Six students were taken to a hospital as a precaution after a Barrow County School System school bus carrying 34 students partially overturned Wednesday morning, reported 11 Alive News.

The crash reportedly occurred on Georgia Highway 211 near Raymond Drive. Emergency crews and school system personnel responded to the scene after the bus overturned.

According to the news report, there were 34 students and a driver aboard the bus at the time of the crash. The six students, who were evaluated at the hospital, were transported there aboard another bus. Officials described the hospital visits as a precaution but did not disclose whether the students had reported pain or other symptoms.

The students who were not taken to the hospital reportedly left the crash site with their parents or were transported to school via another school bus. Officials did not identify the students’ ages or grade levels.

A photograph submitted to local news reporters showed the school bus partially overturned. The district did not immediately say how long the bus remained at the scene or whether the crash disrupted traffic.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known. School officials said via the article that the incident remained under review and that only limited information could be released while the investigation continued.

The school system thanked first responders for what it described as their “quick and caring actions” following the crash. No further details were immediately available.

Written with the assistance of AI.

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A Gwinnett County school bus driver in Georgia was  sentenced to five years in prison and lifelong registration as a sex offender after being convicted of masturbating on board his bus while students were present.

Steven Edward Wilkins, 67, was found guilty of six counts of child molestation and four counts of public indecency. He had worked as a school bus driver for students with special needs in the Gwinnett County School System.

The investigation reportedly began Feb. 9, 2023, after a parent walking her child to the bus reported seeing Wilkins behaving suspiciously.

Prosecutors said investigators reviewed footage from cameras installed on the bus. The video showed Wilkins using a tablet sexually stimulating himself while the bus was parked in the bus lane at Suwanee Elementary School.

The conduct occurred on at least four days between Jan. 31 and Feb. 9, prosecutors said. At least one student was on board the bus during each incident. Officials did not release the ages of the students or provided additional information about them.

The Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office also noted that Wilkins portrays Santa Claus each Christmas at a local church.

A judge sentenced Wilkins to 20 years of close supervision by law enforcement authorities, including five years in prison. Following his release, Wilkins will be required to register as a sex offender for life and will be prohibited from having contact with minors.

“This is absolutely reprehensible behavior and will not be taken lightly,” Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson told local reporters. “We are committed to protecting all victims, particularly those who are most vulnerable. This defendant will be monitored closely for the next 20 years and held accountable for the rest of his life.”

Officials did not provide information about when Wilkins stopped working for the school district. The district’s response to the conviction was not immediately available. No other details about the court proceedings were immediately released.

Related: Ohio School Bus Driver Arrested on Alleged Sex Crimes Involving Minors
Related: Former School Bus Driver Sentenced to 16 Years for Sexual Assault
Related: Former Arizona School Bus Driver Arrested on Child Molestation Charges
Related: Former School Bus Monitor Indicted on Child Molestation Charges

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A decade of building relationships with students aboard a Fulton County school bus has inspired one driver to turn their shared experiences into a book celebrating the children who ride her route, reported CBS News.

Lisa Jacobs, who drives students to Lake Windward Elementary School near Atlanta, has reportedly spent the past 10 years creating an upbeat atmosphere aboard what students affectionately call the “Red Elephant Bus.” Daily traditions such as Tell Me Something Good Monday, Joke Wednesday and Dance Party Friday have turned the morning and afternoon commutes into an extension of the school community.

Jacobs said she never imagined becoming a school bus driver. A floral designer by trade, she initially accepted the position for its benefits before discovering a passion for working with the children. Students said Jacobs’ enthusiasm and encouragement help brighten even difficult days.

Fifth-grader Magnolia Rumsey described the bus ride as something students look forward to because “every day is different and special.”

Jacobs said she strives to reassure students when they are struggling, reminding them that everyone needs someone in their corner. That supportive environment has had a lasting impact on many riders. Rumsey said Jacobs inspired her to run for bus monitor, comparing the experience to a student election after delivering a speech to her classmates aboard the bus.

Lake Windward Elementary Principal Lauren Busing said Jacobs’ role extends well beyond safely transporting students each day. “Miss Lisa is an extension of our wonderful staff here at Lake Windward,” Busing said, adding that Jacobs helps students feel welcomed, appreciated and safe before they arrive at school.

According to the news report, it was the strong sense of community aboard the Red Elephant Bus that led Jacobs to create a book featuring every student on her route. Each child contributed a drawing and a short paragraph, giving every rider a page of their own.

Fifth-grader Adrina Izadi said that being included in the book was a memorable experience and that Jacobs has a gift for making every student feel important. Jacobs’ support also continues beyond the bus route. She regularly attends student’ extracurricular activities and school events, maintaining connections with families throughout the year. Jacobs said her greatest hope is that every child who rides the Red Elephant Bus remembers they will always have someone cheering them on, no matter how old they become.

Written with the assistance of AI.

Related: Georgia Grandmother Writes School Bus Safety Book for Children
Related: Children’s Books by School Bus Drivers Double as Safety Education Tool
Related: Connecticut School Bus Company Publishes Bilingual Book to Ease First-Day Bus Anxiety
Related: School Bus Driver Creates Children’s Book to Promote School Bus Safety

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Tony and Ryan discuss takeaways from the ACT EXPO this past week in Las Vegas, which took a deep dive into clean fuel choices, autonomous vehicles, robotics in manufacturing, electrification interest and more.

Director of Transportation Anthony Jackson joins us to discuss the operational, cost and health benefits of propane usage at Bibb County School District in Georgia.

Read more about green buses.

This episode is brought to you by Transfinder.

Message from Kajeet.

Stream, subscribe and download the School Transportation Nation podcast on Apple Podcasts, Deezer, iHeartRadio, Spotify and YouTube.

The post (STN Podcast E306) Sci-Fi School Bus? ACT EXPO Takeaways on Tech, Robots, Propane & More appeared first on School Transportation News.

MACON, Ga.-Blue Bird Corporation (“Blue Bird”) (Nasdaq: BLBD), the leader in electric and low-emission school buses, announced today its fiscal 2026 second quarter financial results.

“I am incredibly proud of our team in delivering another outstanding quarterly result,” said John Wyskiel, President & CEO of Blue Bird Corporation. “The Blue Bird team continued to exceed expectations, improving operations, navigating tariffs, and expanding our leadership in alternative-powered buses. We delivered an exceptional Adj. EBITDA of $51M / 14% for the second fiscal quarter of 2026, a new all-time second-quarter record for the Company.

“In our push to expand our leadership in alternative-powered school buses, we delivered 201 electric-powered buses this quarter. As of the end of the quarter, we had more than 900 EV buses in our firm order backlog, which supports our EV sales target for 2026.

“Additionally, we are very pleased with the timely closing and integration progress of our recently announced acquisition of Micro Bird. The acquisition strengthens Blue Bird’s position with the industry’s most comprehensive bus portfolio and expands our addressable market with the Buy America–compliant shuttle bus market.

“Based on our strong first half of 2026 and final closing of the Micro Bird acquisition, we are raising our 2026 full-year Adjusted EBITDA guidance to $245 million. We look forward to sustained profitable growth in the coming years as we march towards ~$2.5B in revenue and a 15%+ Adjusted EBITDA margin.”

FY2026 Guidance and Long-Term Outlook

“We are very pleased with our second quarter results, with our highest ever Q2 Adj. EBITDA and Free Cash Flow,” said Razvan Radulescu, CFO of Blue Bird Corporation. “Our business is in a very strong position and we continue to deliver ahead of the plan we have been messaging. With the strong first half we delivered, we are raising all full-year 2026 guidance metrics, as well as building in consolidated results for Micro Bird for the second half. 2026 Guidance is being raised to Net Revenue at ~$1.75 Billion and Adj. EBITDA to ~$245 million. Additionally, we are raising our long-term profit outlook towards an Adjusted EBITDA margin of $375+ million, or 15%+, on $2.5+ billion in revenue. We are confident in our profitable growth plans.”

Fiscal 2026 Second Quarter Results

Net Sales
Net sales were $352.6 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2026, a decrease of $6.2 million, or 1.7%, compared to $358.9 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2025. The decrease in net sales is primarily due to a 6.4% decrease in units sold resulting from a 6.7% decrease in the number of production days in the second quarter of fiscal 2026 when compared with the same period in fiscal 2025, which primarily resulted from the timing of holidays, and our corresponding plant shutdown, in our production calendar. As a result of producing fewer buses, we had fewer units that were available to sale. However, the decrease resulting from selling fewer units was partially offset by Bus customer and product mix changes and cumulative Bus price increases, including increases that were intended to mitigate the impact of increased procurement costs for certain of our imported inventory as a result of the imposition of tariffs beginning during the second half of fiscal 2025 and continuing into the first half of fiscal 2026, as well as an increase in Parts sales.

Bus sales decreased $7.6 million, or 2.3%, reflecting a 6.4% decrease in unit bookings that was partially offset by a 4.4% increase in average sales price per unit. In the second quarter of fiscal 2026, 2,148 units booked compared to 2,295 units booked for the same period in fiscal 2025. The increase in unit price for the second quarter of fiscal 2026 compared to the same period in fiscal 2025 was primarily due to customer and product mix changes as well as price increases implemented to offset increases in inventory costs.

Parts sales increased $1.4 million, or 5.4%, for the second quarter of fiscal 2026 compared to the second quarter of fiscal 2025. This increase is primarily attributed to price increases that were implemented to offset increases in inventory costs as well as higher fulfillment volumes and slight variations due to product and channel mix.

Gross Profit
Second quarter gross profit of $70.6 million represented a decrease of $0.2 million from the second quarter of last year. The decrease was primarily driven by the $6.2 million decrease in net sales, discussed above, and partially offset by a corresponding decrease of $6.0 million in cost of goods sold.

Net Income
Net income was $29.3 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2026, an increase of $3.3 million from the second quarter of last year. Among other smaller fluctuations, the increase in net income was largely driven by a decrease of $5.6 million in selling, general and administrative expenses, primarily due to the significant amount of share-based compensation expense recorded in the second quarter of fiscal 2025 resulting from the retirement of our former President and Chief Executive Officer, with no similar significant expense recorded for the acceleration of vesting of stock awards in the second quarter of fiscal 2026. Partially offsetting the decrease in selling general, and administrative expenses was a decrease of $3.4 million in other (expense) income, net, primarily due to $2.7 million in pretax costs relating to the acquisition of the remaining 50% of the outstanding common stock of Micro Bird effective April 1, 2026, with no such costs incurred during the second quarter of fiscal 2025.

Adjusted Net Income
Adjusted net income of $32.5 million represented an increase of $1.0 million from the second quarter of last year. The increase was primarily driven by the $3.3 million increase in Net Income, discussed above, when adjusting for the impact of expenses that are excluded in calculating Adjusted Net Income, including share-based compensation and Micro Bird acquisition costs, discussed above.

Adjusted EBITDA
Adjusted EBITDA was $50.8 million, which was an increase of $1.6 million compared with the second quarter of fiscal 2025. The increase primarily relates to the increase in Micro Bird earnings, when adjusted for the impact of expenses that are excluded in calculating Adjusted EBITDA, that was partially offset by a decrease in other income, net, when adjusted for the impact of expenses that are excluded in calculating Adjusted EBITDA, as discussed above.

Year-to-Date Fiscal 2026 Results

Net Sales
Net sales were $685.7 million for the six months ended March 28, 2026, an increase of $13.0 million, or 1.9%, compared to $672.7 million for the six months ended March 29, 2025. The increase in net sales is primarily due to Bus customer and product mix changes and cumulative Bus price increases, including increases that were intended to mitigate the impact of increased procurement costs for certain of our imported inventory as a result of the imposition of tariffs beginning during the second half of fiscal 2025 and continuing into the first half of fiscal 2026, as well as an increase in Parts sales. The Bus increases described above were partially offset by a decrease in Bus units sold resulting from a 4.3% decrease in the number of production days during the six months ended March 28, 2026 when compared with the same period in fiscal 2025, which primarily resulted from the timing of holidays, and our corresponding plant shutdown, in our production calendar. As a result of producing fewer buses, we had fewer units that were available to sale.

Bus sales increased $11.9 million, or 1.9%, reflecting a 5.3% increase in average sales price per unit that was partially offset by a 3.2% decrease in units booked. The increase in unit price for the first six months of fiscal 2026 compared to the same period in fiscal 2025 was primarily due to customer and product mix changes as well as price increases implemented to offset increases in inventory costs. This increase was partially offset by the impact of booking 4,283 units in the six months ended March 28, 2026 compared with 4,425 units during the same period in fiscal 2025.

Parts sales increased $1.1 million, or 2.1%, for the six months ended March 28, 2026 compared to the six months ended March 29, 2025. This increase is primarily attributed to price increases that were implemented to offset increases in inventory costs as well as higher fulfillment volumes and slight variations due to product and channel mix.

Gross Profit
Gross profit for the six months ended March 28, 2026 was $141.9 million, an increase of $10.7 million compared with the same period in the prior year. The increase was primarily driven by the $13.0 million increase in net sales. This was partially offset by an increase of $2.3 million in cost of goods sold, primarily corresponding the increase net sales.

Net Income
Net income was $60.1 million for the six months ended March 28, 2026, which was a $5.3 million increase from the same period in the prior year. Among other smaller fluctuations, the increase in net income was primarily driven by the $10.7 million increase in gross profit, discussed above, and partially offset by a $6.5 million increase in other expense. During the second quarter of fiscal 2026, the Company incurred approximately $2.7 million of pretax costs relating to the acquisition of the remaining 50% of the outstanding common stock of Micro Bird effective April 1, 2026, with no such costs incurred during the six months ended March 29, 2025. Additionally, during the first quarter of fiscal 2025, the Company sold certain state emissions credits that it was not projecting to use for approximately $2.6 million, with no similar income recorded during the first six months of fiscal 2026.

Adjusted Net Income
Adjusted net income for the six months ended March 28, 2026 was $65.0 million, an increase of $2.9 million compared with the same period last year, primarily due to the $5.3 million increase in net income, discussed above, when adjusting for the impact of expenses that are excluded in calculating Adjusted Net Income.

Adjusted EBITDA
Adjusted EBITDA was $100.9 million for the six months ended March 28, 2026, an increase of $5.9 million compared with the same period in the prior year. The increase primarily relates to the increase in (i) gross profit, when adjusted for the impact of expenses that are excluded in calculating Adjusted EBITDA, as discussed above and (ii) Micro Bird earnings, when adjusted for the impact of expenses that are excluded in calculating Adjusted EBITDA, that were partially offset by (iii) an increase in selling, general and administrative expenses, when adjusting for the impact of expenses that are excluded in calculating Adjusted EBITDA, and (iv) a decrease in other income, net, when adjusted for the impact of expenses that are excluded in calculating Adjusted EBITDA, as discussed above.

Conference Call Details
Blue Bird will discuss its fiscal 2026 second quarter and year to date financial results in a conference call at 4:30 PM ET today. Participants may listen to the audio portion of the conference call either through a live audio webcast on the Company’s website or by telephone. The slide presentation and webcast can be accessed via the Investor Relations portion of Blue Bird’s website at www.blue-bird.com.

Webcast participants should log on and register at least 15 minutes prior to the start time on the Investor Relations homepage of Blue Bird’s website at http://investors.blue-bird.com. Click the link in the events box on the Investor Relations landing page.

Participants desiring audio only should dial 646-844-6383 or 833-470-1428. The access code is 005726.

A replay of the webcast will be available approximately two hours after the call concludes via the same link on Blue Bird’s website.

About Blue Bird Corporation
Blue Bird (NASDAQ: BLBD) is recognized as a technology leader and innovator of school buses since its founding in 1927. Our dedicated team members design, engineer and manufacture school buses with a singular focus on safety, reliability, and durability. School buses carry the most precious cargo in the world – 25 million children twice a day – making them the most trusted mode of student transportation. The company is the proven leader in low- and zero-emission school buses with more than 25,000 propane, natural gas, and electric powered buses sold. Blue Bird is transforming the student transportation industry through cleaner energy solutions. For more information on Blue Bird’s complete product and service portfolio, visit www.blue-bird.com.

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