing attention on the New Richmond district’s policy from right-wing advocacy groups such as Moms for Liberty and Wisconsin Republican political campaigns.

A public discussion of the district’s policy arose at a Jan. 29 meeting of the district’s school board, the Hudson Star Observer reported, with community members speaking for and against allowing students to choose the restroom they use. Opponents of the policy included a school board candidate, the newspaper reported.

Videos posted from a meeting in February to the Facebook page NR Students Against Moms for Liberty show a handful of students speaking in favor of allowing students to use the restrooms they are comfortable with. 

“I’m a woman at New Richmond High School who uses the women’s bathroom, and I ask that you hear my perspective. As a woman, I’m not afraid to use the bathroom with someone who is transgender,” one student said. “While fear around potential violence in bathrooms is totally valid, potential worries about what can happen in the bathroom are misplaced. Trans people are not scary or pedophiles. They are our community members.”

In a presentation prepared for that Feb. 10 meeting, legal counsel for the school board defended the policy respecting gender identity. A 2017 federal appeals court ruling in the case Whitaker v. Kenosha Unified School District No. 1 Board of Education “defined ‘sex’ under Title IX to include gender identity,” according to the presentation slide — meaning that schools must allow students to use bathroom facilities consistent with their gender identity.

At a meeting in late February, Board President Bryan Schafer said district lawyers have told the board that the district is following current law and following case law, the Hudson Star Observer reported. School board members voted at that meeting to look into adding more school restrooms and rejected a call for an internal investigation.  

Republican politicians, candidates weigh in

A week after the issue first arose in January, U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany posted on Facebook a demand that the district reverse its policy. Michael Alfonso, who is running in the 7th Congressional District race to succeed Tiffany, has posted on his campaign Facebook page at least five times in the last month about the policy, directing increased national attention to the district. State lawmakers from the area have also weighed in. 

Alfonso is the son-in-law of Transportation Sec. Sean Duffy, who previously represented the 7th District, and recently was endorsed by President Donald Trump. 

“I would expect this from Madison or Milwaukee or some crazy liberal place but not northern Wisconsin,” Alfonso said in a video he filmed with his wife, Evita Duffy-Alfonso, on the way to a school board meeting. “This is why it’s so important for conservatives to remember that elections have consequences. There’s no reason that we should have liberal lunatics on our school boards. We need to make sure we’re getting out to vote in April and August and November because we have a very good chance to take our state back.”

The Department of Education press release Thursday said the agency’s Civil Rights Office “will determine whether the District violated Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) by allowing students to access intimate facilities based on ‘gender identity,’ not biological sex.” The press release states that an unidentified student in the district has “fear, embarrassment, and anxiety” and no longer uses the restrooms while in school due to the district policy.

Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said in a statement that the department will investigate the complaint fully and address any violation promptly.

“Young women should never be forced to share intimate spaces with boys and men because school leaders care more about radical gender ideology than protecting girls’ safety, dignity, and privacy,” Richey said. “School board members who ignore these allegations are failing the families they serve.” 

Defending students’ choices, gender identity

Swetz of Fair Wisconsin said in a statement to the Examiner Friday that the Whitaker v. Kenosha decision is “very clear when it comes to accessing bathrooms in schools” in its finding that Title IX protects gender identity. 

“Wisconsinites and Americans are tired of this relentless bullying campaign against kids, families, educators, and schools,” Swetz said. These attacks are not only wrong, but also a significant misdirection of resources and focus.”

Sen. Melissa Ratcliff (D-Cottage Grove), who is the mother of a transgender adult child and a co-chair of the state Legislature’s Transgender Parent and Nonbinary Advocacy Caucus, issued a statement Friday defending respect for students’ gender identity.

“Every student deserves to feel safe, respected, and supported at school. Schools have a responsibility to create safe and welcoming environments where all students can learn without fear of discrimination,” Ratcliff said. “Policies that recognize and respect students’ gender identity are consistent with the spirit of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and the values of fairness and inclusion we strive to uphold in Wisconsin schools.”

Ratcliff said the local school board’s decision should be respected. 

“Local school boards are best positioned to make such decisions that reflect the needs of their schools while ensuring every child is treated with dignity and respect,” Ratcliff said. 

Nevertheless, there have been ongoing legal challenges over school bathroom policies in Wisconsin, and some school districts in Wisconsin have adopted policies that restrict transgender students. 

Just before Trump took office in January 2025, a federal judge overturned a Biden administration order extending Title IX to include protections for gender identity. On his first day in office, Trump reversed other Biden administration orders protecting gender identity and LGBTQ+ rights. Since then, the Trump administration has systematically erased references on federal websites to gender identity, labeling the concept as “gender ideology” and substituting “sex” in its place. 

In addition to Moms For Liberty, the right-wing Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) has also called attention to the New Richmond district. WILL recently put out model policies that would separate bathrooms based on sex.

“This is a welcome decision by the Trump Administration to enforce Title IX and protect girls’ privacy,” WILL Deputy Counsel Cory Brewer said in a statement. “For too long, school districts in Wisconsin have allowed policies that force young girls to share private spaces with biological males.”

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. and CLEVELAND, Ohio –Transfinder Corporation is pleased to announce Cleveland Metropolitan School District in Ohio has selected Transfinder’s award-winning solution Tripfinder to manage its field trips.

The district spans nearly 80 miles and serves 35,000 students attending more than 100 schools from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade.

Transfinder President and CEO Antonio Civitella welcomed Cleveland Metropolitan School District to the Transfinder family.

“We are so happy to have Cleveland Metropolitan School District as a client.” Civitella said. “Large and small districts alike benefit from having this powerful tool that has Artificial Intelligence Optimization embedded in it. Because it is highly customizable, districts like Cleveland Metropolitan can tailor their experience to their individual needs.”

About Transfinder:
Founded in 1988 and headquartered in Schenectady, New York, Transfinder is a national leader in intelligent transportation systems, providing transportation management systems and services to municipalities, school districts and adult care facilities. Transfinder, has been on Inc. magazine’s “fastest-growing company” list for 13 years. The software and hardware company has received numerous awards, including Best Software, Best Hardware and Best Safety Technology. In addition, Transfinder has repeatedly won Best Places to Work, Top Workplace and Best Companies to Work for accolades. Transfinder develops and supports routing and scheduling solutions for optimal transportation logistics. Transfinder also created the award-winning Patrolfinder policing technology to assist law enforcement. For more information, visit www.transfinder.com

The post Cleveland Metropolitan SD Picks Transfinder appeared first on School Transportation News.

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. and GLASFORD, Ill. – Transfinder Corporation is pleased to announce Illini Bluffs District #327 in Illinois has selected Transfinder’s award-winning routing solution Routefinder PLUS to create the safest and most efficient routes for its students.

Located in Glaston, Illini Bluffs transports 70 percent of its student body to one of three school buildings and covers 174,000 miles each year.

In addition to PLUS, Illini Bluffs purchased the parent app Stopfinder and Viewfinder, which gives users a bird’s eye view of the district’s transportation operation.

Transfinder President and CEO Antonio Civitella welcomed Illini Bluffs to the Transfinder family.

“We are so happy to have Illini Bluffs as a client.” Civitella said. “Large and small districts alike benefit from having this powerful tool that has Artificial Intelligence Optimization embedded in it. Because it is highly customizable, districts like Illini Bluffs can tailor their experience to their individual needs.”

About Transfinder:
Founded in 1988 and headquartered in Schenectady, New York, Transfinder is a national leader in intelligent transportation systems, providing transportation management systems and services to municipalities, school districts and adult care facilities. Transfinder, has been on Inc. magazine’s “fastest-growing company” list for 13 years. The software and hardware company has received numerous awards, including Best Software, Best Hardware and Best Safety Technology. In addition, Transfinder has repeatedly won Best Places to Work, Top Workplace and Best Companies to Work for accolades. Transfinder develops and supports routing and scheduling solutions for optimal transportation logistics. Transfinder also created the award-winning Patrolfinder policing technology to assist law enforcement. For more information, visit www.transfinder.com

The post Illini Bluffs SD #327 (IL) Picks Transfinder appeared first on School Transportation News.

At 6:42 a.m., a parent refreshes an app on their phone for the third time in two minutes,
watching a small bus icon inch—or not—across a digital map. In school districts across the
country, that moment has become part of the daily routine.

When they work, they build trust. When they don’t, the breakdown is immediate, public and loud. School bus tracking apps, once marketed as a simple way to reduce anxiety and improve communication, continue as a high-visibility link between transportation departments and families.

Growing Pains
While many schools across the country are quite satisfied, some have had problems.
Osceola School District in Florida launched an app at the start of the school year. By January, the district was forced to notify families that the app was not functioning properly. The school district is still trying to work out its glitches.

Prince George’s County Public Schools, which operates roughly 1,000 bus routes daily in Maryland outside of the nation’s capital, adopted a mobile app to give parents real-time tracking and schedule alerts. Persistent reliability issues and mounting parent complaints
prompted the district to abandon the platform and migrate to a new app instead.

Tech Hiccups Aside, Bus Tracking Apps Experience Growing Use and User Satisfaction

Despite technical hiccups, data-integration challenges and the pressure of public scrutiny, school bus tracking apps have become common implementations in pupil transportation.

The Houston County School District in Perry, Georgia has used CalAmp technology for its school bus fleet since 2019 to much satisfaction. The district has 265 school buses that transport approximately 16,000 students twice a day on 180 bus routes. Houston County
initially partnered with CalAmp to utilize the core technology of GPS fleet tracking, comparative analysis, time and attendance, navigation, and engine diagnostics. After its initial installation, the school district added the Here Comes the Bus parent app.

“The fleet tracking system is a world above our previous product and gives us the ability to know instantly the location of a bus, its speed, its status on the route, as well as a history of the buses’ activity,” explained Tom Walmer, Houston County’s director of transportation.

“The tracking system as well as the dispatch monitor module allows staff to have real-time data available to ensure buses are on their routes which stops have been completed, which stops may have been missed, and enhances our ability to address emergency situations as they arise. The navigation capability makes the job of a bus driver much easier and safer. No more need for inexperienced drivers or substitute drivers to fumble with route sheets or printed directions because it is all on the tablet, giving them directions and stop location notifications. Comparative analysis and engine diagnostics are essential tools for supervisors and staff to monitor performance and eliminate issues that we may not have known about otherwise.”

Houston County Schools is not the only district in Georgia to have had success with CalAmp. Trey Stow, the director of transportation operations for Fulton County Schools serving the Atlanta metropolitan area, said over 89,000 users within the school district also use CalAmp Here Comes the Bus app. Stow says the app “works well and is heavily relied upon.”

The experiences of Houston County and Fulton Country are catching on for many other school districts as usage of bus tracking apps continues to grow.

“We are up to 1.7 million active users,” Adam Ortlieb, senior product marketing manager at CalAmp, said. “Parents expect this capability for improved student safety and more efficient use of their time. School districts are aligned on those priorities. Plus, both transportation staff and parents benefit heavily from efficiency gains.”

Integration is Key
Lam Nguyen-Bull is the chief experience officer at Edulog and leads the company’s advisory services team. Edulog claims it is the original school bus routing software company and has been providing routing and planning software solutions to districts across North America since 1977. Nguyen-Bull said a key attribute to success is integration with other software and applications such as routing and GPS systems as well as scanning systems that register students boarding the bus.

“The reality is that many parents currently track their kids via their cell phones,” she said. “The key is that a useful student ridership application has to be completely integrated with the routing system to provide information that is specific to the student’s trips to and from school. The app needs to let parents know when the bus is planned to arrive at the stop and then give the parents a heads up when the bus is nearby. Then, as the student boards the bus, the ridership piece kicks in. The student scans on with an RFID card, maybe a bar code, or the driver “boards” the student on a mobile data terminal (tablet) application. Parents are notified in the app that the student has boarded the bus. Similarly, the parents are notified when the student exits the bus. This might happen a couple of times each morning if the student transfers buses during their trip to school.”

Once implemented and adopted, it’s important for schools to monitor the utility of new apps and features, as well as their effectiveness.

Houston County School District pays attention to the data metrics readily available as subscribers to the CalAmp applications.

“We currently have approximately 15,536 stakeholders utilizing the HCTB app notifications,” said Walmer. “That number is an indication of the success of the roll out. When my staff takes parent calls about bus stop locations and times, it is our practice to ask if the parent utilizes the app. The majority of the time, the answer is yes and includes positive comments. If they do not use the app, it is our practice to bring it to their attention and encourage them to download the app. A testament to the popularity of the app is away from work while in the community. Whether at church, the grocery store or such, when a person finds out that we work at the school district transportation department, people give unsolicited feedback about how much they love the app.”

Stow with Fulton County Schools said app usage indicates when there might be an issue like a school bus driver forgetting to log into a route.

“The phone calls tend to increase in measure and expose an issue,” he said. “CalAmp provides excellent customer service with their team and always resolves any issues quickly which helps us provide the best service possible.”

App Features ‘Wish List’ Continues to Grow

While bus tracking apps are progressing along a curve of early integration, there are many features that users and app producers wish to see.

“We are currently in the process of implementing an existing feature of the Cal-Amp technology and Here Comes the Bus: Student ridership scans,” said Walmer. “We piloted the ridership scans in May of 2025 and had new hardware installed on all of our buses over the summer. We did a soft roll out of the scans at the beginning of this school year and will have full implementation later this month. This is another excellent feature that enhances student safety. Transportation department and school staff have the ability to see from their computers what students are on any given bus in real time, or search for an individual student to see what bus a student is on. It also allows us to see where and when a student boarded or exited a bus. This enhances our drivers’ ability to be successful by notifying them when a student scans whether they are an eligible rider or not, and whether they are the assigned bus or not. It will also notify the driver when a student scans to exit the bus at a stop other than their assigned one.”

Transfinder is another producer of apps for pupil transportation. “Based on what Transfinder is hearing from our clients as well as from the industry at large, a common wish list of items include predictive ETA adjustments [and] not just real-time location, but responsive to outside forces such as traffic, localized emergency alerts, notifications specific to route disruptions due to weather, accidents, or school closures with recommended alternatives,” said spokesman Rick D’Errico.

He continued, “If alerts are tailored to just those impacted, the likelihood of parents not silencing their alerts is increased, and language [translation] for multilingual support.”

Edulog’s Nguyen-Bull said gaps are in daily operations. “Try as we might, we have not come up with a card that can’t be lost or misplaced,” she said. “That’s why it is so beneficial to have a Plan B, for example, an interface that allows a bus driver to mark that a student has boarded the vehicle. Districts find out that this becomes an onerous task for drivers if it gets out of hand. That is, if Plan B is invoked too much. Some districts charge families for replacement cards, but that approach has its shortcomings, too.”

Ortlieb of CalAmp added the company is releasing more advanced safety, security and efficiency features. “For example,” he explained, “giving districts the option to prevent bus location details from appearing on a map until the vehicle enters the radius specified by the district. Single sign-on for the parent app is a very well-received new enhancement. It offers simplified, secure parent access, and allows districts to systematically manage passwords and deprovision users who should no longer have access.”

Bus Tracking Apps Are Becoming Standard

As school transportation continues its steady adoption of digital technologies, bus tracking apps are no longer experimental add-ons. They are now core service expectations. The experiences of districts highlighted show both sides of that reality: Early frustrations when systems falter, and measurable gains in efficiency, safety, and parent confidence
when technology is implemented thoughtfully and supported consistently.

The most successful deployments share common traits—tight integration with routing and dispatch systems, strong vendor support, clear communication with families, and ongoing measurement of adoption and performance.

Just as important, districts are learning that technology alone is not enough. Daily operational discipline, driver training, and contingency planning remain critical to success.

As features evolve from basic location tracking to predictive ETAs, ridership verification, and targeted alerts, the value proposition will only grow. For transportation leaders,
the takeaway is clear: Bus tracking apps, when executed well, reduce uncertainty, strengthen trust, and transform how districts connect with the families they serve turning a once anxious morning ritual into a more predictable, transparent start to the school day.

Editor’s Note: As reprinted from the March 2026 issue of School Transportation News.

Related: School Bus Tracking Apps Ease Pain Points for Everyone
Related: Georgia School District Implements Student Tracking App
Related: School Bus Adaptive Technology: Safer Rides, Stronger Teams, Better Access
Related: Feeling Super About Transportation Technology?

The post Where Is the Bus? appeared first on School Transportation News.

There were many thoughtful celebrations during Love the Bus Month in February from school districts and transportation companies across North America that recognized their student transportation staff with events and gifts highlighted via social media posts.

Scroll through this year’s gallery for a glimpse of the festivities.

1 of 80

Related: WATCH: West Virginia Highlights School Bus Inspection for Love the Bus Month
Related: Update: Love the Bus Month Underway, NAPT Seeks Recognition Year-Round
Related: Gallery: Love the Bus Month 2025 Celebrations

The post Gallery: Recap Love the Bus Month 2026 appeared first on School Transportation News.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. —HopSkipDrive, a leading technology company partnering with
school districts to get kids to school more quickly, safely, and easily than anyone else, today announced advancements to its “on-time engine” designed to simplify the school day. By blending nearly a decade of Google Maps integration with real-world operational data, HopSkipDrive has achieved a meaningful reduction in lateness and early arrivals, ensuring students spend more time in the classroom and less time in transit.

While standard navigation gets a driver to a street address, student transportation requires navigating the “Timing Gap”—the complex minutes spent inside school loops and pickup lanes. For the students who are not a fit for the traditional bus, including those in foster care or with specialized IEP needs, this transition is critical; these riders often rely more heavily on a consistent and safe experience to start their school day successfully.

“We know that transportation directors spend 95% of their time solving for the last 5% of their students, the McKinney-Vento and IEP riders who require the most care. Five minutes can be the difference between a student receiving their morning meal or missing their first class,” said Corey McMahon, Chief Product and Technology Officer at HopSkipDrive.”We pair over a decade of operational data with purpose-built technology to deliver the exact precision needed to consistently improve on-time arrivals.”

Innovation Through Direct Accountability Coupled With Advanced Technology HopSkipDrive is able to make these advancements because of how it leverages data and technology and its direct driver relationship model. The company doesn’t subcontract to unknown third-party providers, giving HopSkipDrive the direct visibility needed to constantly improve the in-ride experiences, making it possible to provide a higher level of care and consistency. Specifically, three core innovations have helped accelerate the company’s work to improve timeliness:

● Predictive “Procedure Time”: By applying over 10 years of data to create and refine predictive models for unique cases, HopSkipDrive can more accurately predict the time it takes for students to safely and comfortably enter or exit a vehicle, ensuring they are supported without feeling rushed.

● Enhanced CareDriver Instructions: By improving the quality of pickup notes for complex school layouts, HopSkipDrive has doubled the quality scores of driver instructions, leading to smoother handoffs and fewer delays.

● Verified Location Pins: Navigation goes beyond the front office to provide precise map pins for the specific door or lane where a student is waiting, ending pickup confusion for good.

Real-Time Visibility for School Staff
To ensure these improvements translate into smoother school days, HopSkipDrive provides total transparency through a connected suite of tools designed for every stakeholder. By surfacing real-time data across RideIQ for administrators, Daily Queue for school staff, and the HopSkipDrive App for parents and caregivers, we provide real-time certainty into a student’s journey. This connected system is designed to eliminate the “game of telephone” and ensure that every student is safe and accounted for.

This ecosystem is backed by the Safe Ride Support team—in-house specialists who serve as “human-eyes-on-every-ride”. This proactive monitoring ensures that potential hurdles are identified and solved before they ever result in a phone call to the transportation office.

“Daily Queue has allowed me to fully focus on my role as a ride organizer by saving me valuable time,” said Marcy P., Director of Transportation at Littleton Public Schools.”Allowing on-site staff to see live ride data means they can effectively track rides, leading to better hand-offs and coordinating smoothly with CareDrivers.”

A Proven Standard of Safety for Better Student Outcomes Consistent, on-time transportation is critical for student well-being, and HopSkipDrive views timeliness as a fundamental safety requirement. By ensuring students arrive on time and ready to learn, HopSkipDrive helps districts reduce chronic absenteeism for vulnerable populations who might otherwise needlessly miss school due to transportation gaps.

“Our model is built on prevention, not reaction,” added McMahon.”By removing the middleman, we prevent the communication breakdowns that cause delays. This ensures district budgets go directly toward a reliable student experience and driver quality, protecting both learning time and the district’s bottom line.”

About HopSkipDrive:
HopSkipDrive is a leading technology company partnering with school districts to get kids to school more quickly, safely, and easily than anyone else. The company is modernizing the $30 billion school transportation industry through two core solutions: a care-centered transportation marketplace and an industry-leading transportation intelligence platform, RouteWise AI.

HopSkipDrive’s marketplace supplements school buses and existing transportation options by connecting kids to highly-vetted caregivers on wheels, such as grandparents, babysitters, and nurses in local communities. RouteWise AI helps schools and districts address critical challenges, including budget cuts, bus driver shortages, and reaching climate goals. HopSkipDrive has supported over 13,500 schools across 21 states, with nearly 1,300 school districts, government agencies, and nonprofit partners. More than five million rides over 95 million miles have been completed through HopSkipDrive since the company was founded in 2014 by three working mothers.

The post HopSkipDrive Protects Student Learning Time by Solving the Transportation “Timing Gap” appeared first on School Transportation News.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -HopSkipDrive, a leading technology company partnering with school districts to get kids to school more quickly, safely, and easily than anyone else, today released new data highlighting the impact of its expert-developed CareDriver education and the deep experience of its driver network. Following the launch of the company’s industry-leading driver education program focused on supporting students with neurodivergence, internal data reveals that 94% of surveyed CareDrivers say they feel confident supporting neurodivergent riders, a result that translates directly into greater preparation for students and better experiences for students, families, and school staff. Additionally, 85% of surveyed CareDrivers found these proprietary resources, developed in partnership with nationally recognized child development leaders, essential in preparing for these specialized rides.

Defining the “Caregiver on Wheels”

Unlike traditional rideshare platforms or traditional unlicensed brokers, HopSkipDrive vets the human, not just the paperwork. CareDrivers are highly qualified individuals from the community—often parents, nurses, or educators—who provide a dignified and supportive experience for students.

Reflecting a deep well of expertise within the network, CareDrivers bring a median of 10 years of prior caregiving experience. Every CareDriver is vetted through a rigorous 15-point certification process, which includes fingerprint-based background checks and mandatory video screenings to evaluate empathy and situational judgment before their first trip.

“My son’s driver was patient and understanding with him since he’s a special needs child,” says Andrea O., a parent in Los Angeles. “She always watched him get inside the building before she took off to make sure he got in safely. She provided a safe and calm atmosphere.”

The Differentiator: Education That Empowers Care

School districts often spend 95% of their time solving transportation for the most vulnerable 5% of their students, such as those with IEPs or those experiencing homelessness. HopSkipDrive’s customized curriculum provides CareDrivers with practical skills in:

Trauma-informed care to support students during difficult transitions.

Supporting neurodivergent riders and understanding sensory sensitivities to ensure a calm ride environment.

De-escalation techniques for proactive ride management.

“The integration [of HopSkipDrive] has significantly streamlined our processes, allowing for a smoother and more responsive service for our students,” says Marcy P., Littleton Public Schools in Littleton, Colorado. “It allows me to fully focus as a ride organizer by saving me valuable time.”

The Power of Direct Accountability

This specialized preparation is a primary differentiator of HopSkipDrive, which prioritizes direct accountability and verified oversight for every trip. As a fully licensed and regulated Transportation Network Company (TNC), HopSkipDrive maintains a direct relationship with every CareDriver on the platform. This allows for rigorous, transparent reporting and a level of verified compliance that provides school districts with peace of mind and reduced liability.

“Safety and education are not add-ons; they are the foundation of our entire model,” says Jennifer Brandenburger, SVP of Safety at HopSkipDrive. “Because we maintain a direct relationship with every CareDriver, we can ensure our specialized education reaches every person behind the wheel without a ‘game of telephone.’ This direct accountability ensures drivers are not just vetted, but truly prepared for the students they serve, providing districts with a level of verified compliance and risk reduction that subcontracted models simply can’t guarantee.”

About HopSkipDrive:
HopSkipDrive is a leading technology company partnering with school districts to get kids to school more quickly, safely, and easily than anyone else. The company is modernizing the $30 billion school transportation industry through two core solutions: a care-centered transportation marketplace and an industry-leading transportation intelligence platform, RouteWise AI. HopSkipDrive’s marketplace supplements school buses and existing transportation options by connecting kids to highly-vetted caregivers on wheels, such as grandparents, babysitters, and nurses in local communities. RouteWise AI helps schools and districts address critical challenges, including budget cuts, bus driver shortages, and reaching climate goals. HopSkipDrive has supported over 13,500 schools across 21 states, with nearly 1,300 school districts, government agencies, and nonprofit partners. More than five million rides over 95 million miles have been completed through HopSkipDrive since the company was founded in 2014 by three working mothers.

The post New Data Confirms HopSkipDrive CareDrivers are Uniquely Prepared to Meet Specialized Student Needs appeared first on School Transportation News.

DUPAGE, Ill. – Durham School Services and Glenbard Township High School District 87 have started the year on a strong note with their newly formed partnership and successful start to the semester – a testament to Durham’s 109 years of expertise and safe and reliable service. The partnership will extend through July of 2027, and Durham will service a total of fifty regular routes and nine special education routes for the school district.

Durham and its sister brands currently provide student transportation for fifteen communities across Illinois, and through this partnership with Glenbard Township High School District 87, are excited to be able to expand our transportation services to another community in Illinois. Further, through our company-wide community outreach program, Partners Beyond the Bus, our team looks forward to supporting the Glenbard community and its students beyond providing transportation through various community activities and events.

“We appreciate the partnership we’ve established with Durham School Services with an emergency contract for transportation for Glenbard Township High School District 87,” said Jessica Santee, Superintendent, Glenbard Township High School District 87. “While changes of this scale and in this short timeline are extremely difficult, our shared commitment to student safety, reliability, and clear communication has helped us to start the semester off smoothly. Durham has worked closely with our district to address our needs, support drivers, and strengthen day-to-day operations. We value their responsiveness and commitment to our greater school community. We look forward to our continued partnership in providing dependable transportation services for our students and families.”

“What a great, positive way to begin 2026 by forging this partnership with Glenbard Township High School District 87,” said Tim Wertner, CEO, Durham School Services. “Even with the hustle and bustle of the holidays and New Years, our team stayed focused and worked in perfect tandem with the school district to keep the momentum going to ensure that we were prepped and ready for a successful start-up. Thank you, team, and Glenbard Township High School District 87, for all your efforts! We are off to an excellent start, and we’re thrilled to join and support the Glenbard community. We look forward to building strong bonds with the community and continuing our commitment to transport students to school safely, on time, and ready to learn every day.”

About Durham School Services: As an industry-leading student transportation provider, Durham School Services and its sister brands, Stock Transportation and Petermann Bus, are dedicated to the safety of our students and People. Collectively, for more than 100 years, we have been committed to Excellence and upholding our mission of getting students to school safely, on time, and ready to learn. Through this mission and a grassroots approach to our operations, Durham School Services and its sister brands have earned recognition as a trusted transportation provider among our Customers and the Communities they serve.

The post Durham School Services and Glenbard Township High School District 87 Celebrate New Partnership and Successful Start-Up appeared first on School Transportation News.

DENVER, Colo. —EverDriven, the nation’s leader in Alternative Student Transportation, today announced the recipients of its 2025 Driving Access Forward micro-grant initiative, awarding $20,000 in total funding to 30 schools and districts to help remove barriers to education for students and families facing instability.

EverDriven’s Driving Access Forward initiative was created to support students, families, and school staff nationwide by addressing community-identified needs. Awards were determined through applications submitted by school representatives, with funding being used for food, clothing, school supplies, emergency rides, and essential resources, including support for students experiencing homelessness and other vulnerable populations.

Award recipients span 13 states, including Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin, highlighting the breadth of need across school communities nationwide.

“Every day, we see how transportation and access to essential needs can stand in the way of a student’s education,” said Mitch Bowling, CEO of EverDriven. “Through our Driving Access Forward initiative we launched on Giving Tuesday, our goal with this micro grant initiative was to provide tangible support directly to school districts, empowering them to meet immediate needs and keep students connected to school, no matter the circumstances.”

Addressing Critical Needs for Students and Families

While needs varied by community, award recipients consistently identified three core priorities: emergency transportation access to help students attend school consistently; essential supplies, including food, clothing, and school or care items; and direct support for students experiencing homelessness, helping remove barriers tied to housing instability. A significant number of awarded applications focused on strengthening services for students protected by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, including funding for emergency rides, last-minute transportation needs, and other critical resources that promote stability and continuity in education. Together, these funds allow districts to respond quickly in moments of crisis, helping ensure students can remain engaged in school even during periods of uncertainty.

“I am tremendously grateful to the EverDriven team for making this opportunity possible! Funds from the Driving Access Forward grant will go to transportation, first and foremost. That was a gamechanger for us last year,” said Sara Landrum, Social Worker and McKinney-Vento Liaison, Huntington County Community School Corporation. “We have a number of students who qualify for McKinney-Vento but not for health insurance, so the remaining funds will go toward eye exams and dental work support for those students in need.”

“Thank you very much for selecting us as a recipient of the Driving Access Forward grant. We look forward to continuing our programs and services in 2026. Your support will certainly improve access for students and families in our community,” said Dr. Narineh Khemichian, Interim Director of Student Wellness Services Department, Glendale Unified School District.

EverDriven’s Driving Access Forward initiative reflects the company’s broader mission to ensure safe, reliable access to education for every student, particularly those navigating complex life circumstances. To learn more about EverDriven’s work in modernizing student transportation and policy, visit www.EverDriven.com.

About EverDriven
EverDriven delivers modern student-centered transportation that’s safe, consistent, and built for those who need it most. EverDriven specializes in transporting students across a wide range of needs — from everyday support to the most complex circumstances — including students with disabilities, students experiencing housing instability, and other high-need populations. Serving more than 800 districts across 36 states, the company completed over 2 million trips last year, 99.99% of them accident-free with 100% safety compliance. EverDriven’s deeply human, fully compliant, and AI-powered approach helps districts get students on the road in hours, not days, while maintaining consistent, high-trust rides that complement traditional yellow bus fleets. For more information, visit everdriven.com.

The post EverDriven Awards $20,000 to 30 Schools and Districts Through 2025 Driving Access Forward Initiative appeared first on School Transportation News.

A longtime school bus driver received a heartwarming surprise from Star City School District in Arkansas when the transportation building was named after him.

Eighty-seven-year-old Brames Jackson has dedicated most of his life to serving his community in southeast Arkansas for decades. STN discovered a family connection when reaching out to Star City Transportation Director Kenneth Jackson. Brames is Kenneth’s uncle, and their story reveals a family legacy of outstanding student transportation service.

Brames Jackson became a school bus driver in 1964. He was on the district’s custodial staff, when he was asked to cover a route for a driver that was involved in a school bus crash. He shared that he continued to drive that bus for three months unpaid, simply to make sure that the students on the route got to school. The oversight was corrected, and he was officially put on the transportation payroll.

“When I got on that bus, I asked the Lord to take care of me and the children. And He did that. I didn’t want any child to get hurt and, I didn’t want to hurt any child,” said Brames.

He shared his entire 61-year-long career as a driver is accident free. The only maintenance he said he had was when he got a flat tire while on a route. He also shared that his route was often hard to navigate with lots of mud and rural roads. He proudly shared that he never got stuck, even during extreme weather conditions.

He relayed a story of waking up one day to snow but reported to work and drove his bus to the first stop on his route. The student informed him that she had just been told that school was cancelled due to the snow. For Brames, his focus was always dedication to the students, even in bad weather.

His nephew Kenneth Jackson said that his uncle has always been a source of inspiration to him. Kenneth began driving a school bus in 2009 and was made the transportation director in 2022, leading a fleet of 16 route buses and 22 drivers. Brames shared the advice he gave to Kenneth when he started in his new leadership role which was to focus on doing his job well and to connect with students and district staff. Those relationships with teachers, superintendents and other district leadership, the drivers and especially with the students are what create a lasting and positive impact.

A key mindset Kenneth said he shares with his uncle is the unwavering dedication to student safety, as students on the bus are “precious cargo.” As Brames said he sees the students as “pure gold” to their families and parents and that as student transporters, it’s crucial to see the students in the same way.

Both uncle and nephew said that they treat the students as if they were their own. Brames shared that he often sees adults who rode his school bus as young children and is happy to see them doing well in their lives. While he says he rode the school bus as a child and didn’t give his driver any trouble, he often encountered students having difficult behaviors. He stated that his goal was for students to not get taken off the route but rather address the behavior and keep them on the bus.

One day, Brames discovered a student smoking on board the bus. He told the student he would have to write him up, to which the student responded with a threat. Brames still took the boy to the office, despite the fact that he was armed with a knife.

Many years later, the former student approached Brames and hugged him. “’You made a man out of me. You don’t know how much I love you,’” Brames recalled the man told him. The boy had to go before the school board before he could ride the school bus again, but that moment was a turning point in his life. He later went to college, married a teacher and is successful in his work in the trucking industry.

“I felt like I helped that young man and I felt good over that,” said Brames.

The Arkansas Association of Pupil Transportation honored Brames as the 2025 School Bus Driver of the Year in June.

When Kenneth Jackson learned his uncle was retiring, he went to Superintendent Jordan Frizzell to ask if the school district would rename the transportation building after him. Kenneth said Frizzell enthusiastically accepted the idea and the district shared on its Facebook page last month that the Star City Board of Education officially named the transportation facility as the “Brames Jackson Transportation Building.”

“His commitment, integrity and care have made a lasting impact on generations of students and families,” said the post. “We are deeply thankful for his unwavering professionalism and the encouragement he offered to countless children through the years.”

When asked about his reaction to the news, Brames tearfully said, “I thank God. My nephew, the superintendent, I thank God for the school and the staff.”

Both true family men, Kenneth said that his uncle is well known for throwing the best family cookouts for the 4th of July. Brames, Kenneth continued, is a humble man who doesn’t like to draw attention to his achievements, including the adoption of multiple children over the course of his life.

Kenneth also stated that Brames is remaining active in his retirement as a full-time minister of a local church and president of the local usher board. He said that growing up with his uncle, he fondly remembers Brames’ favorite saying is “By the help of the good Lord.”

Related: School Bus Driver Knits Beanies to Spread Warmth, Love in Oklahoma City
Related: Virginia School Bus Driver Retires After Over 50 Years of Service
Related: Superintendent Snapshot: Fully Staffed Arkansas District Focus’ on Employees

The post Arkansas School Bus Driver Legacy Honored by School District appeared first on School Transportation News.

The holiday season means plenty of celebrations, including staff parties, decorated school buses, community events and more! View the gallery of photos shared by school districts and transportation companies below.

1 of 33

Related: Kansas School Bus Drivers Deliver Christmas Gifts
Related: Gallery: Student Transporters Celebrate Holiday Season
Related: North Carolina School’s ‘Stuff the Bus’ Drive Returns to Support Local Students

The post Gallery: Student Transporters Share Holiday Festivities appeared first on School Transportation News.