The ever-shifting routing puzzle is a reality many student transporters face. A new seminar at STN EXPO West in Reno, Nevada, this summer will share recommendations for making it a smoother process.

The four-hour “School Bus Routing 101: Setting One Up for Success” is being offered for all STN EXPO attendees Friday, July 11, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Presented by Kerry Somerville, CEO of Transportation Planning Solutions, attendees will attain a holistic view of routing, starting with the request for proposal process and crafting requirements that align with the technology needs of the district. This will extend to discussing how to ensure district support and awareness of the technology benefits.

The seminar will cover how to correctly set up the software, whatever that might be, and effectively utilize it to meet the school district’s unique needs, including factors such as data input, routing optimization and student ridership verification. Somerville looks to draw attention to common pitfalls of using new routing technology and how to avoid them.

Attendees will learn more about how to ensure long-term success by making sure routing technology integrates with other transportation technology systems and overall district staff needs. All these components together will help attendees form a game plan for their routing technology systems that will not only be efficient but save money for their school district.

Registration for STN EXPO West provides access to this and dozens of other educational sessions from July 11-16 that cover a wide range of student transportation challenges.

Save $100 on regular conference registration with Early Bird registration by June 6. Find registration and hotel details and stay tuned for updates on the conference agenda, exhibitor lists & unique experiences at stnexpo.com/west.

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The post STN EXPO West to Feature ‘Routing 101’ Seminar appeared first on School Transportation News.

When Laura Neiswonger stepped into her role as transportation director at Redbank Valley School District less than a year ago, she was handed a complex system with a fast-approaching deadline.

Officially assuming the role in May 2023, just a few months before the new school began, she needed to make critical decisions fast—and she turned to Transfinder to help reinvent how transportation operates in the rural western Pennsylvania district.

“I got my access to Transfinder on Aug. 1,” Neiswonger said, “and school started Aug. 21 and we were fully implemented by that time.”

With more than 1,000 students to manage, including those in non-public schools, Neiswonger needed a tool that could give her better control over her entire transportation operation. She was not satisfied with the district’s existing transportation product – “It was pretty cumbersome” – and began asking neighboring Pennsylvania districts about the solutions they used.

At the same time, Neiswonger would speak to other vendors in the school transportation space. The one common theme was each vendor trying to tear down Transfinder. It was a turnoff.

“I said, ‘I want you to tell me why I should use you? What do you have to offer?’” Neiswonger said. Instead, other companies “kept putting down Transfinder. In my mind, that was a negative approach and I kind of stopped [one representative] in the middle of a sentence. I’m here to ask what you are and that basically ended the conversation because she had nothing else to say.”

With Transfinder it was a different story. First, after attending a Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials (PASBO) conference, she kept hearing positive things about Transfinder from attendees. Transfinder kept coming up during training sessions at the PASBO conference.

On her first day back at the office she told her superintendent and business manager it would be a good idea to see a Transfinder demo. Next thing she knew, a Transfinder sales representative was calling her.

“And that’s where it all began. Transfinder did a much better job at portraying what they had to offer without putting down any other company,” she said.

Neiswonger liked what she heard and saw from Transfinder.

“It just blew my mind. It is easy and intuitive,” she said. “And the fact that I was able to implement it in just three weeks goes to show you just how amazing Transfinder is.”

She quickly moved from exploration to acting decisively.

Redbank Valley, with its 44 vehicles and 89 routes, covers a large, rural area. The routing complexities range from geocoding unmapped rural students to navigating unpredictable infrastructure delays like bridge closures.

“At the beginning of the year we had several bridge projects within the district that caused significant delays to morning and afternoon traffic,” she said. “Once these bridge projects are over, we’ll be able to shave five to 10 minutes off these routes.”

Neiswonger leans heavily on the award-winning Routefinder PLUS to overcome these hurdles.

“Everything is going great,” she said.

For example, setting up nightly and midday imports from the district’s student information system allows for near real-time updates to routing assignments. Having a scheduled midday import has been a game changer.

“It automatically pulls from my SIS into Routefinder PLUS and that allows me to make changes in the afternoon,” she said.

Routefinder PLUS also helps her address any concerns in her district. For example, one parent of a special needs student who had insisted his child’s bus ride was an hour and 20 minutes was able to see his child’s time on the bus was not that long.

One of the standout aspects of Transfinder’s suite for Neiswonger is Viewfinder, which provides visibility to administrators and secretaries across all buildings. It’s been especially helpful in those chaotic first weeks of school.

“The whole first week of school there were only two missed buses the first week. With 1,000 students transported, I call that a win.”

Viewfinder also revealed gaps in previous processes—like the case of a student who had been riding the wrong bus for two years without anyone noticing.

With Viewfinder, the secretary could see the discrepancy. It turned out the family had moved and never told the school, and the bus driver just kept doing what they’d always done,

“Drivers tend to do what they want because they’ve been doing it forever,” she said. Neiswonger explained. This tool helped everyone get back on track.

And when Neiswonger was away at a conference, she used Viewfinder to print ridership reports for the secretaries for quick reference as a backup.

Meanwhile, Stopfinder, launched mid-year as a soft rollout, is proving to be another essential resource for the community, letting parents know bus stop information as well as information on a bus run.

One day when Neiswonger was supposed to be off, she started getting calls about a road closure. From home she was above to divert buses and notify parents that their children would be arriving home late.

“It’s been really nice to have that tool,” she said. “When a bus is delayed for any reason, I can push out notifications.” Neiswonger also likes the feedback she receives with two-way communication. “I get messages from parents letting me know so-and-so is not going to ride this week, you don’t have to stop at my house.”

Stopfinder is expected to play a starring role this summer when Neiswonger sends out bus assignments. Rather than fielding hundreds of calls, she plans to direct parents to the app.

Neiswonger said she is pleased with the innovative technology Transfinder has created and happy with the support the company provides.

“Anytime I needed anything I was getting a call in minutes,” she said. “If I need something, I’ll call and someone will pick up the phone.”

It’s why she is quick to add: “I’m a big fan of Transfinder.”

To learn more about Routefinder PLUS or Transfinder’s suite of solutions, visit Transfinder.com, email getplus@transfinder.com or call 800-373-3609.

The views expressed are those of the content sponsor and do not reflect those of School Transportation News.

The post Why Pennsylvania Transportation Director Declares: ‘I’m a Big Fan of Transfinder’ appeared first on School Transportation News.

Despite hesitancy with artificial intelligence, Denver Public Schools learned with partner HopSkipDrive to optimize its school-bus routes with AI-driven software.

“I think that there’s a nervousness that AI will take over the world and get rid of the need of routing,” said Tyler Maybee, director of operations for transportation services at Denver Public Schools. “I honestly think this is just seen as a time saver and a way to create a really functional base level of understanding for a particular routing team. I think it’s meant to be a support tool. It’s never meant to replace … I’m not looking to reduce my staff because I use RouteWise AI.”

Maybee explained that during the pandemic, DPS formed a partnership with HopSkipDrive’s alternative transportation services for McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act transportation. He explained that busing students protected by the federal law is sometimes inefficient because they are often located far from their home schools.

It was around early 2022 that the company brought up its idea of an AI solution to DPS.

“We’re a very innovative district, and we always jump on board any type of chance to help push the boundaries of transportation,” said Maybee, who has a data background. Before joining DPS, he served as a data analyst for a non-profit, One Earth Future Foundation.

He explained that when HopSkipDrive presented the RouteWise idea, he thought it could work well for the district.

“We partnered with them, signed an agreement to share data, and we worked with them on parts of the tool that would be beneficial for our business. We created basically the whole thing together,” he added.

Corey McMahon, chief product and technology officer at HopSkipDrive, said RouteWise AI officially launched in 2023 and the software “is a planning tool that helps districts make smarter and faster transportation decisions.

“What it does is it analyzes all their data, ridership, vehicles, traffic policies and it gives them customized routing scenarios that can save them time, money, reduce emissions, reduce student time in transit, whatever their district priorities are,” he continued.

He explained that when districts sign on, they’re paired with the RouteWise AI team of experts, consisting of former directors, routers and consultants from the industry. McMahon said the experts sit down with the district to understand constraints, policies and goals. From there, they build out a custom AI model specifically to represent their transportation system.

“That AI model generates thousands of scenarios, and from those produces optimized results based on their priorities,” he said, adding that districts can then adjust, tweak or tune them through their existing tools. The software is routing software agnostic and integrates with the district’s existing routing software.

A new function is the insights dashboard, which compares data points on a national level. It launched at the start of the year and McMahon said it serves as a spot for district leaders to see all their data in one place. Recently, a national benchmark function was added, which gives district leaders a chance to compare student ride times, cost per student, and bus utilization rates against their peers.

Maybee explained that one of the data points DPS looks at on the dashboard is the utilization percentage. “For us, that’s kind of an important thing, making sure that our buses are full and that our buses are being well utilized,” he said.

Another function is its new feature for on-time arrival. “It kind of gives us the overall picture of which segments (segment is one run of service for a school) in our in a route package that are a potential risk for running late, based on the number of students that are on there … depending on the variability of traffic.”

McMahon said the lateness factor is determined by looking at how tight the routes are. “If everything has to go perfectly for a bus to be on time, it has a high lateness risk,” he explained. “If there is flexibility in the system for unexpected events, student comes out late, late traffic, etc., then your lateness risk is lower.”

By implementing the software, DPS has saved more than $500,000 annually. Maybee said the software is primarily being used to evaluate start times and adjust bell times. He explained that all secondary schools recently moved to an 8:20 a.m. or later start time, and DPS used the tool to inform decisions around bell time adjudgments, which resulted in the savings.

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“We’ve worked with them a couple more times to look at our current state route packages, and they’ve given us a couple suggestions on merging some routes together, or putting bus packages together into one bus and taking a bus off the road that has saved us money,” he said, adding that the software will also recommend taking one student off a particular route to save time. “Their tool is pretty service agnostic. It’s not going to favor putting students on a vendor over putting them on a yellow bus. Their philosophy is generally, if we make a school district’s transportation system healthy, then there’s a natural spot for [alternative transportation] to exist, because there’s always going to be students that are inefficient in the overall system.”

Maybee added that the software is not meant to replace an existing routing provider or routers.

“We’re never going to lose routers because of this software,” he said. “It’s meant to be an additional set of eyes and a starting point to build routes. There are always going to be things that our routers know that that system does not. I have kids that are better suited to be on a yellow bus, and we put them on a yellow bus, even if it’s quote, unquote not efficient, but it’s the right thing to do for that student’s needs. And that’s something that our routers know and that our computer system is never going to know, but it at least gives you an 85 percent solution to get you in the right direction, to provide you the space that you need.”

Data Driven

As for the safety element of using RouteWise AI, Maybee related back to the lateness factor of the program. “In terms of buses running on time, you’re reducing your risk of danger zone infractions, as students aren’t running to get on the bus quickly or crossing a dangerous street.”

He said the software understands the factors that a router inputs, such as right-side only picks up that eliminate the need for students to cross the street, no highway travel, etc.

“It manipulates routes with the data that you provide, so it wouldn’t put a bus stop, for example, in the middle of a busy street,” he said.

McMahon said the challenge for increased safety is the entire ecosystem from the strain of the school bus driver shortage to inefficient routes. “You have a lot of chaos at pickup and drop off, where you have late routes, you have overcrowded busses or underutilized busses, etc. And so, reducing that chaos, minimizing ride times, and making sure that people are where they need to be, when they need to be there,” he said of elements that make pupil transportation safer. “If you have busses arriving late, you have students waiting in unsafe areas. And there’s a number of safety implications, as you can imagine there.”

Maybee added that by using the software, the amount of time it has taken for the routing team to get the entire school year up and running has been significantly reduced. “We kind of have a starting spot with the solution presented for RouteWise AI, that we can then implement as our base layer and build from there,” he said. “We have massive time reductions within our routing team, which allows them to pay attention to detail better, and allows them to take care of the accommodations and take care of the students that need to be taken care of at the highest level, really providing better equity in terms of our service.”

McMahon said one of the greatest elements of the insight dashboard is the availability of more data. “What we’re really trying to do is build a transportation intelligence platform that allows leaders to look at data from all of these sources as they deploy new technology, whether that’s cameras or telematics or ridership tracking or anything out there, they need a way to make sense of it all, and so that’s really where the dashboard is trying to fit in.”

Maybee concluded by saying there is a fear about AI in student transportation. But he cautioned other districts to not feed into the misconception.

“We’re the content experts, and a computer is never going to fully know what we know,” he said. “And I agree with that statement, but I also think that a computer has a better sense of being able to understand the entire picture and giving a solution that has at least the context of the entire picture that you can then kind of manipulate from there. We were surprised with some of the combinations that it came up with. …It never makes sense to just turn on RouteWise AI have it create things and then just like, spit it out and say, okay ‘Driver, go do this.’ That’s not going to lead to beneficial day-to-day service.”

The post New Technology Provides Data to School Bus Routing appeared first on School Transportation News.

When East Noble School District’s transportation operation needed to make security updates, the district found itself in urgent need to move to Transfinder’s cloud-based Routefinder PLUS platform.

The move to PLUS was a game-changer for the Kendallville, Ind. District that serves some 4,000 students. Josh Buhro, the Kendallville, Ind district’s transportation director, set out to not only restore the district’s transportation operation but also significantly enhance its efficiency.

He accomplished both by implementing Transfinder’s Routefinder PLUS routing solution.

“We jumped in full steam ahead,” Buhro said.

A History of Transportation Technology at East Noble

Buhro has been in transportation for nearly a decade. When he first joined East Noble, the district was using (another company), a routing software he described as clunky and not user-friendly. Looking for an upgrade, East Noble had switched to Transfinder’s Routefinder Pro solution five years ago, which had been recommended by neighboring districts.

Then in 2024, the district moved to the award-winning Routefinder PLUS.

“There are districts around us who had moved to PLUS and had nothing but good things to say,” Buhro recalled. “They were implementing is and moving forward and I was maybe a little stubborn.”

He added, it was more of an “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it kind of thing. But looking back, I was scared of stuff. I shouldn’t have been scared. Ultimately, I think we’re in a better place now.”

During the move to Routefinder PLUS, Buhro and his team, including a newly hired transportation secretary who attended Transfinder University Livestream. This training proved invaluable, allowing them to quickly adapt to the new platform. The secretary, with no prior experience with Transfinder’s solutions, found PLUS to be highly intuitive, taking to it “like a fish to water,” Buhro said. “They said, ‘Josh, don’t be scared of it!’”

The Advantages of PLUS

One of the biggest surprises for Buhro and his team was how seamlessly PLUS integrated with other Transfinder tools the district uses, such as Tripfinder, the district’s field trip management solution, and Viewfinder, a solution that provides an overview of the district’s operation and student rider data.

“We love Tripfinder,” he said. “It allows us to manage our buses, our resources and our drivers. We’ve got some custom reports set up. Quite frankly, I don’t know how we would manage our extracurricular activity trips without the use of Tripfinder. It cuts out so much of that cumbersome sort of communication piece that used to have to take place by phone or email,” Buhro said.

He noted that one morning he had 36 extracurricular and field trips requests that he was able to quickly assign.

“It does it all for us, other than drive the bus,” Buhro said, “and that’s the part that’s easy for us to manage.”

Regarding the PLUS platform, Buhro described it as more user-friendly, efficient and responsive. He highlighted:

• Ease of Use: Editing routes is easy. PLUS allows for simple, drag-and-drop modifications. “You just right-click and edit,” Buhro noted, highlighting how much more intuitive the system is.
• Streamlined Communication: Tripfinder revolutionized how East Noble manages field trips, athletics and extracurricular activities. Requests are processed digitally, eliminating the cumbersome back-and-forth that used to take place via phone and email.
• Transfinder Community: The online Transfinder Community portal provides a wealth of resources, including video tutorials and guides, which allows Buhro and his team to troubleshoot issues independently. “Anytime we’ve got a question, that’s the first place we go and there are usually videos in the library or trainings that have been done. Rarely, if ever, do we actually reach out to support.”
• Enhanced Support: When direct support is needed, Transfinder’s response times were “obscenely fast,” often returning calls within minutes.

Buhro said the Transfinder team understands the need for speedy response times.

“Even three days before school started they need it was critical for us to have things up and running,” he said. ‘They put in the time to help us make things happen. We’re very grateful for all that support and input.”

A New Era for East Noble’s Transportation

In a district serving multiple schools, including a high school, middle school and five elementary schools, an efficient transportation system is crucial. The ability to quickly assign drivers, manage routes, and coordinate field trips is no small feat.

Thanks to Transfinder’s PLUS platform, East Noble has improved its transportation operation. What began as an urgent need has ultimately led to a stronger, more resilient system that better serves students, staff and the community.

“There are so many pieces of it that are just intuitive,” Buhro said.

As Buhro reflected on the transition, he expressed gratitude for the support and partnership from Transfinder. “We were very fortunate with the trainer we were assigned. They let us work at our own pace and answered every question we had.”

With a solid foundation in place and considering new tools in the future, East Noble School District is well-positioned for what’s around the bend.

Future Plans with Transfinder

With the great results from the move to PLUS, East Noble is now exploring additional Transfinder tools, such as the driver app Wayfinder, which offers turn-by-turn navigation and attendance, and the parent app Stopfinder, which provides information on bus location and two-way communication between parents and the transportation department. These tools could further assist the transportation operation in dealing with issues such as substitute drivers and last-minute route changes.

“Based on the success with that [PLUS] implementation, that’s what’s been the impetus for us to investigate Wayfinder and Stopfinder solutions for turn-by-turn directions and fleet tracking,” Buhro said.

Buhro emphasized the importance of ensuring these tools integrate smoothly with their existing processes.

“I need to make sure it’ll do everything we’re doing now—and do it better,” he said.

Buhro said he knows the Transfinder team will be there to help along the way.

“You guys did a beautiful job of easing concerns and getting us rolling with the new stuff,” he said.

To learn more about Routefinder PLUS or Transfinder’s suite of solutions, visit Transfinder.com, email getplus@transfinder.com or call 800-373-3609.

The views expressed are those of the content sponsor and do not reflect those of School Transportation News.

The post Support ‘Obscenely Fast’ as Indiana District Enhances Transportation with Transfinder Technology appeared first on School Transportation News.

CONCORD, N.C. – A lunch and learn session shared Transfinder’s integrated software and hardware tools and resources to help transportation departments efficiently deal with both daily routines and intermittent challenges.

Zachary Moren, manager of enablement and engineering for session sponsor Transfinder, noted that technology isn’t a magical solution apart from careful integration, process and workflows. “Our company helps one in three students get to school safer every day,” he stated.

He shared that Transfinder focuses on a unified platform and instantaneous information updates. This, he said helps districts serve their stakeholders — families and district administration — in a more efficient way.

The process begins with onboarding student registrations, which he said he’s seen starts with Google forms at many districts. Transfinder’s integrated registration process allows parental input, feeds the information into a student record, and adds it into the routing software, if applicable.

The anchor of it all is a robust routing application, which for Transfinder is its Routefinder Plus. Moren explained that marrying this with bus GPS and student ridership data tightens things up and builds trust in the system. That information can then be confidently shared through parent apps to reduce calls to the office.

For their part, parent apps should be more than a GPS bus tracker, Moren said. They should provide transparent information on their child’s journey to and from school every day.

School bus driver input is a crucial piece of the puzzle, Moren declared. To eliminate handwritten notes on route sheets, automatically updating data accessed via tablets helps make drivers’ jobs easier and improve on-time performance. Tablets also allow drivers to easily create alerts on road hazards or routing errors.

Moren said he’s seen many districts start implementing student ridership data on special needs buses before rolling it out fleet-wide. They may first implement manual student check-in before RFID cards. Either way, he said, with Transfinder, this information is instantly shared with district administrators who can give parents answers on student location.

“Worse than sharing no information is sharing bad information,” he remarked.

When a bus breaks down, Moren said, dispatch can use Transfinder software to see exactly who is on the bus at the time and send notifications to impacted families.

For bus or driver replacements, he said Transfinder’s integrated resource substitution systems tie bus inspections to parent apps for more accurate information on things like bus numbers, also eliminating the need for staff to enter data twice.

Moren noted that field trips and fleet maintenance are other areas he’s observing which districts want to bring together into the larger technology stack to improve information sharing and resource utilization.

With data dashboards being important to transportation departments to share with district administration, Moren confirmed that Transfinder’s platform allows customizable comparisons and analysis to be made.

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He shared the story of Springfield Public Schools in Oregon, which had to fire 11 drivers and still cover all 55 routes. Staff used Transfinder’s Trip Absorption feature to consolidate routes and less than a week later sent updated information to parents.

Bo Bowman, the new transportation director for Benton Community Schools in Indiana, said he wouldn’t have been able to open the 2024-2025 school year without Transfinder. Instead of making 1,100 phone calls, he pushed relevant information out to parents via the app.

Sharing accurate information builds trust with parents while inaccurate information negatively affects that trust, Moren noted. School bus drivers should also be able to safely be rerouted back on track after a wrong turn or road obstruction. Laramie County School District #1 in Wyoming uses parent app Stopfinder paired with driver app Wayfinder to help solve these issues.

Customer service is crucial as well. “Technology [implementation] is a partnership with a company that is either able to be there for you or not,” Moren noted.

During the Q&A portion of the session, Moren clarified that Transfinder’s tablets aren’t required for use of its bus inspection software Servicefinder, which can be accessed via a QR code scanned by a driver’s personal cellphone or other device.

Transfinder’s systems can accommodate split custody or other multiple-home family situations, he confirmed.

Scenario-based routing is available so distinctions can be made for am vs. pm routes, yellow buses vs. activity buses, areas that can flood, and more. Moren established that zones and reports can be set up to track buses that are driven into places they are not supposed to go.

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Photos by Vince Rios Creative

The post Bus Technology Summit Session Advocates for Integrated Tech Platform appeared first on School Transportation News.

Are you ready to transform your school transportation system? In “From Chaos to Control: Simplifying School Transportation with a Unified Software Solution,” presented by Busology Tech in collaboration with School Transportation News, we delve into how a single, integrated platform can tackle today’s most pressing challenges — from driver shortages and budget constraints to safety concerns and inefficient routing. Discover how unifying these key functions not only streamlines your operations but also creates a more secure and responsive transportation network.

This webinar is designed specifically for transportation directors and school district administrators who often wear multiple hats. Learn how a unified, innovative platform can help consolidate essential tasks like routing, scheduling, safety management, optimization, and parent communication while simultaneously meeting the rising pressures of demanding parental expectations and different student requirements. With actionable strategies and real-world insights from our customers, you will learn how to overcome the challenges that have traditionally held back K-12 school transportation efficiency and safety — helping you move from fragmentation to complete control.

Don’t miss this opportunity to gain a competitive edge and transform the way your school district handles K-12 student transportation. Plus, we are presenting an exclusive, exciting opportunity at the webinar—something you wouldn’t want to miss.

Sign up for our webinar and discover how turning chaos into control is not just a dream — it’s a practical, achievable reality with one powerful, unified software solution.

Brought to you by Busology Tech

RGEISTER BELOW:

Featuring:

Robert Young
Director of Transportation
Thomas County School District

With over 25 years in the industry, Robert Young leads the transportation department at Thomas County Schools, ensuring students travel safely and efficiently across the district. He oversees fleet operations, route planning, driver training, and regulatory compliance while driving innovation and cost-effective solutions.

Committed to excellence, safety, and efficiency, Young leads a dedicated team and collaborates with school administrators, parents, and community stakeholders to keep transportation running smoothly. He also plays a key role in emergency preparedness, staff training, and integrating technology to optimize routes and communication. Young is dedicated to fostering a positive work environment while prioritizing student safety and service excellence.

Busology Tech Speaker Bios:

Abu Batasi

Our Director of Sales and Marketing has a substantial experience of over 15 years and specializes in helping clients leverage technology to solve complex challenges. He has extensive expertise in leading sales and marketing teams, creating informative content for buyers, and using consultative selling to drive real outcomes. At Busology Tech, Batasi leads the sales and marketing team, connecting with K-12 schools across North America to deliver impactful solutions.

Here’s a fun fact about Batasi: During the pandemic, he put his storytelling skills to the test and wrote a screenplay!

Melissa Beveridge

Our Director of Client Services has extensive experience in SaaS deployment, training, and support. Beveridge excels in continuous improvement, Lean Six Sigma, and workflow management, particularly in the automotive and transportation industries. A workflow leader of the year awardee, she leads Busology Tech’s client services team, driving innovation and excellence.

Here’s a fun fact about Beveridge: She tied the knot in a shopping mall.

Diego Crespo

Diego Crespo brings a wealth of experience from multiple startups and digital businesses, with over five years in B2E SaaS sales, product development, and implementation. He specializes in growing, consolidating, and leading multidisciplinary teams, establishing solid processes, and leveraging work management systems to drive efficiency. As Busology Tech’s Director of Onboard Technology, Crespo is dedicated to delivering seamless technology solutions for student transportation.

Here’s a fun fact about Crespo: He manages his own four-paw workforce — he has four dogs!

The post (Free Webinar) From Chaos to Control: Simplifying School Transportation with a Unified Software Solution appeared first on School Transportation News.

Weld County RE-3J School District in Colorado has been actively enhancing their transportation services to ensure safety, efficiency and reliability for their students. A significant aspect of this improvement involves the adoption of advanced routing and transportation management solutions provided by Transfinder, the leader in the industry.

Implementing Advanced Routing Solutions

Leading the effort is Nate Forbes, the transportation supervisor who has been with the district five years, following 16 years as a dispatch supervisor at UPS. Forbes, who’d worked overnights at UPS, made the move to school transportation so he could spend more time with his children.

Weld County RE-3J is one of the largest school districts in the state geographically, located in the largest county in the state, just 35 miles northeast of Denver. Transportation covers about 500 square miles and Forbes’ team transports 1,050 students on 14 large buses and three smaller buses.

Forbes’ move to school transportation was far from smooth.

“It was a mess of a department,” Forbes said. He wasn’t pleased with the transportation software the district was using.

At UPS, he was used to dispatching 75 drivers delivering 24,000 packages a day. When he logged into the product the Weld County district was using, it was sluggish.

“I couldn’t do it,” he said. “It was slow. The technology just wasn’t there. It took so long to zoom in on a map, to move a kid and route a kid or route that bus. I mean, it was taking me days to do what should have taken 10 to 15 minutes.”

That set him on his own journey about two years ago to find something better. He watched webinars, did some trainings, heard sales pitches, spoke with others in the industry. In total, he looked at five different companies and their products.

When he saw Transfinder’s award-winning Routefinder PLUS technology in action. One demonstration showed all the functions he was trying to do with his legacy product but couldn’t.

“You could grab a group of kids in a geographical area and it automatically routed them. You weren’t having to pick each individual student,” he said. “It was, in my opinion, very, very user friendly.”

The pieces of the puzzle then began to come together.

Standout

Asked what made Transfinder stand out from the pack, Forbes talked about the Transfinder sales team that was also “user” friendly. He didn’t feel the pressure that other companies he was dealing with were applying by overloading his inbox.

“I get turned off by that,” he said. And what Transfinder was providing was better than what he was seeing. After speaking to colleagues in the industry, reading online reviews and watching videos, it became apparent that Transfinder’s advanced routing technology was significantly better than the others.

“Just looking at map routing students, it’s just super easy,” he said. “I had a driver come in on a Wednesday and tell me that his last day was on Thursday. I cut out the route and moved those kids around and made sure parents were communicated with.” He was out of town and checked in with his team who confirmed things went smoothly.

Last year, when he hired a new secretary, Ashley Diller, he found himself out of the office during her first two weeks on the job. He encouraged Diller to look at the Transfinder Community site, to look at Routefinder 101. Between the great DIY tools in Community and the intuitiveness of PLUS, Forbes said she picked it up very quickly and could be a backup router when he wasn’t available.

The Need for Responsiveness

After turning to Routefinder PLUS, Forbes set his sights on Transfinder’s other award-winning solutions, the driver app Wayfinder and parent app Stopfinder.

“I just got everything I could get,” he said.

His previous experience with a different vendor was not so positive. “The customer service was horrible” at the district’s previous vendor, he said. On top of that, the product wasn’t reliable. Not helping things was the vendor’s constant employee turnover.

“I’d be talking to this guy and then two weeks later it’s this guy and it was just constant movement within their company. They weren’t very quick and responsive.”

He said in some cases it would take as many as eight business days before getting a call back from a previous vendor.

“When it’s a technical issue that’s too long,” he said.

Forbes said he needs responsiveness as he deals with challenges within the district. He said that, for a period of time, the district experienced dwindling enrollment but there are pockets in the district that are growing.

“That’s probably our biggest challenge,” he said.

When changing or consolidating routes, using Stopfinder to communicate with parents is extremely helpful and his staff loves the solution.

Stopfinder ‘Super Easy’ To Use

“They said, ‘This is super easy, especially with Stopfinder,’” he said, referring to informing parents of route changes. “We really have pushed that this year. They’re like, ‘This is super nice, seeing where the buses are at and getting the notifications.’”

The way to get more buy-in on the parent app was informing parents that they could find their student’s routing information through Stopfinder. He said the district constantly promoted this with parents in various communications.

“They would call the office and we would not give them their student riding information until they downloaded the app,” Forbes said. “We spent a lot of time on the phone and walking people though it. But in the long run it has made it so much better.” He estimates about 90 percent of parents are now using the app.

Forbes said Stopfinder has been a huge help keeping parents informed.

“We had a pretty big construction project that was supposed to be done in the middle of July and it didn’t wrap up until the end of September. Our buses were running late because there was no way to go,” Forbes said. “So I just sent out a quick notification saying we’re going to pick up 10 minutes early at magnet stops (subdivisions). I can see who’s reading it. I love that ability.”

He sent the notifications only to the families impacted by the construction rather than blasting to an entire route.

“Parents will tell you that they didn’t see anything and I can say, ‘You opened it at this time,’” Forbes said. “You opened it. If you didn’t read it, that’s on you.”

Parents are also good at providing feedback through the app, though sometimes, they tell him more than he needs to know.

“I think when I roll it out next year I’ll put a blurb in there saying you do not need to let me know little Johnny’s going to be out sick next Tuesday,’ Forbes said.

Viewfinder a time-saver

The district also has Viewfinder, which gives a customizable view of a district’s transportation operation. It also provides reader-only student ridership information to unlimited users, which district personnel can access to answer parent questions.

“I like it. We have a few of our secretaries who are very proficient in it and can go in and see what they need to see,” he said. “It’s saved quite a few phone calls on my end.”

Customer service

After dealing with subpar customer service from other vendors, Forbes has been amazed by the white-glove treatment he receives from Transfinder.

“The training was outstanding,” he said. “I was very, very surprised with the training. It was very, very good, very detailed. And when I had a question, even after the training, I could email the trainer and they were very responsive, very quickly.”

He said the trainer knew how to put him at ease at a stressful time planning for the new school year. He hit a “wrong” button and thought he lost two to three weeks’ worth of work just days before school starting.

“I had a moment where I thought I was going to cry. I’d panicked a little bit,” he said, laughing. “The trainer said, ‘Calm down. It’s archived.”

She brought up everything where they’d just left off. And when he has a question, he still gets responses quickly and Transfinder team members will hop on a call to walk him through something.

“My experience has been great,” he said. “I don’t know if there’s anything I would even suggest changing. It’s worked out well.”

The views expressed are those of the content sponsor and do not reflect those of School Transportation News.

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This month’s issue dives into the collaboration needed to fully utilize technology to improve routing efficiency, handle rising student rider numbers and make sure bus technology is running smoothly. Read articles breaking down the news headlines affecting student transportation, including the latest federal government changes, new OEM leadership and options for school districts working with companies going through acquisitions.

Preview the upcoming 2025 conferences dates, keynote speakers and more!

Read the full March 2025 issue.

Cover Story

Routing to the Right Technology
Transportation directors share tips—hint, technology plays a big role—for ensuring their routes are as effective as possible.

Features

Staying Well Equipped
Purchasing technology is the first step toward implementation, but installation and warranty coverage are vital for long-term success.

Expanding Creativity
Districts aren’t just seeing an increase in student riders, but also an increase in the number of education programs offered that require transportation service. Directors share how they navigate the various needs amid limited resources.

Special Reports

On the Block
As an auction to acquire the electric school bus manufacturer’s assets continues, school district customers seek answers for meeting purchasing, warranty needs.

As Camera Systems Evolve, IT Collaboration Necessary
School district information technology teams provide an increasing amount of expertise that assist transportation departments in purchasing and implementing school bus technology. Case in point: Camera systems.

Q&A

Thomas’ Reed Outlines Focus on Fuel, Power Options Based on Customer Duty Cycle
Amid the release of its second generation ‘Jouley’ electric school bus, Thomas Built Buses is focused on diversification of fuels.

Feedback
Online
Ad Index

Editor’s Take by Ryan Gray
Big Questions Vexing Student Transporters

Thought Leader by Scott Welle
How Outperformers Optimize Resources

Publisher’s Corner by Tony Corpin
Time Well Spent

The post March 2025 appeared first on School Transportation News.

CINCINNATI — First Student, the leading provider of student transportation services, today announced the launch of HALO, a cutting-edge technology platform designed to transform the way school districts, parents and drivers manage and experience student transportation.

HALO integrates every aspect of First Student’s operations, from recruiting and training to routing, dispatching, navigation, vehicle telematics and maintenance, offering a unified, real-time 360-degree view of each vehicle and student, keeping families, districts and drivers informed, connected and in control.

“We have long been pioneers in transportation technology at First Student,” said John Kenning, CEO & president of First Student. “From online training and scheduling to vehicle inspections, we have developed technology to make lives easier. With HALO, we are taking it even further, living our values of safety, reliability and innovation by combining powerful analytics and actionable insights. This helps us set the highest standards, keep every student safe and create trusted partnerships, continually improving the experience for our student passengers.”

HALO: The Future of Student Transportation
First Student developed the platform in-house, resulting in rapid growth and earning industry recognition, including Forrester’s Technology Strategy Impact Award. With HALO, First Student is making a major leap forward in transportation, unifying all its systems and services into a single, powerful platform with shared data and an intuitive user experience.

HALO Includes:

• Dynamic and Adaptive Routing: HALO’s adaptive routing system continually evaluates routes, improving safety and efficiency, and identifying areas for optimization.
  360-Degree Dispatching: HALO integrates all operational data, empowering dispatchers to manage routes, track absences, assign vehicles and monitor route performance with ease.
• Advanced Recruiting and Training: HALO’s proprietary training app has reduced onboarding time, resulting in a 90% average pass rate on commercial driver’s license (CDL) exams on the first attempt.
• Driver Support and Navigation: HALO’s driver apps guide drivers through every step of the process, from pre-trip inspections to student ridership tracking, ensuring consistency and efficiency across all vehicles.
• Vehicle Tracking for Parents and Districts: Through the FirstView app and dashboard, families and district staff can track vehicles, view live updates and make data-driven decisions to improve the transportation experience.
• AI-Supported Safety: HALO incorporates optional AI cameras on buses and alternative vehicles, detecting potential hazards, providing real-time alerts and recording critical moments for improved safety.
• Driver Scoring and Monitoring: HALO tracks and scores driver performance, offering positive recognition, fostering friendly competition and promoting continuous improvement.
• Predictive Maintenance: HALO uses predictive analytics to anticipate maintenance needs, prevent road failures, reduce downtime and save costs.
• Optimized EV Charging: HALO’s charge management system ensures that electric buses charge at the best times, optimizing energy use and maintaining operational efficiency.
• Least Restrictive Vehicle Model: HALO ensures that students are assigned to the right-sized vehicles, applying the “lease restrictive environment” concept to transportation for greater safety and comfort.

HALO’s advanced analytics utilize the information to provide advanced, actionable insights to improve safety, efficiency and the overall transportation experience.

“HALO’s ability to offer real-time data and intelligent recommendations sets a new standard in the industry,” added Kenning. “By prioritizing safety, efficiency and innovation, HALO helps us deliver exceptional services to students, parents, and school districts.”

About First Student

As North America’s leading school transportation solutions provider, First Student strives to provide unmatched care and the safest ride to school to 5.5 million students every day. With a team of highly trained drivers, the company will complete 1 billion student trips during the 2024-25 school year. First Student delivers reliable, quality services, including full-service transportation and management, special-needs transportation, fleet electrification, route optimization, scheduling, maintenance, and charter services with a fleet of about 45,000 buses.

The post First Student Unveils HALO, Groundbreaking Technology Platform Revolutionizing Student Transportation appeared first on School Transportation News.

From the first pickup to the first bell and back, you know that student safety goes far beyond simply getting learners on and off the bus. From managing safe walking routes to verifying student drop-off locations and implementing behavior management systems, it’s crucial to have the right tools in place to safeguard your most precious cargo.

Join TransAct and School Transportation News for a 60-minute webinar on February 27 at 1:00 p.m. EST, where we’ll explore practical strategies for enhancing student safety.

In this webinar, you’ll explore:

• How technology can contribute to hazard identification and safe routes
• Best practices for managing bus stop placements and curbside pick-ups
• The importance of communication with school leaders to ensure student safety
• How to enhance behavior management on the bus

Brought to you by TransAct

REGISTER BELOW:

Presenter/Moderator:

Michael Roche
VP of Customer Engagement and Business Development
EZRouting

With over 13 years of experience as a Director of Transportation for a school district, Roche possesses extensive expertise in overseeing logistical operations and ensuring the safety and efficiency of transportation systems. Transitioning into consulting, he has utilized his knowledge to aid school districts in optimizing transportation operations and implementing software solutions.

Currently, Roche is committed to collaborating with school districts across the country, assisting them in maximizing the benefits of the software and providing comprehensive consulting services tailored to their transportation requirements.

Presenter:

Allen Leonard
Director of Transportation
Fayette County Public Schools

Allen Leonard is the Director of Transportation for Fayette County Public Schools, located in the Atlanta suburbs. With a career spanning 27 years, Leonard has dedicated his professional life to serving the district, beginning his career as a high school social studies teacher and soccer coach, later transitioning into administration. Over a span of nine years, Leonard served as Assistant Principal and Athletic Director at two high schools. He then served as Principal of Starr’s Mill High School for the past nine years before transitioning into his current role in transportation in June of the previous year.

Leonard has gained a comprehensive understanding of the transportation operation within his district, having observed it from multiple perspectives. This experience has afforded him a deep appreciation for the collaborative, hands-on effort required from all stakeholders to ensure the smooth and efficient functioning of the transportation system.

The post (Free Webinar) Safety First: Enhancing K-12 Student Transportation Safety with Technology appeared first on School Transportation News.

Hunter Eddy’s decade-long career in transportation reflects a profound commitment to improving mobility systems for communities. His journey began nearly 12 years ago as a driver for Green Mountain Transit (GMT) before advancing to supervisory roles and ultimately becoming a training supervisor.

After 10 years at GMT, Eddy transitioned to serving as Director of Transportation at Essex Westford School District in Essex, Vt. His career trajectory highlights a dedication to understanding and optimizing transportation systems to better serve communities.

In Transfinder he found a similarly dedicated partner passionate about improving the transportation of students and putting parents’ and transportation leaders’ minds at ease.

Building Expertise in Transportation

Eddy said during his tenure at GMT, he acquired a deep understanding of route design and management. Initially, routes were developed manually without advanced software solutions. By the time he left GMT, the organization was beginning to adopt apps for bus tracking—a precursor to the more sophisticated tools he would encounter later. Eddy’s exposure to these evolving systems laid the groundwork for his bringing innovations into school transportation.

“We did build routes at Green Mountain Transit but we didn’t use software to do it,” he said. “So Transfinder and Routefinder PLUS is all brand new to me.”

Upon assuming his role in Essex, Eddy identified inefficiencies in the district’s routing processes and early on advocated for adopting the move to Routefinder PLUS, Transfinder’s award-winning, browser-based routing solution to streamline operations and enhance efficiency.

The Shift to Routefinder PLUS

The transition to Routefinder PLUS proved transformative. Eddy recalls how tasks that were cumbersome before the move and are now more intuitive. Features like drag-and-drop functionality for stops, easy map editing and the ability to create custom routes significantly reduced the time required for planning.

“It was a game changer,” Eddy said, noting how PLUS allowed him to recreate all district routes within a few weeks—a task that would have been daunting under the previous system.

Eddy also emphasized the benefits of enhanced map editing capabilities in Routefinder PLUS. Issues such as inaccurate road designations—for example, roads marked as one-way when they were two-way—were resolved with ease. The system’s intuitive interface enabled Eddy to identify and correct these discrepancies, ensuring that routes were accurate and efficient.

Serving a Diverse District

The Essex district’s transportation network is extensive, covering nine schools and approximately 1,200 active students, with around 1,800 signed up for bus services. The district’s rural nature introduces unique challenges, such as navigating dirt roads and adapting routes for mud season.

The team manages 37 primary routes, picking up elementary students first, then doubling back to pick up the remaining students, an approach they added last year. Eddy’s implementation of PLUS streamlined these complex logistics, enabling more effective route management and improved service delivery.

Training and Community Engagement

Eddy’s success with PLUS was bolstered by comprehensive training sessions. He highlighted the value of recorded classes and the supportive Transfinder Community platform, which provided resources and answers to specific challenges. What also stood out were the classes’ emphasis on foundational setup. By establishing clear parameters—such as curb approaches, stop positioning, and school-specific defaults—Eddy was able to troubleshoot routing issues quickly and efficiently.

Another key aspect of Eddy’s approach was engaging with school administrators. Through surveys and feedback sessions, he tailored the system to meet their needs. For instance, administrators now have easy access to reports detailing which students are assigned to specific buses, pickup and drop-off times, and route details. This autonomy has reduced reliance on the transportation office, fostering greater independence and efficiency within schools.

Key Features of Routefinder PLUS

Eddy highlighted several standout features of Routefinder PLUS:

1. Drag-and-Drop Functionality: Simplifies the process of adjusting stops and routes, saving significant time.
2. Map Editing: Allows quick resolution of road inaccuracies and route adjustments, enhancing overall accuracy.
3. Customizable Reporting: Empowers administrators to generate tailored reports, reducing communication bottlenecks.
4. Route Comparison Tools: Facilitates alignment of AM and PM routes, ensuring consistency and efficiency.

“Being able to compare two routes on top of each other was a huge help,” he said.

And seeing the impact of a decision before finalizing it was also helpful.

“I can change a lot of things pretty easily, like locking in certain times and see what that would affect,” Eddy said. “That helped quite a bit.”
These features not only streamline operations but also provide Eddy with a comprehensive view of the district’s transportation network, enabling data-driven decision-making.

Looking Ahead

Eddy sees immense potential in fully leveraging Routefinder PLUS. Beyond routing, he envisions using the system for staffing analysis, maintenance planning, and district-wide optimization. The platform’s ability to provide a holistic view of transportation operations—from walking zones to district-wide route maps—positions it as a vital tool for strategic planning.

For those considering a transition to Transfinder’s advanced transportation management platform, Eddy’s advice is clear: “Don’t wait. It has saved us and made us a lot more efficient. For me, it’s like the tip of the iceberg. I think there’s so much that we haven’t even touched on.”

Eddy’s experience underscores the substantial time savings, efficiency gains and enhanced service delivery achievable with Transfinder. By adopting PLUS and Transfinder’s award-winning suite of solutions, districts are revolutionizing their transportation operations, ultimately benefiting students, staff and the broader community.

To learn more visit Transfinder.com, email getplus@transfinder.com or call 800-373-3609.

The views expressed are those of the content sponsor and do not reflect those of School Transportation News.

The post The Transfinder Transformation: Efficient Transportation Management appeared first on School Transportation News.

There’s no getting around the fact that transporting students is an expensive enterprise. Add to that the extra measures needed for serving students with disabilities, and costs grow substantially higher than for other routine operations.

For school some districts, at least a portion of that extra expense is being offset with funds from the federal government. Through provisions in the legislation authorizing Medicaid funding, school systems may file for reimbursement for transportation to and from specified eligible services that students with disabilities need during the school day. These services can include physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology or therapy services, psychological counseling, and nursing services.

Of course, that’s based on acceptable submission of the required reports, which in turn rests on providing accurate ridership figures. Currently, reporting practices vary among school districts across the country, from relying on paper-based approaches to capitalizing on advanced features offered by routing software and related student ridership verification.

Teena Mitchell, special needs transportation coordinator for Greenville County Schools in Greenville, South Carolina, noted that considering the extra costs involved in serving special needs riders, seeking reimbursement is well worth the effort.

“I think it’s safe to say the cost of transporting students with disabilities is substantially higher than transporting those without them and plays a major role in the overall cost of educating our students with disabilities,” said Mitchell, who is also president of the National Association for Pupil Transportation.

Even if reimbursements go back into a school district’s general fund rather than the transportation department’s budget, she added, the dollars benefit the entire district and can be tracked back to the benefit of the transportation department in supporting areas such as personnel, training and equipment needs.

Of the 78,000 students Greenville County serves daily, nearly 16 percent are students with disabilities. The vat vast majority of those students, 88 percent according to Mitchell, receive the same transportation as non-disabled students and ride general education buses. The remaining 12 percent receive specialized transportation and are served on 111 specialized school buses.

Payment is based on a standard amount per trip. For the 2023-2024 school year, the amount was $13.35 per trip although the rate as of Oct. 1 has increased to $29.06. At the standard of $13.35 per trip, a typical school district of Greenville’s size could have expected to receive about $221,000 this school year, Mitchell calculated.

To file for reimbursement, school bus drivers are given a form that lists qualified students listed for the route in question and the dates transported. When two weeks of information has been recorded, a clerk who manages the program enters the information into the Medicaid system for payment.

The school district has routing software but as of this report wasn’t using for tracking Medicaid reimbursements. However, transportation staff were evaluating options for moving in that direction.

This step has already been taken at Colorado’s Weld County School District 6, said Chad Hawley, director of transportation. Routing software is now being used to track ridership in the district’s 60 routes, including 26 designated for serving students who require specialized transportation.

Software features include custom reporting functionality to capture and document data such as days qualifying students rode, where and what time they were picked up and dropped off, and which personnel were involved. A student information specialist incorporates the relevant details in a report that is shared with the Medicaid specialist in the district’s finance department.

Along with improved accuracy, the workload involved in reporting has been reduced.

“We used to have someone collect daily student counts from all of our specialized routes, input the data into a spreadsheet, and then send all the spreadsheets to the finance department,” Hawley noted. “The previous way was time consuming and not always accurate.”

Plans for a similar approach are in the works at El Dorado Union High School District in Placerville, California, where drivers log attendance and submit monthly reports for transportation provided to an average of 130 students who meet Medicaid requirements.

“When drivers turn in reports, they go first to our dispatchers, who enter the data into a shared spreadsheet,” said Sarah Lemke, director of transportation. “This spreadsheet is then accessible to both the finance team and the student success team, which also tracks our McKinney-Vento [Homeless Assistance Act] students.”

This collective info feeds into a report for both state and federal reimbursements.

Transportation staff currently use routing software to support route planning. “While it doesn’t track attendance directly, this capability is expected once we fully implement the software,” Lemke said, adding the goal is to have it fully operational to support Medicaid tracking this school year. “We’re working to streamline this process into one centralized system. The shared Google sheet we currently use has been very effective for transparency across departments, so we’re optimistic that routing will further enhance that.”

Services provided by an outside firm are central to Medicaid reporting at Hutto Independent School District, where the number of special needs riders has been growing. Currently, the school district located northeast of Austin, Texas transports 242 special needs students out of 4,568 total riders, an increase of 14 percent from last year. This necessitates running 15 routes for students with individualized education programs and 35 general routes with some specialty shuttles and McKinney-Vento routes as well, noted David Uecker, director of transportation.

“A contractor does the filing for us,” Uecker says. “We submit rider counts to the company with our [special education] department handling the reporting.”

Hutto leaders plan to enhance reporting with the implementation of new software. Slated for full adoption in the spring, that move will support tracking of riders with disabilities.

Some school districts have elected not to pursue Medicaid reimbursements, at least for now. That’s the case at Deer Creek School District in Edmond, Oklahoma. The district currently utilizes eight routes to transport 100 students with IEPs each school day but meets those demands without additional federal funding.

“The time it takes to go through the reimbursement process makes it difficult to pursue and maintain districtwide,” said Robert Feinberg, transportation director, echoing a common sentiment of peers nationwide.

At the same time, that decision is subject to review. “There is always a possibility of us beginning to use the program,” Feinberg noted. “Our district will continue to evaluate the process versus the manpower it would take to submit the claims.” He said one scenario that might prompt Deer Creek to begin seeking Medicaid funding would be if the school district experienced a large influx of students who meet reimbursement requirements.

Making It Work
Dealing with the federal government is never simple, and the Medicaid reimbursement process is no exception.

Given the complexity involved, good organization is a must. “Prioritize organization from the beginning,” Lemke said. “And establish a reliable system for collecting needed information in advance.”

The same goes for maintaining the necessary knowledge base. “Special needs transportation is definitely a challenge for many districts,” Feinberg said. “Knowing the local, state and federal laws pertaining to their transportation is vital.”

Targeted training can be a key to effective practice in this area, Mitchell pointed out.
“Training your drivers and attendants to be accurate and consistent can be a challenge, especially if you’re in a larger district,” said Mitchell.

Greenville addresses this need during new-hire training, with all incoming transportation employees receiving at least four days of training in transporting students with disabilities. That includes the Medicaid tracking and reporting process in addition to driver training instruction.

“During this training, we impress on the employees the importance of accuracy and remind them that their signature is their assurance that the form is accurate,” Mitchell added.

“Occasionally there may be updates to the process, and when this happens as it did recently, we schedule an in-service training and also give hand-outs with specific instructions.”

Even with the best training, mistakes can occur. To ensure accuracy, Mitchell said she has found it beneficial to have a staff member oversee the process and review the information generated.

Katrina Morris, who directs transportation at both West Shore Educational School District and Mason County Eastern School District in Michigan, advises those in transportation who have not yet pursued this type of funding to consider going for it.

A lot of districts do not realize that there is money for Medicaid reimbursement for students with special needs who require services,” said Morris, who is also the executive director for the Michigan Association for Pupil Transportation. “Please work with your special ed departments to see if this is an option to help receive the funding you are entitled to.”

Mitchell offered similar advice. “If your program is set up and maintained properly, it can run rather smoothly and bring much-needed funding back into the district to offset our diminishing budgets,” she concluded. “These funds can aid you in providing safe transportation with qualified staff.”

Editor’s Note: As reprinted in the January 2025 issue of School Transportation News.

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Related: Managing Transportation Data and Keeping It Safe

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