Despite not meeting since 2015 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Congress on School Transportation in Des Moines, Iowa last month concluded one half day ahead of schedule.

The early finish was noted by steering committee chair Michael LaRocco, state director student transportation services for the Indiana Department of Education, and on-site chair Charlie Hood, a former NASDPTS president and retired state director for Florida, who attributed the expedited conclusion to the understood importance of the process.

As a first-time attendee—like many in the room—the organized structure of the proceedings was apparent. Like a well-oiled machine, each committee took the stage and presented the proposed changes, with delegates agreeing quickly, or putting up a fight on something as seemingly simple as a word choice.

Much of the debate occurred over three words: May, Should and Shall. But those are important delineations, I learned.

Shall is the most stringent, a legal obligation. May connotates allowable equipment or processes. Should is a recommendation. I questioned why the wording matters, especially if the book itself is intended to serve as a best-practice resource and not a requirement in many states. It all comes down to legalities.

For instance, say a school district doesn’t equip its school buses with crossing arms and a student gets hurt, when a crossing arm could have prevented the injury. The specifications manual could be used in court, and the district would have to defend the decision of not equipping vehicles with the available safety device.

Despite no delegates speaking on the crossing gates proposal, it passed in one of the most controversial votes, 34 to 13, changing “may” have to “shall” have.

Word choice remained important to the delegations and was a sticking point for most amended changes. Whether that word choice was changing school district to local education agency, using the word student versus child, or removing the word privilege when referring to school transportation. One Michigan delegate argued the service should no longer be a privilege but a right, especially when a student’s on-board behavior is an issue.

One delegate even noted at the start of the Congress that using the word shall could be subjective language and called upon the states to use the term must as universal language when referring to requirements throughout the entire specs manual.

“Must is a directive,” the Michigan delegate shared. However, Hood reminded delegates that rules were already accepted and such changes could not be made at that time.

Proposal 50 of the school bus specifications committee was one of the few that was granted extra time for discussion (each proposal is allocated a total of 15 minutes) due to wording relating to mitigating a child being left on a school bus and preemptive procedures for the driver to take. The proposal stated that passenger advisory systems are optional but if installed, “a passenger advisory system shall require the driver to walk through the bus looking for sleeping children before leaving the bus. The driver shall have to push a button at the rear of the bus to deactivate the alarm. If the driver tries to leave the bus without deactivating the system, the system shall cause the horn to sound, notifying others that the bus is still occupied.”

The proposal added a description for how the passenger advisory system works. Delegates, however, found that the language was too specific to a procedure or system. It was amended to remove the description, as delegates pointed out some systems don’t use a button. Instead, the proposal was updated to state that the driver shall walk the bus aisle, look for sleeping children, and proceed to the rear of the bus to deactivate the system.

Another proposal in the specially equipped school bus specifications committee discussed the use of air conditioning. The proposal stated, “Climate control options shall be installed that include heating and air conditioning.” However, delegates voted 37 to 7 that changing shall to may was more appropriate to address the various climates across the U.S.

2025 New Committees
New this year was the addition of the emerging technologies and alternative transportation committees as well as the separation of infants, toddlers and preschoolers from transportation for students with disabilities and health care needs. The emerging technologies committees proceeded quickly, with one Maryland delegate questioning the need for inserting language into the specs manual as opposed to creating a guide that can be updated more regularly for school districts.

“What’s new today is old tomorrow,” a delegate commented. Alternative transportation was an especially hot topic. Many agreed that it was necessary to discuss but in little detail, leaving most governing to state and local decision makers. For instance, a line item for driver credentials stated that alternative transportation drivers “be at least 18 years of age or commensurate with the state’s required age and required years of driving to become a school bus driver.” The delegates felt the age was not necessary and should be removed, leaving the decision to the state.

One delegate suggested a policy consideration for not allowing students to be transported in the front seat of alternative transportation vehicles under any circumstances. However, other delegates had concerns, stating that a 10-passenger van would be limited to nine passengers. A Kentucky delegate said their school district allows high school students to sit in the front when space is limited. The proposed amendment failed by a vote of 31 to 9.

The delegates voted to remove the types of alternative transportation driver training (12 bullet points ranging from defensive driving to operations in inclement weather to safe loading and unloading) to instead comply with federal, state and local requirements.

After two days of the delegates sharing their opinions, presenting amendments and approving proposals (or not), the 17th NCST concluded with the resolutions committee. Resolution 2 states that “School Transportation News in a March 2024 publication identified a reporting issue that indicates the school bus is disappearing.”

STN Editor-in-Chief Ryan Gray’s column “The Disappearing School Bus?” highlighted a discrepancy between historically reported numbers of students who ride the school and those of the National Household Travel Survey sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration.

The resolution noted the need to develop a standardized reporting system for collecting ridership data and called on “the interim Steering Committee of the 18th NCST to appoint a focus group to research and develop recommendations for standardization of data collection relative to ridership on school bus and make periodic reports to the Interim Committee.”

The 2024 National Household Travel Survey is currently about halfway through data collection, which will run through Oct. 31 of this year. Meanwhile, the dates and location of the 18th NCST were not announced. State delegates were surveyed about if they felt meeting every five years was appropriate, or if they would rather meet every two or three years. The results were not available at this writing.

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

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Related: NASDPTS Publishes Paper Espousing Safety of School Buses Over Alternative Transportation
Related: National Congress Finishes Early After 10-Year Hiatus
Related: National Congress on School Transportation Delayed Until 2025
Related: National Congress on School Transportation Writing Committees Prepare for 2025 Meeting

The post May, Should, Shall? appeared first on School Transportation News.

Amid a stunning financial turnaround over the found its leader to succeed Phil Horlock as both president and CEO. Personal reasons forced Blue Bird to go in a different direction last fall after Britton Smith unceremoniously resigned. But the company didn’t have to look far for the best candidate to step up and into the position.

Wyskiel had spent the previous two decades leading Magna International, the last five years as global president of the manufacturer’s seating division. But he knows school buses intimately. He came to Magna over 15 years ago from Canadian Blue Bird Coach, where he was general manager of Type A and Type C school bus body and assembly production.

“John’s deep and varied expertise in operational excellence and manufacturing leadership makes him an ideal fit for this role at this time,” Doug Grimm, chairman of Blue Bird, said when Wyskiel’s name was announced in January. “His proven track record will be invaluable as we expand our footprint and improve our operational processes to support our customers.”

School Transportation News caught up with Wyskiel shortly after he started on Feb. 17 to discuss the company’s evolution as it prepares to celebrate its 100th birthday in 2027, the same year the industry is poised to meet the latest federal emissions standards that were still under review by the new Trump administration EPA. Editor’s note Wyskiel declined to comment on tariff impacts, referring instead to a previous statement made by Horlock in January that Blue Bird would pass along any additional manufacturing costs to customers.

STN: How has Blue Bird changed since you were last mpart of the company 20 years ago?

Wyskiel: Of course, the company is publicly traded today, and it has been successful financially. However, at its core, the DNA of this century-old American company has not changed. There is a strong sense of pride within Blue Bird reflecting a company culture that deeply cares about people. The talent within the company has continued to expand over the years in all functional areas. Operationally, you can see a much greater focus on metrics and key performance indicators, which has enabled Blue Bird to become very focused and to make data-based decisions. From a product perspective, our rich history of innovations [are] on full display, particularly around alternative powertrain offerings. All of these developments have turned Blue Bird into a high performance business and strengthened its iconic brand.

STN: How would you describe your leadership style? What is your strategic vision for Blue Bird?

Wyskiel: I am a pretty engaged operator, and I believe people work best in an environment which fosters empowerment and accountability. Plus, when there is an issue, there is no substitute for “go see.” Whether it’s on the shop floor, at a dealer or at a customer, there is no substitution. I have returned to Blue Bird after a 20-year hiatus only a few weeks ago [at interview time]. Therefore, it’s a little early to talk strategy in specifics just yet. But I think the theme will be to shift to a long-term view for our customers, dealers, team members and investors. This means investing in facilities, our products and expanding into adjacent markets where we can. This great company has been around for almost 100 years, and my objective is to set it up for success for decades to come.

STN: Blue Bird currently offers more fuel choices than any other school bus manufacturer. Why is this important especially in the current political environment?

Wyskiel: Blue Bird offers the widest powertrain portfolio in the markets diesel, gasoline, propane and, of course, electric. We believe there is no one answer for customers. They want choice for their districts. A broad product portfolio allows them to tailor the value proposition to their specific needs. It could be total cost of operation, overall durability, ease of refueling, or the advantages of zero emissions. And if you look at the current political environment, it is just a benefit to have the widest offering as we cover every area in the market regardless of where legislation ends up. Blue Bird undoubtedly has the broadest offering, our success in the marketplace validates our strategy.

Moving forward, I do hope to see a more predictable regulatory environment for our industry. Manufacturers need to plan years in advance and commit to product development and investment. So, directional stability is not simply helpful, it is essential. I think the move to zero emissions will continue to advance longer term, it just may take longer to get there. In the school bus market, it makes so much sense. The duty cycle fits electrification and charging, range is not an issue since school district routes are normally shorter, and zero emissions advances student health and performance.

STN: What is Blue Bird doing to strengthen the long-term health of the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program?

Wyskiel: The 2022 Clean School Bus Rebate Program is part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provides a total of $5 billion over five years for clean school bus transportation. To date, the EPA has awarded almost $3 billion to fund approximately 9,000 school bus replacements, approximately 95 percent of which are zero-emission, battery-electric. Funding has been awarded to more than 1,300 school districts in nearly all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

There is no question the program had an overwhelmingly positive impact on children, communities and American manufacturing, bringing invaluable opportunities to school districts to transition their fleets to zero-emission school buses. Communities across the country have benefited from the reduction in diesel tailpipe emissions that can negatively impact student and community health. As the leader in low- and zero-emission school buses, we have communicated and promoted the benefit at all levels of government.

STN: Can you update us on the status of standard lap/shoulder seatbelts and other safety technology like driver airbags?

Wyskiel: Blue Bird is recognized as a technology leader and innovator of school buses since its founding in 1927. Our dedicated team designs and manufactures 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.

Blue Bird made lap/shoulder belts standard on its buses late last year and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Similarly, we will introduce airbags protecting drivers this fall. It’s a testimony to Blue Bird, whose school buses are designed, not adapted to the market, and whose focus on safety has been industry leading. If you could fast forward a decade, we will probably look back and wonder how school transportation didn’t include seatbelts and airbags all along. I am proud that Blue Bird has taken the lead role in this area.

STN: Thank you.

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

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Related: (STN Podcast E259) Feel the Passion: Debates on Wi-Fi, Technology, Alternative Transportation & Safety
Related: Blue Bird Showcases Zero- and Low-Emission Commercial Vehicle Platforms at 2025 Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo
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Related: (STN Podcast E212) On the Horizon: Technology Showcases & Clean Bus Discussions at ACT Expo

The post Wyskiel Steers Blue Bird Toward its Second Century appeared first on School Transportation News.

Child passenger safety providers are urging the industry to voice support of proposed rulemaking by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that addresses an oversight in updates made to FMVSS 213 that could impact the new manufacturing of child safety restraint systems for school buses.

NHTSA proposed on May 30 amendments to Child Restraint System Standards FMVSS 213, FMVSS 213a and FMVSS 213b to exempt school bus child safety restraint systems from the requirement to comply with side-impact protection requirements defined in FMVSS 213a.

It also delays the side-impact protection compliance date for all other child restraint systems from June 30, 2025, to Dec. 5, 2026, and provides that the Child Restraint Air Bag Interaction 12-month-old (CRABI)-12MO test dummy will not be used to test forward-facing CRSs.

NHTSA proposes to amend FMVSS No. 213, “Child Restraint Systems” and FMVSS No. 213b, child restraint systems: Mandatory applicability beginning Dec. 5, 2026,” to exclude school bus CRSs from the requirements and to provide attachments for connection to the vehicle’s LATCH child restraint anchorage system. These anchorages are only required in school buses that are 10,000 pounds GVWR and less.

Charlie Vits, a child passenger safety technician and a consultant to school bus seating manufacturer IMMI, said NHTSA has always been supportive of school bus child restraint systems since the 2003 introduction of IMMI’s SafeGuard STAR as well as the Besi Pro Tech and HSM PCR.

As currently designed for school transportation, NHTSA wants to assure their continued future availability and use, Vits said, adding the purpose of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) published on the Federal Register last week is to remove three important but non-applicable regulatory details impacting their design and function.

“Unless these detailed requirements are removed from FMVSS 213, 213a and 213b as currently written, the production of these school bus child restraints will most likely cease on June 30, 2025, when the three requirements are to become effective,” he said.

These child restraint systems will no longer be compliant with the federal child restraint standards unless they are redesigned and constructed as a more costly and less usable product, Vits added.

Denise Donaldson, a certified passenger safety instructor and editor and publisher of Safe Ride News, noted the recent proposals are essentially housekeeping in nature.

“The more exciting development occurred in 2023, when NHTSA issued a final rule to create a product category specifically for school bus child restraint systems,” she explained. “Although these products were previously considered compliant with FMVSS 213 under the category harness, the new category’s description gives manufacturers greater freedom to innovate when designing products made exclusively for school bus use.”

When that rule was issued, Donaldson said incongruities with school bus CRSs remained in the regulatory text.

“Since these products install using a seatback mount, they needed to be made exempt from the standard’s requirement that car seats have a LATCH system for installation,” she added. “They should be exempt from the upcoming side-impact standard since the test in that standard replicates a passenger vehicle environment, substantially different from a school bus. These are loose ends, so the proposals are important for addressing these issues and satisfying the requests of petitioners, including manufacturers.”

Vits noted the NPRM cleans up regulatory language from current rulings that school bus child restraint systems could not meet due to the nature of their design.

Meeting the requirements would require costly redesigns resulting in a less usable school bus child restraint, he said, adding, “The intent of NHTSA is not to change anything that impacts the concept of the current school bus child restraint.”

In 2014, NHTSA first published proposed rulemaking to add side-impact crash protection to all types of child seats except harnesses, otherwise known as school bus vests, Vits said.

“IMMI commented on the NPRM that although it supported side-impact protection requirements in child restraints, school bus child restraints were similar to the excluded harnesses and not capable of meeting those requirements,” he added. “The nature of the web-based, no-shell design for these child restraints does not provide the necessary structure to meet these requirements. Therefore, school bus child restraint systems should also be excluded from meeting the side- impact protection requirements.”

NHTSA published the final ruling on side impact requirements as FMVSS 213a on June 30, 2022. But, Vits noted, NHTSA had yet to formally define school bus child restraints as a type of child restraint, so they could not exclude it from side impact requirements.

With FMVSS 213b in December 2023, NHTSA formally defined it as a type of child restraint but omitted excluding it from the requirements of FMVSS 213a. He said the oversight was to have been corrected in a to-be-published ruling last Oct. 9 but again was missed.

IMMI submitted a Petition for Rulemaking on Jan. 19 that formally requested NHTSA change the regulations to exclude school bus child restraints from the FMVSS 213a requirements, resulting in last week’s NPRM. IMMI also found the requirement to include LATCH and tether connectors and their associated labeling remained as a requirement for school bus child restraints, Vits said.

“IMMI submitted another Petition for Rulemaking on May 19, 2025, formally requesting NHTSA to change the regulations to exclude school bus child restraints from the LATCH connector and associated labeling requirements of FMVSS 213 and 213b,” he said, adding the change was also included in the NPRM.

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Related: NHTSA Rulemaking at Heart of NCST Resolutions Focused on Safety
Related: What Transporters Must Know About CSRS for Preschoolers on School Buses
Related: CSRS Decisions During IEP Avoid Seclusion, Restraint Issues

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Several other regulatory product developments impacted passenger vehicle child seat manufacturers and caused concern they would not be able to meet the FMVSS 213a effective date of June 30, 2025. In response to the petitions of these manufacturers,Vits said NHTSA published the NPRM to propose delaying the effective date of FMVSS 213a to Dec. 5, 2026, the same effective date of FMVSS 213b.

The proposals “are what is needed to set the standard’s school bus CRS category on the correct footing, allowing current CSRs models to be compliant and opening the door for future innovation,” Donaldson, who favors the proposals, pointed out.

“School bus child restraints have served the industry well for the past 22 years,” she added. “They have provided critical protection to pre-K children in numerous school bus crashes over the years. They need to continue to be available to school transportation for years to come.”

While Donaldson expressed confidence that NHTSA will make the necessary changes to FMVSS 213a and 213b, Vits commented that unless NHTSA acts immediately according to the proposed ruling, manufacturers will need to cease production.

“Although the comment period closes on June 30, NHTSA wants to hear from those in the industry as soon as possible due to the urgency to turn this NPRM into a final ruling,” he added. “They want to know that transporters of pre-K children want these school bus child restraints now and in the future.”

In providing input by June 30, Vits noted “comments should be short and simple, beginning with a statement in support of the May 30, 2025 NPRM, FR Doc. 2025-09750. Then, briefly share your positive experiences with these type of child restraints, especially if they have provided protection to any of your children in crashes.

“Express your need to have them continue in production without adding requirements to provide side impact protection and LATCH anchorage connectors.”

Public comments on docket number NHTSA–2025–0046 can be submitted electronically at the Federal eRulemaking Portal or via U.S. mail to: Docket Management Facility, M–30, U.S. Department of Transportation, West Building, Ground Floor, Rm. W12–140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590.

Donaldson noted in creating the school bus CRS category in 2023, NHTSA clearly signaled its support of this type of child safety restraint system.

“I feel confident that a rule that finalizes these important proposals, which are necessary to make that category viable, will be forthcoming,” she added.

Ronna Weber, executive director for the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services, said the National Congress on School Transportation’s Resolution No. 6, Request for Clarification on FMVSS 213a and 213b Final Rules, approved by state delegates last month underscores the industry’s commitment to safely transporting preschool and special needs children, a sizeable industry component.

The resolution noted that any regulations should continue to ensure children requiring securement based on age and weight are carried safely and securely, CRSs are attached to the seat back to ensure a secure fit for the child. It is believed approximately 310,000 to 335,000 CRSs designed for school buses are on the road today.

NHTSA also published a total of 16 NPRMs on May 30, most of which are considered deregulatory by cleaning up obsolete ruling text related to requirements for vehicles produced more than 10 years ago. Rules pertaining to school buses include: FMVSS 207: Seating Systems, FMVSS 210: Seat Belt Assembly Anchorages, and FMVSS 222: School Bus Passenger Seating and Crash Protection

As no new requirements are being added, there is little merit in commenting on them, commented Charlie Vits, a certified passenger safety technician and consultant to IMMI.

Donaldson said those in the school transportation sector should be assured that their school-bus-only CSRS and any that they purchase while the NPRM is going through the rulemaking process continue to be safe and legal.

“These regulatory changes will not necessitate though would allow future redesign of these products,” she said. “However, another aspect of the 2023 final rule that applies to any forward-facing child restraint, including school-bus-only CSRS, requires labels and instructions to state a minimum child weight for riding forward facing of 26.5 pounds.

“The compliance deadline for this requirement is June 30, 2025. For school-bus-only CSRS, this means that a rider must be at least 26.5 pounds, which is slightly higher than the pre-rule-change minimum weight of 25 pounds for most models.”

The post NHTSA Seeks Fix to Child Safety Restraint Standard Affecting School Buses appeared first on School Transportation News.

In recognition of Distracted Driving Month in April, Bus Gates provided school districts with free products for a hands-on trial of the bus extension arms. School district leaders say the equipment can be part of the solution to combating illegal passing, in conjunction with enforcement cameras and driver training.

Nathanael Spence, coordinator of transportation for Amityville Public Schools in New York, noted that throughout his 18 years in transportation, he’s remained committed to finding innovative, data-driven solutions to reduce illegal passing and improve student safety.

“I’ve had hands-on experience piloting both BusPatrol enforcement cameras and two types of extended stop arms, and I’ve observed firsthand how each tool serves a unique purpose,” he said. “Extended stop arms are like the crossing gates at a railroad, designed to prevent tragedy by stopping motorists before danger strikes. Stop-arm cameras, while valuable, only document what should’ve been stopped. In safety, real protection comes from being proactive, not just recording reactions.”

He added that he believes a comprehensive approach consisting of both enforcement systems and extended stop-arms offers the greatest potential to change driver behavior and protect students. Spence noted Amityville began the school year with two Bus Gate units installed and has since expanded to four.

A Bus Gates pilot project for extended stop arms on school buses was launched in conjunction with Distracted Driving Awareness Month, with the goal of getting the extended stop-arm product in the hands of users.

“When you have that testimonial from the boots on the ground, the folks that are seeing the interaction with cars every single day, there’s just no substitute for that,” said Trevor Clatfelter, co-founder of Bus Gates. “So that allows us to get the product out there even further and get it on school busses even faster.”

 

He added that the bus extension arms are 95 percent effective in reducing illegal passing incidents.

 

Even though the program launched in April, it will remain available to school districts on a limited basis, pending inventory. Clatfelter noted that districts are not required to send the stop arm back and can choose to continue to use the product at no charge.

 

“We don’t care if your fleet has five buses or 50 buses or 500 buses,” he added. “We want to get the product out there to make every school child’s day safer.”

 

The product is added to the existing stop arm installed on the school bus. Bus Gate’s longest product extends six and half feet from the side of the bus, weighs less than three pounds, and includes flashing LED lights on the stop sign. Installation, Clatfelter said, 15 to 30 minutes.

“It is a super simple, easy install, and they’re pretty universal to go on most stop arms,” he said, adding that his company found a couple instances where modifications had to be made.

Bus Gates offers a shorter stop-arm extender for the rear, if districts have dual stop arms.

 

For liability purposes, Clatfelter said the extension is part of the original, federally mandated stop arm and is therefore part of the school bus as well. In states that allow Bus Gates use, hitting the bus extension arm is considered the same as hitting the stop-arm or the school bus itself, and would all result in the same penalties.

 

“When we go to trade shows, we want to demonstrate the effectiveness of the product, but it’s obnoxious,” said Chris McCloud, founding partner at Bus Gates marketing agency Pendulum PR “It’s obnoxious in especially an indoor setting, and it is that way so that in inclement weather, during the day, foggy conditions, the lights on the product cut through all of that. So, it doesn’t have to be a perfect day or near dusk for the product to be really effective. … [W]hat we’re hearing and seeing from the school districts that are using the product is ta massive reduction in the problem, which is people driving around the bus in the first place.”

 

While other technologies exist to increase safety at and around school buses, Clatfelter said, “Bus gates prevent, cameras prosecute.”

 

McCloud added that Bus Gates are a proactive product designed to stop a motorist from illegally passing a school bus, “Whether it’s on purpose or, and in most cases, not.

 

“We all choose to believe that the majority of the people that illegally pass a bus are not doing so with the intent to harm anybody,” he continued. “But at the end of the day, cameras don’t stop the activity from happening. Now, they might be able to catch some people by grabbing their license plate and then serving them a ticket, which hopefully then says, ‘Hey, I’m not going to do this again because I don’t want to pay the fine.’ But ultimately, it’s better to just prevent the activity, reducing the danger from happening in the first place. That’s what Bus Gates is trying to do.”

“We’ve observed a significant reduction in passing motorist incidents on those buses,” Spence said. “Being located in Suffolk County [Long Island], where BusPatrol enforcement cameras are also installed, we’ve been able to use the combined data from both systems to assess the impact, and the results are compelling. Buses equipped with both extended stop arms and enforcement cameras have shown an almost complete drop in illegal pass-bys.”

These findings have encouraged fleetwide implementation, which will be completed in phases by the school district’s contractor. Spence noted that year one will consist of equipping all large buses with Bus Gates, followed by all small buses in year two.

“Once the full rollout is complete, I’m eager to leverage year-over-year BusPatrol passing motorist data to perform a comparative analysis,” he said. “This will allow us to clearly measure the long-term impact of extended stop arms across our entire fleet and share meaningful results with stakeholders and other districts considering similar initiatives.”

Spence shared that his background of working with another stop-arm extension company gave him strong points of comparison.

“Bus Gates offered a similar safety benefit at a fraction of the cost, making the opportunity to outfit our entire fleet both fiscally responsible and operationally feasible,” he said. “The decision ultimately wasn’t just about adopting new technology. It was about leading with intention, maximizing our resources and setting a statewide example in school transportation safety.”

He shared that school bus drivers have found the easy-to-operate product sends a clear message to motorists of stop means stop. “That visibility alone has created a stronger sense of security during student loading and unloading,” Spence said, adding that community members expressed strong support in an NBC New York article in October.

“Since then, we’ve received inquiries from coordinators and transportation supervisors in neighboring districts who are eager to learn more about the technology and its effectiveness,” he continued. “Bus Gates has sparked not just compliance, but conversation, and that’s exactly the kind of awareness we need to drive long-term change in motorist behavior.”

Meanwhile, Bryan Broome, transportation operations manager for Parkway School District in Missouri, said when he became the fleet manager a few years ago, his director at the time discussed the issue of people running stop arms, which created an unsafe condition for the students.

That put a bug in Broome’s ear, and while attending an industry trade show he saw Bus Gates demonstrating its product.

“I just personally felt that Bus Gates seemed like the best solution as far as ease of install as well as (being) less intrusive on the bus,” he said. “It’s an issue that we have nationally where people are running stop arms. It’s horrible.”

He noted that some routes experienced two to three illegal passers a day. He noted that the Bus Gates were first installed on these routes, which cut infractions to about two to three violations a week.

“We stopped the majority of them,” he said. “Then we did some more investigating and found out that we needed [to do more training] on bus stop etiquette, of not coming to a stop and expecting the other cars to be able to stop immediately. … We had to work with our drivers as far as reminding them and working with them on bus stop etiquette and procedures.”

He noted that Bus Gates is not the sole solution but an additional tool to increase safety.

Broome said that Bus Gates were initially installed on six school buses. The school district began installing the units fleetwide on school buses earlier this school year and is expected to finish by the end of the summer.

“When we got the six units, I only put the arms on three buses for the first month or so, just to kind of try them out and see,” he said. “And then after about the first two or three days, I had drivers pretty much climbing over each other trying to get one installed on their bus. The drivers love them. They are looking for any tool that they could possibly get to help them keep their students safe.”

He also spoke about the concerns that motorists may hit the extended stop arm. “That is why we pushed the bus stop etiquette for the [school bus] drivers. It’s not just coming to a stop as fast as possible and throwing your arms out because sometimes it takes people a minute to react,” he shared.

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Related: Combatting Illegal Passing with Awareness, Technology
Related: Rhode Island District Adds School Bus Video to Reduce Illegal Passing
Related: Crossing Arms: Do They Work?

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Instead, district leaders reminded drivers to be defensive rather than aggressive with the stop-arms. “People make mistakes while driving. Sometimes people aren’t paying attention to the bus,” he said. “So let’s give them a chance to stop, or if they’re going to speed around us, let them speed around you, but we need to work with our students to make sure that they understand that they shouldn’t approach the bus until the stop arm is out, and then the door is open and the driver signals them to cross and or board the bus.”

He said school bus drivers were trained to initiate the stop by first activating the yellow warning lights which indicate to the motorist that the school bus is stopping, whereas the reds mean the school bus is stopped.

“We still need to use the tool of the Bus Gates as well as the driver’s best judgment on when to signal the students to cross and board the bus,” he said. “If we just put a tool on the bus, it doesn’t mean they know how to use it properly. And if, for instance, [bus drivers] do come to a stop too short or they don’t have their yellows on for a long enough time, then if we ever had an incident where a driver struck the stop arm extension we could be liable for any damages because we weren’t using the best procedure to initiate the stop.”

The post Are Extended Stop Arms Part of Solution to Illegal School Bus Passing? appeared first on School Transportation News.

The government giveth, and the government taketh away? That may be the case for the future of school-bus Wi-Fi, which currently is eligible for E-Rate discount under the Federal Communication Commission’s Universal Services Fund.

Whether that will continue is now uncertain due to court cases challenging the validity of the USF funding model. In late March, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on an appeal of a 5th Circuit decision that the Universal Service Fund’s revenue mechanism represents an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority.

The nation’s highest court is expected to rule by next month on whether that decision should be upheld. If the circuit court ruling is upheld, it would be a blow not only to school bus based Wi-Fi but also to other services supported by USF, especially E-Rate. The program provides discounts of 20 to 90 percent on the costs of internet connectivity for schools and libraries, low-income consumers and those in rural areas needing online access to health care providers. The FCC, which oversees USF, added school bus Wi-Fi to E-Rate in late 2023, with discounts awarded for the current school year.

Recent Movement
Looking specifically at school bus Wi-Fi, the opportunity to obtain federal support has been a relatively recent prospect. During the pandemic, the FCC’s $7.171 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) program, authorized by Congress in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, provided support for schools and libraries that included funds for equipping school buses with Wi-Fi connections.

After the public health emergency expired, the Democractic-majority FCC board approved the use of E-Rate funds to equip school buses for online access.That represented an expansion of boundaries for the long-standing E-Rate program, which was authorized by Congress as part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and created by the FCC in 1997.

The more recent expansion has opened new avenues of support for school districts across the country. In the 2024 fiscal year, the FCC received 405 requests for school bus Wi-Fi equipment and services totaling more than $19 million, according to figures reported by the Universal Service Administrative Company, the entity created by FCC to administer the USF and at the heart of the current legal case in front of the Supreme Court.

Awards come in the form of discounts rather than grants. For school districts, this can mean discounts of 20 to 90 percent on the costs of equipment and required fees, with the greater percentages targeted to districts serving economically disadvantaged areas.

While funding for Wi-Fi on buses represents only a small portion of overall USF funds, it has provided welcome support for a practice that some feel can be a boon to student success.

“Wi-Fi-equipped buses turn travel time into productive learning time, helping students complete homework and extend learning beyond school walls,” said Keith Krueger, CEO of CoSN, short for the Consortium for School Networking. “Our members have witnessed the benefits of  mobile broadband access during bus rides in diverse communities across the country, from California to Alabama.”

He pointed out that in a digital society, ensuring universal internet access is vital. “Wi-Fi on school buses is one important tool to help close the digital divide,” added Krueger, who addressed STN EXPO West attendees on the topic last summer.

That has been the case for Farmington Municipal Schools in New Mexico, where several different funding sources have been supplemented by the federal funds. The school district first deployed wireless routers in nine buses and then, with satisfactory results, expanded
to its entire 90-bus fleet. The district used Title 1 funds, then federal Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief funds, and most recently E-Rate funds to fund the expansion.

“We’ve received a lot of compliments from parents who tell us they’re happy when their children are home and have already completed their homework,” said Billy Huish, transportation supervisor.

Farmington covers 808 square miles and services 20 campuses. More than 6,500 of the district’s 11,000 students use school bus transportation every day. Some students face a 30- to 45-minute drive to and from their schools, while others live as far as two hours away. For after-school sports, it sometimes takes three hours to get to games. Given all that time in transit, it makes good sense to provide online access to middle and high school students with MacBooks and elementary students with iPads.

“We consider it critical to provide students wireless internet access on school buses,” Huish said. “Our students are not getting out of school and just riding home. They’re getting on the bus and continuing to learn and get their work done.”

At Henrico County Public Schools in the Richmond, Virginia area, 50 of the district’s 606 buses are equipped to provide Wi-Fi. Director of Pupil Transportation Jim Ellis said that initially, obtaining the equipment was not a priority from his viewpoint, with the impetus coming from district IT staff, which wanted to take advantage of E-Rate funds. But Ellis has been pleased by the results.

“It’s turned out better than I expected,” he said. “I’ve been surprised to see the number of logins.” Ellis added that when it comes to his fleet’s overall needs, an investment in Wi-Fi only makes sense for a limited number of buses.

“We have it on our buses that are having the longest runs,” Ellis noted. “That involves transporting kids to and from specialty centers, so they’re on the bus a little longer than everybody else.”

Complex Issue
Although advocates of funding bus-based Wi-Fi may feel its value is a no-brainer, others have voiced serious concerns. Rather than viewing online access for students through an educational lens, opponents, including prominent Republican politicians, see it as a threat. They argue not only that they believe this an unconstitutional use of federal funds, but access to online content raises red flags. Opponents claim that, at best, internet access will simply allow students to waste time rather than to complete school assignments. What’s even more problematic, they say, is the likelihood that children will gain access to all the unhealthy content the internet has to offer, from inappropriate web content to an avenue
for bullying.

To address such concerns, providers of broadband service offer filters that limit access to restricted content in conjunction with the school district network. This solution hasn’t gained acceptance with opponents, however, who believe children are adept at getting around such barriers.

In addition to the battle in the courts, a separate concern is that the FCC may remove school-bus-based Wi-Fi from the E-rate Eligible Services List. That’s a definite possibility given previous opposition voiced by new Republican FCC commissioners who now make up the board majority and could attempt to reverse the approval under the Learning WIthout Limits initiative.

“We anticipate that as soon as the FCC has five commissioners, the chairman will move to eliminate this flexibility,” said Noelle Ellerson Ng, associate executive director, advocacy and governance for AASA, the School Superintendents Association. This doesn’t mean Wi-Fi would be prohibited on school buses, but an important funding stream could disappear.

“If you pay for it, you’ll be able to have Wi-Fi,” Ellerson Ng explained. “But you’ll need to use all local dollars without any federal support.”

CoSN’s Krueger agreed that removing school bus Wi-Fi and mobile hotspots as eligible services would hamper a useful tool that’s a key part of some districts’ connectivity efforts for students. If that happens, he said his organization urges school transportation leaders to file comments with the FCC opposing the change and highlighting the educational and behavioral benefits of Wi-Fi on school buses.

Krueger said he also feels that if the U.S. Supreme Court rules against the current system, the E-rate program is unlikely to be eliminated outright.

“Instead, Congress will most likely step in to modernize the funding structure through new legislation,” he noted. “Members of both parties strongly support the Universal Service Fund, which not only helps schools and libraries through E-Rate but also homes and businesses in sparsely populated rural areas, rural health clinics and very low-income households.”

He added that such a decision would require a significant policy debate that could directly affect funding for E-Rate-eligible services, including Wi-Fi on school buses.

“School transportation leaders should consider adding their voice to the debate if the Supreme Court upholds the 5th Circuit’s decision undermining the program,” Krueger said.

Moving Ahead
Given the uncertainty of future funding, transportation leaders face options going forward. For those who see value in the potential offered by school bus Wi-Fi, one strategy might be to move as quickly as possible to qualify while funds are still available.

Ellerson Ng at AASA pointed out that even if Wi-Fi is ruled ineligible for future support, it’s possible funds would still be in the pipeline for the coming school year before a full cutoff could be implemented, potentially for the 2026-2027 school year.

Another approach would be to proceed entirely with local funding. That of course could make Wi-Fi on school buses a harder sell when competing with the many budget demands faced by every school district. Should funding be possible, though, the benefits seem obvious.

“If funding is available, school districts should apply for it to enhance student learning by making school buses an extension of the classroom,” Huish advised.

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

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Related: (Recorded Webinar) How to Fund & Implement School Bus WiFi
Related: A Supreme (Court) Debate Impacting Internet on School Buses?
Related: Benefits of School Bus Wi-Fi Discussed at STN EXPO
Related: Webinar Addresses School Bus Wi-Fi Myths, E-Rate Funding

The post School Bus Wi-Fi in Flux? appeared first on School Transportation News.

ANAHEIM, Calif. — What was considered “plug and play” solution years ago, that being fleet electrification, is far more complicated. OEMs, vendors and transportation leaders are highlighting the continued challenges but also the benefits of electric school buses while also promoting collaboration as the industry enters uncharted territory. But continued funding is necessary.

Brad Beauchamp, EV product segment leader for Blue Bird, moderated a related session, “School Bus Sector: Rolling out the New Generation of School Buses,” on April 30 at the Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo that provided the perspectives of two student transporters, a leader of electrification at the nation’s largest school bus contractor, a mechanical engineer, and a smart charging technology provider.

Mike Bullman, director of transportation for the South Carolina Department of Education. described the uniqueness of The Palmetto State, as the DOE owns and maintains all 5,600-plus school buses. Bullman noted the fleet fuel makeup is currently 88 percent diesel, 10 percent propane, and three-and-a-half percent electric. He noted that his operation has taken a multi-pronged approach to alternative fuels with a focus on advancing technology.

He added that the South Carolina state specifications committee will be convening in the this summer, and gasoline will be on the agenda as well. “We feel that fleet diversity is very important as we certainly move into the future,” he said.

The South Carolina fleet travels 78 million miles a year and supports 77 public school districts. Those 78 million miles serve 365,000 students a day using about nine or 10 million gallons of diesel fuel annually and 1.2 million gallons of propane. There are 42 statewide school bus maintenance facilities and a staff of about 375 employees, with an annual budget of $170 million.

“It’s quite a large endeavor,” Bullman shared.

In addition to fuels, Bullman is focused on technology adoption. “We take a safety-first approach, but we want to make sure that technology is in there,” he said, adding that buses have tire pressure monitoring systems, stability control, camera systems, stop arm cameras, student management, GPS tracking. “All of that is part of this comprehensive multi-prong approach,” he added.

He noted that preventative and predictive maintenance are also important. Bullman and his team in South Carolina lead the inspection program offered at STN EXPO conferences.

Bullman’s department also has a statewide routing program and a comprehensive driver training program. “Additional investments in charging and fueling infrastructure is on our list and important to us, long cycle cost analysis for vehicle procurement, and staff training,” he said.

He added that South Carolina will continue to seek additional funding sources, noting that was the main driver for purchasing electric vehicles. In 2021, the state received $1.3 million in grant money to purchase four electric school busses and in 2022 received $6.6 million to purchase 16 EVs and then in 2024 they got another $6.9 million to purchase another 20.

He added that with the EVs, they are seeing cost savings with maintenance and operating costs, it’s the initial cost gap that needs to be bridged. “I personally and professionally believe that the school bus space is an ideal space for an electric vehicle,” he said. “It just fits. You’ve got long dwell times. You’ve got repeatable routes. Certainly, 80 to 90 percent of the routes in South Carolina can be covered quite comfortably with an EV bus.”

Bullman cited the current challenge is uncertainty surrounding federal funding for ESBs — which many in the industry would agree with. He noted that without grants, South Carolina would not have been able to purchase electric, citing the cost gap with diesel. He noted that data collecting will be key and help to convince naysayers that this is the right technology moving forward.

Sam Hill-Cristol, director of strategy and business development for The Mobility House, noted that V2G technology is a way to offset some of those costs. “We’re optimistic about the contributions that V2G revenues can make in the total cost of ownership calculation,” he said.

He noted that while there are ongoing V2G projects across the U.S., it is currently not scalable. He expects V2G to gain more popularity in the years to come.

Meanwhile, Lauren Lynch, senior mechanical engineer with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), noted that the agency focuses on energy systems research and development with an eye on data collection. She said NREL provides data to fleets of school buses to enable fleet managers who are adopting the technologies to better understand their use and performance.

She said the fully funded program is a free service to fleets right now. Going forward, she explained that NREL will provide buses with a data logger that works in conjunction with telematics systems, so it won’t interfere with other data logging taking place on the bus. The data is transferred to NREL, who stores the data and conducts an analysis. Currently, they are working with seven different fleets and aim to collect data for at least 30 days. NREL is also hoping to capture a year after year performance and is coming up on year two working with Beaverton School District near Portland, Oregon.

“It’s been exciting, and we’re expanding our analysis to include a maintenance and cost study,” she shared. “We want to ensure that we provide a value back to the fleets. So, as part of our overall objective, we not only want to provide this analysis to the fleets, where we highlight key insights or maybe identify some areas of opportunity, but we also hope to utilize the data as an aggregated study for the vocation, utilize the data and other tools and models to inform driver developments or address any barriers within the industry.”

She explained that the data shows electric buses are more efficient than other powertrains. They do, she confirmed, have higher capital costs but have resulted in an overall lower dollar-per-mile cost when operating the same routes.

“We’re looking at all powertrains within the fleet to understand the performance of each and identifying areas of opportunity and what’s going well,” she explained, adding that the end-goal is to make the electric school bus data publicly available via the online tool FleetREDI. Currently, the website has data on heavy- and medium-duty findings.

San Marcos Unified School District in California also received about $30 million in grant funds for infrastructure and school buses. “It was very overwhelming,” Executive Director of Transportation Mike Sawyer said.

He noted that the district had 84 old diesel buses, so he started applying for grants — one of them being the Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program grant in California and the Zero Emission School Bus and Infrastructure Program — and the money kept flowing.

To help him navigate all the funding, he said he reached out to partners, including Engie, which helped San Marcos find inefficiencies in charging infrastructure. Engie helped San Marcos create “one of the biggest” charging infrastructure bus yards. Phase one was completed with 40 EV chargers, six of which are 120 kW, the remainder being 30 kW chargers. Phase two, which is about to break ground, will bring the district to a total of 75 chargers.

The location holds about one megawatt of solar and 1.5 megawatts of battery storage, and it includes a 60kW diesel generator to serve as backup if the power goes out. Sawyer noted SMUSD currently has 33 electric buses on the road.

Providing a Service

Meanwhile, First Student operates over 45,000 school buses across 43 states and eight Canadian provinces. Of those, 450 are electric vehicles.

“EVs, they are providing not only cleaner and quieter rides to school, but these kids are arriving to school calmer,” said Jennifer Harp, the contractor’s vice president of the electric vehicles program, discussing a recent project in rural Westville, Illinois that electrified its entire fleet of 17 school buses with help from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Clean School Bus Program, IRA tax credits, and the Illinois Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust program.

“They had some limited resources,” she said, adding that they were on a lease property and needed an infrastructure solution that would avoid high costs.

She added the company integrated its First Charge, a trenchless, flexible and quick-to-deploy. purpose-built charging hub with that removes the barrier of having to trench locations.

Harp also noted First Student currently deploys 14 First Charge units. It took about nine months to deploy the one operating in Westville.

“If we want to follow Westville’s playbook for electrification success, we really need to remember that continued success in this space requires continued funding incentives from all of our government sectors,” she said. “It also requires that we minimize costly infrastructure as much as possible. Requires partnerships and a willingness to share those learnings. …With the right strategy and infrastructure, school bus electrification is not only possible, it is absolutely practical.”

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Related: (STN Podcast E257) The Paths Forward: AI, Clean Energy, Manufacturing Discussed at ACT Expo
Related: Gallery: ACT Expo 2025
Related: Cummins CEO Says Mixed Fuel Approach is Key for Commercial Sector

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She noted the conversations on battery-electric adoption at ACT Expo have evolved from the initial belief that it could be a plug-and-play option. “If you’ve been here long enough, you know that it’s not that simple,” she shared. “Fleet electrification takes partnerships, very strong partnerships, high increased project coordination, industry standardization, and, above all else, patience.”

Meanwhile, The Mobility House provides smart charging to fleets to over 2,500 sites globally, 100 of which are location in North America. Hill-Cristol shared that the grand vision is to achieve “zero emission transportation at zero cost,” he said. “We think we can get there in some cases, through the technology that we provide.”

He explained that vehicle grid integration is an umbrella term The Mobility House uses to talk about a suite of use cases that are becoming more common with the next-generation electric school bus projects.

“The days of going to the utility, getting a totally new service, 100 percent paid for, putting in enough capacity for every charger to be on at once, and then just turning it on and not worrying, I think those days are pretty much behind us,” he said, adding that now customers are looking for ways to solve challenges, like vehicle-to-grid, charging off peak and backup power integration.

Hill-Cristol also mentioned off-grid supplemental solutions, which consists of using solar storage or a backup generator to help with capacity challenges and the delay in receiving chargers. All of this is also provided by The Mobility House.

He elaborated that the off-grid solutions can be either a long-term or temporary solution. For instance, some districts are using it as a bridge as they wait for their infrastructure, whereas some districts can solely use it as a charge management system. Other use cases include a micro-gird if districts need additional power on site.

“Depending on where you fall on that spectrum, and the investment that you’re making, I think that would lead you to the conclusion of whether this is a two-to-five-year solution or whether this is going to be something that sticks around,” he said. “Because with the right combination of technologies, you’re also going to get operational cost saving.”

The post Funding, Data and Resiliency Needed for Electric School Bus Success appeared first on School Transportation News.

Two years ago, 5-year-old A.M., a child with autism, became the victim of bullying on the school bus he rode to elementary school in the Poudre School District of Fort Collins, Colorado. The perpetrator of A.M.’s abuse was not a fellow student, but a school bus attendant the district had hired to provide students like him with extra support.

Not only was A.M., whose full name is withheld in court documents, restrained in a school bus seat throughout the months-long abuse, his disability rendered him nonverbal, leaving him unable to ask for help or tell his parents what was happening.

The school board agreed to pay out $16.2 million on May 14 to settle a lawsuit filed by parents of A.M. and other students with disabilities who were abused by Tyler Zanella while being transported to and from school during the 2022-2023 school year.

Comparatively, the settlement is about 15 percent of the district’s $10.3 million transportation services budget for this past school year.

After voting to accept the settlement, Poudre school board president Kristen Draper said she hoped the amount would help foster healing and rebuild trust.

“This resolution represents our collective commitment to addressing the harm caused and to supporting the ongoing recovery and well-being of these students and their families,” Draper said.

A.M. was not Zanella’s only victim. In all, county prosecutors say the attendant abused 10 students that school year.

The district uncovered Zanella’s criminal history and a previous child abuse conviction during a background check before he was hired in August 2022. A.M.’s parents also voiced concern about the attendant throughout the school year, but their words did not prompt change until a teacher stepped in.

When A.M. came to class with red marks on his face, a teacher asked questions, prompting the school district to review camera footage and report the abuse to police.

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Related: Colorado School Bus Aid Arrested, Charged with Abusing Student

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Internal bus camera footage documented Zanella swearing at A.M., calling him names, and subjecting him to physical abuse, slapping, pinching, and pushing the restrained child dozens of times over several months. According to court documents, Zanella called A.M. a f—–,” “little sh–,” and said, “if A.M. were his kid, he would be dead by now because Mr. Zanella did not have that kind of patience.”

Zanella, 36, ultimately pleaded guilty to seven counts of assault on an at-risk person, as well as harassment, and child abuse. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison in April 2024.

He also had a previous misdemeanor child abuse conviction when he applied for the  position at Poudre School District. Title 22 of the Colorado Revised Statutes lists felony child abuse as cause for termination or withholding employment.

David Lane, A.M.’s attorney, said in an email he was shocked that Zanella had been hired after school officials learned of his criminal history and that he had lied about it.

“It is utterly incomprehensible how a school district could allow a convicted child abuser to have access to utterly helpless children in this situation,” Lane wrote. “Ultimately, this governmental failure will cost the taxpayers millions of dollars and these innocent children have been severely damaged.”

Following the incident, the district spent $2 million on internal policies, which included hiring consultants at the Center for Effective School Operations, or CESO, to review the district’s policies. Among primary recommendations, CESO suggested the district develop procedures for camera footage requests and supervisor audits.

In a school board presentation on the transportation review findings last summer, Chief Operations Officer Jeff Connell reflected on how school bus driver shortages led to mechanics and supervisors driving buses, and many employees taking shortcuts.

Connell said the district was hiring an integration services transportation manager dedicated to coordinating support for students with disabilities as well as a second operations manager. Per the CESO recommendation, Connell said both managers would oversee north and south terminals to maintain a consistent culture across both locations. Connell said he hoped to cover the budget for the positions by increasing route efficiencies.

The school district previously maintained three days of video footage from each camera. Supervisors are now required to review at least one hour of footage each week, “with an emphasis on routes that have new staff and routes that serve students with special needs – particularly students who are pre- or non-verbal.”

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Related: Florida School Bus Attendant Arrested for Inappropriate Behavior with Young Girls
Related: Seminar Provides Elements of Comprehensive Training for School Bus Attendants
Related: South Carolina Case Highlights Need for Attendants on School Buses

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Moving forward, the district promised to update cameras on all school buses—a $1.9 million cost paid for with bonds. The district hired transportation service provider Zum to install four internal cameras on each school bus, including a driver-facing camera with a built-in coaching system.

“There’s a lot of hours of video to go through between ride-alongs, reviewing the video, following up on incidences and also having the driver-coaching camera, we’re going to have a lot of information available to us that we’ve never had before,” Connell said.

Draper described the incident as a painful chapter in the school district’s history but added that she hoped it would prove to be a “catalyst for important and necessary improvements.”

The post Colorado School District Pays $16.2M for Abuse of Student by Bus Attendant appeared first on School Transportation News.

The death of Alfred Hale sparked a debate in the community on the lack of safety around downtown transit hubs.

The 18-year-old student of Dunbar High School in Dayton, Ohio was shot and killed in April while waiting for a transit bus to take him to school. For decades, many school districts across the U.S. have relied on public transportation to transport high school students. The practice has only increased especially after COVID-19 due to financial and staff shortages.

Ohio House Bill 96 introduces a budget plan that will allocate more funding to all public schools in FY 2026 and 2027.

“The bill increases overall state support for public schools by $81 million in FY26 and $145 million in FY27 over the executive proposal, for a total of $226 million,” a press release on the bill states. “Additionally, per-pupil funding was increased for every student across Ohio.”

Additionally, the bill would require school districts that provide or arrange for transportation of eligible students in the ninth through twelfth grades to ensure that students are assigned to routes that do not require more than one transfer. Mass transit systems located in one of Ohio’s eight most populous counties would need to ensure that transfers don’t occur at a central hub, like the one where Hale was shot.

HB96 passed the House April 9 and was introduced in the Senate.

Dayton Board of Education President Chrisondra Goodwine disagrees with the bill. She released a statement on the tragedy, stating that the ban on student transfers, “is a reactionary move that fails to address the underlying problems. It restricts student access to education and imposes further barriers on already vulnerable youth—without offering any alternative solutions.”

Goodwine added Hale’s death is not a school issue but a citywide crisis.

“The burden of safety cannot fall on schools alone,” she wrote. “Every sector— education, local government, law enforcement, transportation, and commerce—has a shared responsibility in ensuring that our city is not only livable but truly thriving for everyone.”

She noted recent statements from city elected officials that place blame for the systemic challenges on Dayton Public Schools.

“That narrative is not only misleading—it is harmful,” she stated. “It oversimplifies the issue and ignores the very real legal and financial constraints placed on public school districts across Ohio.”

Instead, Goodwine outlined limitations codified in state law that require transportation is provided not only to Dayton students but also to charter and private school students within district boundaries. Dayton Public Schools lacks the legal authority to prioritize only its students, she continued, as well as adequate staffing and funding to place every child on a yellow school bus.

“Because of these limitations, some students must use public transportation,” Goodwine states. “The Greater Dayton RTA is not an educational partner—it is a public transit system governed by federal rules that ensure equitable access to all. While we do engage where possible to improve safety, DPS has no control over how RTA routes passengers or determines transfer points. These decisions are made solely by RTA based on their operational model and obligations to the general public.”

A citywide commitment to youth by opening recreational facilities, expanding mentorship opportunities, and centering teen-focused investments.

She said if city leaders want to be solution-oriented, they can start by opening doors to recreational centers and buildings that are underutilized or vacant but otherwise available to the district or afterschool partners to serve as “safe, structured environments tailored to teenagers— especially in a city where youth have limited access to activities that are engaging, safe, and empowering.”

“Changing the trajectory for young people requires more than statements—it requires investment in their future,” she added. “At the same time, we call on the State of Ohio to change the laws that continue to create barriers to a better reality for our students. Allow public districts to serve their students first. Fund transportation adequately. And stop penalizing urban districts trying to meet modern-day challenges with outdated policies.”

She is also calling for adequate state funding to support driver recruitment, fleet expansion, and improved routing systems.

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Related: Private Transportation Companies Seeing More Opportunities from Charter, Private Schools
Related: STN EXPO West to Feature Routing Seminar
Related: Ohio Student Left on School Bus, Parent Speaks Out
Related: Students Safe After Flames Engulf Ohio School Bus

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The Ohio Association for Pupil Transportation issued a formal statement in support of Dayton Public Schools, Goodwine and the broader transportation crisis in Ohio.

“If Ohio’s elected officials are serious about creating lasting change and protecting our children, they must stop blaming overburdened school districts and start providing the legal authority, funding, and infrastructure necessary to meet today’s realities,” OPTA states. “The Ohio Association for Pupil Transportation stands ready to work with lawmakers, school, leaders, and community partners to bring about these much-needed reforms.”

OPTA notes that Hale’s death in Dayon highlights the need for systemic change and multiagency collaboration to ensure student safety.

“It is unacceptable that a student’s route to school becomes a place of violence,” OPTA states. “And it is equally unacceptable to assign blame to school districts without acknowledging the legal and financial realities they face.”

OPTA notes that the law requiring public school districts to transport students not only to and from their assigned schools but also students attending charter and private school extends service up to 30 minutes outside those boundaries.

“This requirement, imposed without proportional funding or flexibility, has pushed many districts to the brink,” OPTA states.

As of last August, Ohio had 18,817 active school bus drivers, a decrease of nearly 7,000 from 2019, OAPT said. Meanwhile. The demand for transportation services continues to rise due to expanding private and charter school mandates, and lawmakers have failed to address any of the root causes..

“Dayton Public Schools is being asked to do more with less, navigating rigid laws and an acute driver shortage while trying to ensure safe passage for students to over 90 locations,” added OAPT. “These proposals are not only short-sighted, they exacerbate the problem by restricting access to education for some of our most vulnerable students.”

OPTA joined Dayton in calling for: Legislative reform that allows public school districts to prioritize transportation for their own students before allocating resources to nonpublic schools; adequate and equitable funding for public school transportation, including driver recruitment incentives, modernized fleets, and safety upgrades; a re-commitment to public education over expanding voucher systems that divert public funds to private interests, undermining Article VI, Section 2 of the Ohio Constitution; and, a clear focus on student safety, including reinstating the yellow school bus as the “gold standard” for student transportation and rejecting lower safety alternatives like vans and car services for daily transport.

The post Dayton, Ohio Student Shooting Highlights Need for Systemic Transportation Changes appeared first on School Transportation News.

Every Day In K-12 Transportation is an Adventure!
Tyler Technologies

Tyler Technology’s interactive session provided attendees with a peek into a day at a school district using its Total Tyler integrated suite of offerings. Weston Bartlett, manager of the Tyler account executive team; Crystal Duchane, account representative and supervisor; and Jason Riley, chief accounting officer, played school office staff, including: the transportation director, mechanic, a school bus driver and a student. 

They showed how a science teacher, for example, can log into the system and request a field trip. The transportation director receives a link in his email which brings him into the software to approve the request and schedule it out to a driver, which the driver sees on their tablet. The software provides notification of any conflict, such as if the driver has an afternoon route.

The demo showed how the driver can complete his or her pre-trip inspection with the tablet, which recognizes if an inspection failed and a new bus is needed. For example, if there’s a broken headlight, the driver can take a picture on the inspection tablet.

Once the maintenance manager receives the notification that the headlight is broken, panelists illustrated how they can log into the fleet-specific dashboard to see the new work order, including notes and photos and can assign it to a technician.

Dispatchers have a specific portal through which they can utilize routing parameters and the fleet schedule to make changes, which are sent to driver tablets. Panelists showed that notifying parents with cellphone push notifications can be done directly from the system as well.

The demonstration included RFID cards for students, which are scanned upon boarding a bus. If a student scans onto the wrong bus, the driver tablet receives a notification and it shows which is the correct bus. School administrators can also go in and find student rider information if they need it for parents.

The presenters shared that software builds an optimized route based on district parameters, which can easily be updated yearly. Any rerouting needed after missed turns happens automatically, with the system not finding the quickest way, but the safest route. They explained that drivers can create a bus route on the fly with a random group of students, based on who is scanned on the bus.

Tyler representatives confirmed that cybersecurity and student registration systems are available through Tyler. They advised that the integrated pieces of the platform may be purchased at one time or in pieces over time as the district sees fit.

Mitigating Risk on the Road: Proactive Fleet & Student Safety Management
Zonar

Zonar’s session first centered on its Fault IQ product, a diagnostic software for predicting school bus faults before they happen and grabs data throughout a mixed fleet regardless of the OEM. Matt Dickey, Zonar’s vice president of regional sales, was joined by Bryant Maxey, senior product marketing specialist and Sales Engineer Erick Cole. They explained that they’ve seen a 25 percent reduction in maintenance costs, a 20-50 percent reduction in downtime and a 10-20 percent increase in vehicle lifespan.

They advised installing a dual facing Zonar camera in a school bus during the first 30 days of a driver’s employment to monitor behavior and help determine if the driver will work out. It also serves as a coaching and training tool since transportation leaders can view recommended videos based on severity, analyze driver scorecards and trends and exonerate drivers

Transportation staff can receive real time safety alert notifications, access video evidence in minutes, customize the video resolution and download format, view incidents on a map of the route and leverage the RideView companion app for video management.

Upcoming features discussed included backup cameras with a full 360-degree experience and AI accident recreation reports which can read video of an incident, detect the key points and explain what happened.

Best Practices with Student Ridership
Transfinder

Terrell Doolen, professional services manager for Transfinder, and Zachary Moren, manager of enablement and engineering, reviewed why tracking student ridership in real-time is important to today’s parents, how to collect ridership data through scanning students on the bus through RFID cards or manual driver input and what to do with the data once it is captured.

Notifications can be sent to just the parents who have children on a specific bus. Data can also be added on special needs or other pertinent information drivers should know.

They added that the benefits of collecting and having this data readily available include bus breakdown tracking, vehicle utilization optimization and route consolidation due to driver shortages.

They advised tracking registered riders against actual ridership to produce custom reports based on district needs as well as trip efficiency reports for better routing, enabling districts to take action based on real-time data. Dashboards can be created or reports run automatically.

Doolen and Moren explained that Transfinder staff will visit districts to conduct train the trainer events consisting of teaching the drivers about the technology. Instead of having to wait till the end of the school year to make changes, they said transportation staff could make them during the year and send out notifications to parents to let them know right away.

Some attendees said they were looking to add this technology soon and panelists advised getting complete data sets, noting that full participation from all departments was needed for a successful integration.

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Related: (STN Podcast E252) Onsite at STN EXPO East in Charlotte: School Bus Technology Interviews
Related: First Student’s Kenning Discusses School Bus Electrification, Technology Innovation
Related: Gallery: Ride & Drive Caps Day of Technology Demos, Green Energy Panels
Related: Gallery: Second Day of STN EXPO East Green Bus, Technology Sessions
Related: STN’s 2021 School Bus Technology Super Users

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Bus Technology Summit Lab & Demo
Geotab

Business Development Manager Craig Berndt focused on how the Geotab system can utilize data for better school bus driver monitoring and training. He added that while it can consolidate multiple different camera systems and provide video review for incidents no matter the camera vendor, it can also use data like speed, stops and following distance. The Collision Reconstruction feature, Safety Center and Risk Analytics give drivers safety scores and assess the likelihood of getting into an accident, using AI to contextualize the driving habits and lower the risk of collision.

During the hands-on demo, attendees logged into the Geotab website and app to see how trip data was recorded. They saw examples of customizable rules and alerts regarding harsh braking, speeding, hard turns and more. The system can recognize if the vehicle stops for longer than 200 seconds, if the ignition is turned on and off too many times, if a driver is idling in a specific area, if the door is opened while the bus was moving, and more.

The GoTalk device can beep at drivers to alert them to rules being broken, and automated email alerts can be sent to transportation leadership for specific incidents or drivers.

Other utilizations include giving context to maintenance info and data sharing with contractors through one database with a telematic data feed.

AI-Powered Safety: A Hands-On Experience with First Alt & Samsara
First Student

Gregg Prettyman, who was named by STN Publisher Tony Corpin “the Godfather of alternative transportation,” was with transportation network company ALC Schools for 11 years and now serves as vice president of FirstAlt by student transportation contractor First Student.

He noted that the cars and vans used for this variation of student transportation are starting to have the same onboard cameras as school buses, which is a big improvement on visibility for transportation staff.

Alan Geygan, senior strategic customer success manager, explained that Samsara is a global camera company with a single platform for operations data, which Prettyman confirmed FirstAlt can now tap into when placing the cameras on school buses. Transportation staff can toggle bus route, construction or weather map overlays to give parents information about late rides.

Geygan and Prettyman explained that the video is live and sections can be quickly downloaded, blurred, password-protected, or shared via web link, for example to law enforcement.

Notably, AI-enabled software is used to capture real-time safety alerts triggered by G-force changes like a potential or actual crash, as well as poor driver behavior like drowsy or distracted driving, which are immediately sent to relevant staff. Driver behavior coaching applications are included as the system gives audible alerts like “put down phone,” “take a break,” or “increase following [distance].” Geygan responded to an attendee question on a bus being driven by multiple drivers in a day, that there are several ways to determine which driver is at fault based on a badge scan or AI facial recognition.

Transportation staff can determine the strictness levels and set custom parameters for alerts so notifications don’t overwhelm them, Geygan confirmed. Smoking, food and drink usage recognition is in development, he added. Software updates with updated AI technology are pushed over the cloud and many integrations are available via API.

Bus Technology Summit Lab & Demo
Edulog

Jason Corbally, Edulog president and COO,emphasized the importance of product interconnectivity so routers can build routes taking into consideration attendance, walk or hazard boundaries by school, grade or program as well as so parents know their child’s bus information even if there is a vehicle substitution. He recounted an instance where a district’s 29 special needs routes were speedily rerouted based on vehicle capacity, wheelchair bays and bus depot location.

Director of Transportation Jeremy Stowe recounted how Buncombe County School in North Carolina modernized its old school bus garage with GPS, Samsung tablets, electronic route sheets, and digital time and attendance recording. He added that a parent app implementation was a life saver after Hurricane Helene.

“We had to pivot and change daily,” he said. “[The Department of Transportation] would be reopening roads faster than I could route.”

Industry veteran and consultant Derek Graham added that parents don’t like when the bus is late. “But they really don’t like not knowing the bus will be late,” he said.

Arthur Whittaker, director of transportation for Cabarrus County Schools in South Carolina, underscored the importance of community education when new tech comes to school buses and talked through potential pitfalls.

“Some parents were watching the whole route and critiquing where the bus was going. Part of the confusion was that there were three tiers, so parents would see their student’s bus running the first tier and be confused,” he said. “[Some] parents are using the app to send the kids out at the very last second but due to cellphone lag or bad signal it might lead to them not paying attention to when the bus is actually there.”

Corbally noted some districts use the parent app as a messaging system without connecting to the routing system.

Revolutionizing Student Transportation: How AI is Driving Efficiency and Addressing Budget Challenges for School Districts
HopSkipDrive

Strategic Account Executive Chris Wickman said that creativity and innovation is needed with many school bus drivers calling out or retiring, resulting in 60 percent of surveyed districts reducing school bus service. He urged listeners to not fear or avoid AI but leverage it as a tool.

Dustin Kress, software and advisory director, pointed out that HopSkipDrive’s RouteWise AI is not a replacement to a district’s current routing system but a partner that helps districts relieve burdens on staff and do what’s best for students. Using it, Colorado Springs District 11 reduced bus routes, increased wages and increased on-tine rates.

Gregory Dutton, transportation analyst for HopSkipDrive and former transportation director, noted that RouteWise AI can complete billions of calculations in an hour while considering bell times, driver constraints, students with special needs, maximum commute times and the other myriad aspects that student transporters might have to manually work in. Human expertise is still needed to analyze and confirm everything, he assured.

The presenters handed out routing scenario worksheets and attendees worked out potential schedules, identifying challenges like obtainable tiers, driver availability, teachers’ unions, community desires, and sunrise and sunset conditions. Given the problem, RouteWise AI suggested 13 schedules and brought the number of buses needed from 70 to 48. Transportation can also create models and easily share data from this application, such as cost per student rider, with district administration and other stakeholders, Kress said.

Take Action Now: How First Light’s Illuminated Solutions Are Saving Lives
First Light

First Light Sales Manager Stephen Climer and Regional Account Executive Graham Matthews shared that their technology is the most visible stop arm in the industry today, observable from over 1,000 feet away. They said the signs will not lose their yellow color for 14.5 years and come in a floating padding frame for extra durability on rough roads.

Air or electric options are available with five-year, full replacement warranties, sold through traditional dealer networks regardless of bus OEM. As recently announced, IC buses will offer the illuminated stop arms standard on CE Series buses, with electric currently in effect and equipped diesel buses coming around August 1.

Addressing light failure, the panelists said that their stop arms and school bus signs contain over 450 LED lights each with heat compressed over them.

“If you look at your product, you can’t count LED bulbs because they’re hitting fibrotic mesh and it’s dispensing the light evenly. So, if the light goes out, you would have to lose over half of the bulbs to notice a slight difference,” Climer explained.

The panelists predicted about four and a half years before the internal LED lights start to dim or go out and if a couple did, no one would notice.

To retrofit, the school bus signs take about an hour and half. Stop arms are plug and play, coming in at 15-minute installation time.

Attendees were engaged, with about one-third of the room indicating they have at least one First Light product installed on their buses.

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Related: WATCH: School Bus Safety Systems Demonstrated Live at Bus Tech Summit
Related: Bus Technology Summit Session Advocates for Integrated Tech Platform
Related: Eclipse to Have Little if Any Impact on School Bus Technology

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Empowering Schools Across the US
Samsara

Mackenzie Krebs, senior public sector account executive and team lead, shared that Samsara provides foundational, integrable technology that drives real-time visibility, operational safety, immediate incident response, accessible and actionable data, and fuel efficiency.

Dash cameras have panic buttons that allow districts to view the footage immediately and Satellite View includes real time location and ETA, vehicle tracking, parent portal integrations, and asset tracking. The ability to remotely pull audio in addition to video will be added next year, he confirmed.

Idling summaries illuminating fuel waste district and tracking planned versus actual route stops help improve efficiency.

He shared facets that can be used for proactive response and training, like AI based incident detection, existing camera investments, driver safety scores and automated coaching workflows. Investigative data like speeding, phone usage and seatbelt usage can be used in place of cameras so there are no SD cards or hard drives.

Krebs revealed that Canyons School District in Utah reduced incidents by 50 percent with proactive coaching and spent 75 percent less time pulling camera footage for review. It also saved $80,000 in insurance claim payouts.

He closed with Samsara’s free trial offer, since purchasing school bus technology is a five- to 10-year commitment. “We want to make sure it’s going to work for you,” he assured.

Next-Gen School Bus Safety: Tech Innovations and Cloud Solutions for a Safer Ride
Safe Fleet

Mike Hagan, president of Safe Fleet/Seon Digital Solutions Group; Chris Dutton, director of product development; Chris Fox, senior product manager of visibility solutions; and Julian Jimenez, senior product manager of violation detection and enforcement solutions, led an informative session on their Predictive Stop Arm, which utilizes radars, sensors, AI and predictive algorithms to actively notify students of imminent illegal passing danger with an audible warning.

They explained how the Stop Arm Violation Enforcement System (SAVES) issues a citation so motorists won’t repeat the offense. Video capture activates automatically when the stop arm is deployed, autonomously identifies a violating vehicle’s license plate and sends evidence to the Safe Fleet Cloud for review and enforcement. Districts can set what kind of evidence is needed and what triggers a report. Cameras show the right side of the bus too even when a left side incident is taking place because people contest tickets saying that there weren’t kids exiting the bus.

A law enforcement official does not have to witness the incident or make a report, and drivers are not distracted from students by having to activate anything manually. Presenters discussed the importance of Compelling Evidence that is handled correctly and will hold up in a court of law.

Panelists demonstrated during the demo how, during research to make the stop arm more visible, a black background with flashing red lights was found to be most effective. They promoted the security benefits of cloud data management, which also allows supervisors to gather insights about fleet operations.

Connected, Protected, Perfected: Transportant’s Evolution of Bus Safety
Transportant

National Sales Executive Paul Gandrud and Vice President of Sales Jeff Shackelford shared that technology could improve driver stress levels compared to having to follow a paper route, not knowing the names of students on their routes, and receiving no support in resolving student behavior issues.

School bus drivers are able to see names and pictures of every student assigned to each stop, which also fosters relationships between drivers and students. Students can scan on and off a bus with an RFID card or a driver can check in each student on their tablet.

Robyn Pickard, transportation director for West Des Moines Community Schools in Iowa, explained how the software assists in parent communications. Real time student rosters on the Director Dashboard let office staff quickly inform parents of a student’s location in case of emergency. Staff can use the Bus Compass App to answer common questions about student locations as well as to send out messages to the whole school or just to the families of the students that are on a particular bus.

Gandrud and Shackelford explained how the Live Video System allows a driver to hit the incident button which sends a link to the Director Dashboard, where supervisors can see and hear both live and recent video, then take action to resolve or response.

These technologies are still subject to state laws. One attendee in West Virginia said parents didn’t want students’ faces on the RFID cards and another stated that in Illinois it’s illegal to gather biometric information on students.

Panelists explained that Transportant doesn’t have routing but can partner with any other routing software and is the only company that is a fully integrated cloud-based solution.

The post Roundup: Bus Technology Summit at STN EXPO Charlotte 2025 appeared first on School Transportation News.

School districts are contemplating how to best move forward with the cleanest-emitting school bus that best meets their individual needs, be that an electric school bus (ESB), one fueled by propane, or a cleaner diesel variety.

Several factors lead to the uncertainty over more widespread adoption of ESBs. Pricing, infrastructure and range remain concerns, and Lion Electric customers are still figuring out their next moves amid the company’s auction following financial trouble. But none are bigger than the the fate of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) five-year, $5 billion Clean School Bus Program.

Some anxiety eased in late February, after the Trump administration a month earlier put a temporary pause on award distribution, despite a memo from the EPA CFO that all program funds appropriated by the IIJA and IRA should continue to flow. Last month, the National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT) announced funding through the 2023 grant competition awards is now accessible.

By the end of 2024, the EPA made three rounds of awards to 1,344 school districts, totaling some $2.8 billion. Over 98 percent of those funds have gone toward purchasing ESBs.

NAPT noted it is not clear whether the EPA plans to award the remaining $2.2 billion as was authorized by Congress or to let its authorization run out, adding the program has received some strong support from senators in states where electric buses were being purchased and in at least one state where they are being manufactured.

The EPA did not respond to questions for this article. If the Clean School Bus Program lives on, one electric vehicle insider told School Transportation News funding could be funneled toward more propane school buses.

Meanwhile, Blue Bird used its first quarter results to address the impact of the federal funding pause on ESB deliveries through the Clean School Bus Program. Some
750 ESBs were sold or scheduled for production and delivery, whereas 250 were awarded with funding paused. Blue Bird initiated a reprioritized production plan to build fully funded buses earlier and push back build dates for ordered buses where EPA and federal funding was paused.

The company said it is processing new ESB orders attached to state and local funding and has confirmed political support for the Clean School Bus Program from elected officials in Washington, D.C. Blue Bird also indicated it has lowered its range of annual forecasted ESB deliveries from 1,300 to 1,000 buses.

The company noted uncertainty over the impact of tariffs means it will explore sourcing and other options with suppliers. All applicable government tariffs will be passed through to the end customer, with a potential five percent increase on all Blue Bird non-ESB buses expected by the end of February, should the tariffs on components be applied as originally proposed. School districts are exploring available options.

The non-profit Vermont Energy Investment Corp. (VEIC) has a clean transportation team specializing in programs and projects supporting electric vehicle fleet adoption and alternative fuel vehicle technology.

VEIC published a report last September for the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) on ESB performance, summarizing evaluation activities and results associated with ES deployments in the program over the 2023-2024 academic school year.

The report found ESBs performed well in all weather conditions and route types. In extremely cold conditions, vehicle efficiency was reduced by up to 40 percent. However, ESBs were found to start up more consistently and reliably than diesel buses. ESBs also had better acceleration and quieter operation than diesel buses, but a lower top speed. Each ESB averaged $1,575 in annual fuel savings compared to diesel buses.

The report indicated primary vehicle downtime causes were related to components outside of the electric drivetrain. Resolving these issues proved more challenging with some vendors than others.

Incorporating feedback from interviews with 15 school transportation managers, school bus drivers and mechanics who engaged the most with ESBs in this program, the final section of the report offers key guidance for future ESB deployments in Montana, including in the areas of training and support, charge management, regenerative braking, and charging strategies.

Dan Rispens, superintendent of East Helena (Montana) Public Schools, noted his district received a grant through Montana’s Department of Environmental Quality that was derived from the Volkswagen settlement of 2016-2017.

“Grant funds offset approximately 80 percent of the purchase price of our bus,” said Rispens. “We were motivated by the prospect of new technology and reduced operating costs, but the primary force in our decision was grant funding.”

Its Lion Electric C bus was ordered in 2021 and delivery was accepted last August. Rispens said the district received EPA rebates to supply three additional Lion Electric buses, but East Helena passed on purchasing them given Lion Electric’s current financial status.

Speaking to the challenges East Helena Public Schools has encountered with its electric bus, “delivery timelines are challenging due to backlog in manufacturing and supply chain disruptions,” Rispens said.

“Our vendor does not have a nationwide network of dealers, so any technical assistance or warranty work is done by remote consult or sending technicians out on the road, making it cumbersome and complicated.”

Local mechanics do not know how to fix or repair the bus and do not have service manuals for it, Rispens added.

“Our bus has been here since last summer and has only been used for about a month on an actual route,” he said. “The heat system was found to be non-functional.

We are still waiting on repairs. This left the bus unusable during Montana’s harsh winter.” Last July, the World Resources Institute’s Electric School Bus Initiative reported that while the EPA had by that point funded more than 8,000 electric school buses through the EPA Clean School Bus Program, demand for ESBs is outpacing funding.

States, financing entities and utilities continue driving momentum for ESBs, noted WRI spokeswoman Katherine Roboff. “The Maryland Energy Administration recently launched a new funding program in support of school bus electrification,” she said. “We are tracking $2.3 billion in state-level funding for which ESBs are eligible. California and New York are good examples of robust state-level funding.

“We have also been in conversation with a wide range of green banks and financial institutions across the country who are also exploring the topic of financing electric school buses,” Roboff continued. “The Connecticut Green Bank, for example, has developed a new ESB financial product.”

However, the EPA is revoking $20 billion in contracts the Biden administration approved with at least eight green banks. Many Republican leaders call green banks “slush funds,” the Associated Press reported last month. At press time, the Connecticut Green Bank was one of seven green banks still listed on the EPA website.

States Continue Funding Work
The Public Service Commission of Maryland recently approved an electric school bus utility pilot program, Roboff added. The program is one of a dozen nationwide that recently closed or soon will close applications for funding. Districts also continue to explore electrification through transportation-as-a-service providers and other innovative business models built around subscription fees, Roboff said.

“School districts across the country continue to grow their electric school bus fleets,” she added. For example, the Beaverton School District in Oregon has been adding ESBs on an annual basis, leveraging a range of funding sources. In 2021, Beaverton was the first school district in Oregon to acquire an ESB and has added them yearly for a current total of 15 electric buses and 31 charging stations. Among the funding sources was a voter-approved $723 million bond, a portion of which is designated for replacement of diesel-powered buses with propane and electric buses.

Other funding sources include the Oregon Department of Energy’s Public Purpose Charge Program, Portland General Electric’s Electric School Bus Fund—funded through the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s Clean Fuels Program—and the EPA.

Beaverton also has 65 clean-burning propane buses using renewable propane. While the district plans to replace 225 diesel-powered buses with ESBs and propane-powered buses, some will be retained for long-distance field trips and athletic events. The district uses renewable diesel fuel, noting its higher cost is expected to drop as its supply expands.

That plan may be revisited if future battery technology improves to extend the distances ESBs can travel on a single charge. Molly Hale, marketing communications manager for Cummins’ Accelera zero-emissions business, noted Blue Bird has the company’s integrated powertrain, the PowerDrive 7000, that includes the BP97E battery, assembled in Columbus, Indiana, at its main manufacturing facility.

“Additionally, Thomas Built Buses recently announced the launch of their new Jouley Gen 2 bus with the new addition of our 14Xe eAxle and ELFA inverter,” she said. “We are pleased to be partnering with two major school bus OEMs and are excited to see the success of these buses gaining momentum and adoption. Blue Bird has delivered more than 2,000 ESBs with our powertrain.”

As speed bumps increase on the path to school districts incorporating more ESBs into their fleets, districts are pursuing a variety of approaches, such as this pilot project in New Mexico, which signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with ESB manufacturer GreenPower Motor Company. The state will seek an appropriation of $5 million to conduct a pilot program funding the purchase of ESBs, charging station installations and management costs.

Rolling with the Punches
Uncertainty over the future of ESB funding has affected many school districts, including the Ritenour School District in Overland, Missouri. The district on Feb. 4 announced the arrival of the first three Thomas Built Buses Jouleys of a 24-ESB fleet funded by a nearly $9.5 million EPA Clean School Bus Program grant sought to replace 24 diesel buses.

The district announced 24 new charging stations as well. However, the district indicated uncertainty over receiving the remaining 21 ESBs from the Clean School Bus Program due to its funding pauses. Brooks McQuinn, transportation director for the Malone Central School District in Malone, New York, noted the district has four ESBs and had received the EPA grant. The district received $1.4 million dollars for the purchase of the buses and chargers, covering most of the project cost. McQuinn pointed out existing infrastructure accommodated the chargers. The district also has its own lot and inside storage space for the buses.

The district’s fleet includes 43 65-passenger buses fueled by propane, gas, diesel and now the four ESBs. “We cover 386 square miles in this district, with a lot of different terrain,” said McQuinn. “We have used propane buses for years because it was a cleaner source of fuel, and we get tax credit for that fuel type. We have geared to gasoline engines due to the size of our district and sporting events. We have phased out our diesels and only have three left.” McQuinn noted the district is surprised the power capability of the ESBs is limited to about 75 miles a day.

“We have also not had a very cold winter here since we received these buses last March,” he added. “Our winters here can hit 30 degrees below [zero]. Overall, [ESBs] have a place in this district, but we certainly cannot meet the [state of New York] deadlines of 2035 for a complete EV bus world.” McQuinn said the cost of a propane or gasoline bus is about $185,000, including added options. The ESB costs about $465,000 and has limited options.

“The New York State [Department of Transportation] is very strict about what has to be on a school bus,” he said. “If the federal grants go away, it would put our district in a very vulnerable state. We are currently maxed out with our energy output, and if we were to add anymore [electric] buses we would have to put all new infrastructure here that would cost the district and local taxpayers millions of dollars.

“We would also have to look for alternative means for sporting events, field trips and any other trips outside of to and from school transportation,” he continued. The Electrification Coalition notes ESB procurement can take up to 18 months. This includes installing the charging infrastructure and getting enough power from the local utility. The organization noted Climate Mayors Electric Vehicle Purchasing Collaborative offers cooperative purchasing contracts for Blue Bird, IC Bus, Lion Electric, and Thomas Built Buses. The Collaborative also includes resources for the procurement process, policy guidance and a variety of other informative resources.

The Coalition advises districts to identify the appropriate type of EV charging stations, determine their locations and explore charging software to help achieve electricity cost savings.

Three types of charging stations include Level 1 (120V), Level 2 (240V), and direct current fast charging (DCFC). Engagement with the local utility is critical to assist
with the connection process for EV charging equipment, determine whether infrastructure upgrades are needed, determine charging rates and best charging times, and available software platforms.

Other Options
A video interview conducted by Steven Whaley, Blue Bird’s alternative fuels manager for eastern North America, and Anthony Jackson, executive director of transportation at Bibb County School District in Georgia, highlights operational benefits of propane school buses, including the elimination of diesel regeneration issues, reduced maintenance costs due to fewer parts and quieter operation. Bibb County School District purchased 31 propane buses in 2014, with the driving factor being issues with regeneration on the diesel engines. Benefits derived included no need for NOx sensors or having to replace particulate matter filters.

Bus drivers love that the bus is much quieter compared to diesel buses, Jackson said.
Now, most of the district’s fleet is comprised of propane-fueled buses, with propane fuel provided by Bobtail loads to the district’s four 1,000-gallon tanks. There also are diesel buses and those running on unleaded gasoline are used for field trips.

The district spent $790,599 to run over 2 million miles at a cost of 39 cents a mile, a 27 cents per-mile cost savings with more than a $500,000 in annual fuel savings. The Alternative Fuel Excise Tax Credit for propane vehicles is 36 cents a gallon for even more cost savings.

“The fate of the Alternative Fuel Tax Credit for propane vehicles is tenuous at best,” Whaley noted. “But the value proposition for propane without any incentives stands impressively on its own.” Clean diesel has also become a more attractive option, especially when using renewable diesel. But incentives for RD only currently exist in California, Oregon, Washington and New Mexico, the only states that have passed the
Low Carbon Fuel Standard.

Still, tougher EPA emissions standards have been a driving factor in diesel being more
than 90 percent cleaner today than a decade ago. Those emissions are expected to only get cleaner starting in 2027, when EPA’s Phase III GHG standard is scheduled to go into effect. But at this report, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin signaled the rule and others are under reconsideration. If rolled back, diesel school buses could be easier and less expensive to obtain, especially in states that were previously forecasting limited availability.

As the industry awaits word on Phase III , Cummins announced last month its much-anticipated B7.2 diesel engine on the company’s HELM or fuel-agnostic platform. The emissions reduction to less than 0.035 grams of NOx per horsepower/hour, as required by EPA Phase III represents, an approximately 83-percent-cleaner engine than 2010 engines with 50-percent fewer particulate matter.

These are achieved by using a “clean sheet base engine,” a culmination of all the components, a Cummins spokesperson said.

The emissions warranty and useful life requirements also increase, with automatic engine shutdown and stop-start that can further lower emissions and GHG. Meanwhile, in anticipation of the Trump administration, the California Air Resources Board ceased seeking the additional federal waivers it needed to fully implement its Advanced Clean Fleet rule that about a dozen states were set to adopt. Many of those states are now not implementing it, which set out to reduce the number of diesel heavy-duty trucks that could be sold in California and the other so-called CARB states.

Diesel Emissions Reduction Act reauthorization was also introduced in Congress last month. That program, which ran through fiscal year 2024, had been marked for review by the Trump administration. It has been responsible for replacing over 5,100 high emissions school buses since 2010.

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

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Related: EPA Extends 2024 Clean School Bus Program Rebate Application Deadline
Related: EPA, Treasury Disseminate Electric School Bus Tax Credit Information
Related: (STN Podcast E251) Making Safety Safer: Seatbelts, Technology, Training & Electric School Buses
Related: Fourth Funding Opportunity for EPA Clean School Bus Program Opens

The post Future of Clean School Bus Program? appeared first on School Transportation News.

Over the past couple of years, IC Bus has made significant moves in the school bus industry, both with internal leadership and new school bus announcements. At the end of 2022, IC Bus parent Navistar announced Trish Reed was transitioning from general manager of one of America’s largest school bus brands to vice president of zero emissions.

Meanwhile, Justina Morosin was chosen to return to IC Bus and succeed Reed. The two have nearly 50 years of combined employment at Navistar, now known as International Motors, a rebrand that was announced last September.

Morosin served as VP of sales for IC Bus from 2014 to 2017 and before that was a sales
manager for the school bus brand. She also has extensive experience on the truck side with
International, ranging from truck marketing manager and vice president of used truck and
commercial transformation, before leading the bus division.

“The used truck role was a really big undertaking and a very satisfying role for myself, just from perspective of building culture and building teams,” Morosin said.

She noted that she had a lot of different opportunities throughout her career at International in both the truck and bus space.

“I’m very dedicated to mentoring both men and women and all different functions within our organization, and I always encourage them to step out of their comfort zone, or where they feel most familiar, whether it’s truck, bus, whether it’s used truck, parts service,” she said. “There’s so many opportunities within our company, and to be able to go into a different function and experience, that builds your understanding holistically of the business. I was fortunate to be able to be given those opportunities along the way.

She said serving as VP and GM for IC Bus was a milestone in her career. “It was something I always aspired to do, and I was so excited to be in that role,” she said, adding that transitioning to her new role comes at a pivotal point in International’s transformation.

During her tenure leadig IC Bus, the brand launched the first CE Series redesign in 20 years, now offered in electric and diesel configurations. The launch was announced one day prior to the start of the 2023 STN EXPO West in Reno, Nevada. The new CE Series emphasizes driver comfort while also offering collision mitigation technology as a standard equipment.

It was also during this time IC Bus announced its three-core strategy: Leading in safety and technology, fostering a healthy future, and offering best in class solutions.

“I feel like we’ve accomplished so much and we’re on such a good path going forward,” Morosin added. What she’s most proud of, however, was that she said IC Bus brands accounted for 47 percent of sales of all school bus purchases last year.

“That is a testament to say that our next generation is delighting our customers, and that our dealer network is doing everything to partner with our customers, to offer best in class services and solutions for our customers,” she said, adding that the CE Series was truly developed with the customer in mind.

As of February, Morosin returned to the truck side at International, serving as the senior vice president of sales and field operations, handing the IC Bus baton to Charles Chilton.
“It’s a natural path for me and a natural next step for me in this role, and it’s a really important one,” Morosin said describing her new responsibilities. She added that International recently introduced a new commercial truck strategy at its annual dealer truck meeting.

“I’ve always been very career-driven,” she said. “I always say to myself that this is going to be the last role that I’m in and then … I am an ambitious person. I always want to stretch myself to see what more can I do. What more can I take on? How much more of an impact could I have?”

She said she’s passionate about her latest opportunity, contributing alongside her team and working with the dealer network to continue to grow the business. “Being able to tailor solutions for our customers into the future to make them more successful into the future,” she said, adding that her new role encompasses everything from working with the national fleet, dealer networks, to leasing and used trucks.

Meanwhile, Chilton is no stranger to the school bus industry, logging a total of almost
24 years between two major OEMs. However, his time in the industry started years earlier like many others: As a school bus driver.

He started driving a school bus in North Carolina during his senior year of high school and the passion grew from there. After graduating from North Carolina State University, he began working for Thomas Built Buses in 1988 in various engineering positions, later
becoming a product manager and a program manager.

“I was very fortunate to start there and kind of grow up in the school bus [industry],” he said.

After almost 17 years with Thomas, he worked for E-One, a manufacturer of heavy-duty fire trucks and emergency vehicles, for three and half years before joining International in 2009. He was chief engineer before moving to director of product development, VP of product strategy and planning, and head of commercial market planning, where he spent the last three years until being named VP and GM of IC Bus earlier this year.

“I was on the global bus side trying to help expand the product around the world,” he said, noting that he worked with John McKinney, the former president of International’s global bus division. He also worked closely with Reed for several years after she became VP and GM of IC Bus.

“Trish is super respected in the industry, and [she] and I really locked arms together and really just love the school bus space,” he said, adding that the industry is all about safely transporting students. “That’s fundamentally the motivators behind all of this for me personally… yellow is my blood, as you can say.”

Then, Morosin took the reins, the CE Series was announced, and the brand continued to grow. “I never imagined going from being a school bus driver to, in my opinion, leading the number one school bus company in the world,” he said. “That’s kind of a wonderful experience. And so that’s why I’m super excited, and I’m loving every day.”

Chilton noted that by following in both Reed’s and Morosin’s footsteps, he plans on staying the course and building upon the strong foundation that IC Bus already has, while fully leaning into the company’s three key principles.

Drawing upon his engineering and school bus driver background, he worked closely with Reed in the design of the CE Series school bus. He said together they set target goals and designed a product with driver comfort in mind. After all, being a school bus driver “is a hard job.”

“You’ve got 72 kids behind you, potentially making all kinds of noise,” he continued. “You’ve got all the distractions from traffic and patterns and stop lights.”

He noted that IC Bus wants to continue to help the school bus driving job be easier, whether that comes in the form of technology or ergonomic factors.

“We’re putting our drivers front and center to make it a great experience,” he said. “I think our latest product… demonstrates our commitment to making the driver experience the best it can be.

For example, a month into his tenure, IC Bus announced that First Light Illuminated School Bus Signs and Fully Illuminated Stop Arms are now standard on the next-generation IC Bus Electric CE Series school buses, effective immediately. First Light as standard equipment will extend to internal combustion engines in August.

Morosin noted that Chilton being the new VP and GM of IC Bus is a good path forward, especially with his history in the bus space. “Although much of it has been behind the scenes, he is the perfect person to take over,” she said.

Chilton said through his experience he’s learned to listen to what customers need. “I’m motivated by the safety of our kids and in the drivers experience and making sure it’s a great experience every day on the school bus,” he said. “…I enjoy being a thought leader and contributing to making the product better every day. Obviously, it’s a very big conversation around how we approach that, but it’s super important that we’re continuing to make ourselves better. So those are motivating factors for me, and throughout my career that’s what I’ve done: work to make things better.”

Recognizing Trends
Morosin noted that AI is a large trend that influences both the truck and bus space as well as how the company interacts with its customers now and into the future.

“I think that is just fantastic that we’re at this point in technology where we don’t necessarily have to have large buckets of offerings, but that we can actually tailor to a specific customer those types of offerings,” she said, adding that technology will play a role in evolution of selling vehicles.

In terms of the future of electric vehicles and the California Air Resources Board pulling back full implementation of its Advanced Clean Fleets rule, Chilton noted that it’s hard to navigate hypotheticals due to the constantly changing landscape. “But our core strategy is to be able to have a solution that’s ready for whatever the market needs are,” he said.

Moving forward, Chilton said he’s committed to providing solutions for customers and getting back to the fundamentals of being able to deliver buses on time. He said he knows the importance of buses being delivered at school start to provide service to students.

“Being a thought leader and pushing the school bus industry to better ways of working and operating,” he said of other goals for himself and his team at IC Bus. “I think it’s important for us to help the industry through this change with the best vehicle, there’s octane products out there, there’s diesel products. We really want to have a solution for all the needs, no matter where the market is.”

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

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The post Passing the Torch appeared first on School Transportation News.

The decision to mandate video cameras and monitors on school buses to allow improved detection of students at stops, effective November 2027, dates back to a 2020 Transport Canada’s Task Force on School Bus Safety. And while the so-called perimeter visibility systems are expected to improve school bus safety, questions remain.

Patricia Turner, territory manager for school bus video manufacturer Gatekeeper-Systems, was a member of the Task Force created by the Council of Ministers Responsible for Transportation and Highway Safety. The goal was to review safety standards and operations inside and outside school buses.

Additional members included different levels of government, manufacturers, school boards, bus operators, labor unions and safety associations.

“We all came together to discuss what could be put on school buses to assist in keeping children safer,” she said, adding that the Task Force began with bi-weekly virtual meetings that turned into monthly meetings. “We were discussing what technology is out there that can help keep children safe.”

By February 2020, the Task Force released a report, Strengthening School Bus Safety in Canada, that identified four ways to improve school bus safety: Infraction cameras, extended stop signal arms, exterior 360 cameras, and automatic emergency braking.

While the Task Force report did not recommend three-point seatbelts, it recognized “that seatbelts can provide an additional layer of safety on school buses in certain rare but severe collision scenarios,” the report states. “As such, it would be prudent to continue working through the considerations associated with seatbelt installation and use (e.g. consequences of misuse, emergency evacuations, liability) and to encourage manufacturers to develop additional occupant protection features to complement the school bus design, such as energy-absorbing side structure padding and inflatable ‘curtain’ airbags.”

Turner explained that the Task Force selected Gatekeeper as a pilot project supplier for testing perimeter visibility systems initiative in April 2021. The company installed 360 Surround Vision and Student Protector systems on school buses in British Columbia and Ontario.

Transport Canada announced Feb. 3 that, “the Government of Canada is mandating perimeter visibility systems as a new feature to improve school bus safety,” a press release states. “These systems help drivers detect children around the bus while it is stopped or traveling slowly.”

The statement continues, “This technology offers enhanced visibility beyond what mirrors alone can provide.”

Starting in November 2027, all new school buses are to be equipped with perimeter visibility systems with the option to install stop-arm infraction cameras. Canada becomes the first country to require new school buses to be fitted with cameras.

Turner explained that Gatekeeper’s 360 Surround Vision System consists of four high-definition, wide-angle external cameras mounted strategically around the school bus—front, back, left and right. These cameras capture and stitch together real-time, panoramic video, giving drivers a comprehensive, live view of the vehicle’s perimeter to eliminate blind spots. While the Transport Canada mandate does not require camera systems to include recording capability, and the cameras would only be viewable for live look-in, Gatekeeper’s system can easily be upgraded to record video footage with Gatekeeper’s Mobile Data Collector (MDC) for easy retrieval and review.

“This will be an aid to the drivers to even going around the corner, making sure that they don’t take the corner too sharply,” she explained. “And [it’s] one more tool to keep them feeling empowered to keep children safer.”

Turner added that school buses are the safest way to transport children to and from school, more so than any other means of transportation. However, she noted that personal vehicles are being equipped with upgraded technology and that same technology should be applied to school buses.

“That is because school buses are built, inside and out, to protect children, noting that while buses, particularly school buses, are among the safest modes of transportation available, there are opportunities for improved safety,” she said.

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Yet questions about the requirement remain. Rich Bagdonas, vice president of business development for school bus contractor Switzer-CARTY Transportation Services, said he was “surprised” to hear the mandate when it was announced in February.

“Safety is paramount,” he said. “[Cameras are] a tool, but we can never have an over reliance on technology, because we still need to have the drivers trained very thoroughly. This is something that we will be able to add to enhance safety. But we always have to keep in mind that when we train drivers that we have to always have our eyes open on the road all the time, too. And we cannot just rely on the technology to provide the safest school ride possible.”

He explained that he doesn’t want the cameras to be a distraction to school bus drivers. For example, he fears they will watch the cameras and not the road.

He added that bus operators won’t see the full effect of the systems until September 2028. Currently, Switzer-CARTY does not have any external cameras on its buses but does have internal cameras on about 10 percent of its fleet based on customer specifications.

The company is in the process of testing external camera systems and installing a couple on school buses in anticipation of the new regulation, “just so we have a bit of a bit of an idea of what it is,” Bagdonas said.

Unlike the interior cameras and exterior stop-arm cameras that record footage, he noted the mandated systems will provide live feeds.

Camera Upkeep & Cost 

Bagdonas said there are still questions to be answered on the new regulation. For example, how much will the cameras cost to add to the buses, and what will maintenance of the systems look like, especially in the winter.

“Sometimes you get some dirt on the back of the [cameras], so we’re going to have to monitor and ensure proper maintenance of the camera systems to ensure the technology is working the way it’s intended,” he said. “And then also there’s going to be a cost component. We don’t know what that cost component is, but that cost component is going to be transferred to us in the cost of the bus, and then we’ll have to determine on how we can see about getting some compensation for this safety feature from our customers.”

All camera systems require ongoing maintenance, Turner said. She noted that while there should be a minimum annual inspection to ensure correct positioning and the connections are functional, they will also need to be cleaned, especially during winter months.

She explained that Gatekeeper’s camera systems are specifically designed and tested to perform reliably, even in harsh winter conditions. She recommended that during routine pre-trip inspections, drivers should quickly verify that camera lenses are clear of residue, snow, or dirt and clean them as needed to ensure optimal visibility.

Bagdonas said Switzer-Carty customers are aware of the new mandate and the company is engaging with stakeholders and bus operators on next steps. He added that because the mandate doesn’t take effect for another year and a half, there’s still time to work through the details.

The post Canada Becomes First Country to Mandate External School Bus Surveillance Feeds appeared first on School Transportation News.

When student transporters seek new school bus equipment, what do they look for? The options can be intricately dizzying, prompting them to turn to a resource that previously assisted with mundane email issues and computer peripherals not working.

Susan Keller, like many student transportation leaders, relies on the expertise of her school district IT department to help make the right choices, especially when it comes to implementing a new camera system. The transportation manager for Cumberland Valley
School District in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, said IT played a “critical” role in upgrading to Safe Fleet camera systems and the cloud-based Commander video management system in August 2023.

“They provide all of the technical knowledge in achieving our dream of a hands-off school bus camera system,” she added. “We are now able to access video independently without inconveniencing contractors and drivers with requests to manually retrieve video.”

Cumberland Valley, she explained, uses several small and large contractors in addition to the 90 district school buses that operate three-tiers of service each day across a 103-squaree-mile service area. The school district purchases and installs the equipment into the contractors’ vehicles, a complex project in itself.

“While looking at various school bus camera models, I was in constant conversation with our IT department as to what each scenario would involve from their end,” she said. Several questions needed answers. Would the system require Wi-Fi access points on buildings? Would access points at contractor lots be prudent? Would the district choose cellular technology? If so, what would that annual cost be?

“There were many details that I would not have known to ask or look for that they were able to guide me in,” Keller shared.

In the end, IT drove the decision to utilize Wi-Fi hotspots with access spots at each school building and bus loop as well as the transportation facility. Cellular with its monthly data cost and live look-in feature was deemed too expensive and challenging to manage.

“Everybody’s always shorthanded,” she added. Keller said she can now respond to requests made from drivers during their route to download and review flagged footage at her desk. Previously, she shared, anyone including contractors could download video and
store it on their computers or upload it to Google Drive. “It was not as secure as we would have liked,” she explained.

Meanwhile, Denver Public Schools in Colorado is working closely with its IT department as well as multiple vendors on a suite of video solutions that includes AI-enhanced software.

Albert Samora, the executive director of transportation, said Denver is due for an upgrade, as the existing cameras date back to 2018. But first, he wants to ensure the current project, which was slowed by COVID-19, is a success.

The first phase, all video storage and management moving to the cloud, went as planned. Phase two, seamlessly connecting each school bus camera system to Wi-Fi and cellular for downloading, is in process.

“Our intention with this solution for our cameras was to have access anywhere in the city,” he explained. That entails school buses connecting to Wi-Fi at the transportation facility, using cellular while on route and then connecting again to Wi-Fi access points at each school building during drop-off and pick-up. That has been a challenge.

“We ran into the problem that when they would get to the schools, even though the network is the same network, because of the different IP address it would see [the attempted connection] as a threat,” he continued, adding the issue is with the school district firewall. “We’re currently working through that.”

The temporary solution is to only access videos at the transportation facilities via Wi- Fi. Progress has been slow, thanks to the COVID-19 slowdown that Samora said the district is just now emerging from. That led to the following recommendation.

“Take your advice from somebody technical. Pull technical teams together and have them make promises that are realistic,” he shared, citing the importance of working closely with the school district’s IT department to manage expectations and hold all parties accountable.

Phase three is expected to be the incorporation of live video from Samsara’s AI-enhanced driver coaching cameras, which Denver currently only uses in its white fleet vehicles, with the existing Safety Vision school bus cameras.

Currently, the district has a forward-facing camera out the front windshield that Samora said he would like replaced by the Samsara system that views the road and the driver. The four Safety System cameras would record footage of the stairwell, from the rear forward, the forward to the rear, and in the middle of the school bus.

Next, Samora said he’d like to take AI to the next level by using his camera system to predict other risk factors, such as bus aides working with students during routes. “I’m looking for a company that can provide me data on a possible [paraprofessional] striking a student,” citing a desire to avoid incidents like those that have occurred recently in neighboring school districts.

He added that he would be interested in creating personal space boundaries around students and staff, similar to a geofence, for detecting when a normal action crosses the line to something improper or downright illegal—the difference between an aide handing a child a tablet and the aide back-handing the child, or proper child safety restraint securement and inappropriate or illegal touching.

“Instead of me having to go through hundreds of hours of video, I can actually get a report that says the risk factor on this, if we said the risk factor is zero to 10, is a seven and a half. And that’s not acceptable. I’ve got to look at this, get a set of human eyes on it,” added.

Samora, who has a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering. “For me, it’s interesting. I don’t know that it’s a new idea, but I haven’t heard of the industry talking about this.”

He said he also wants to receive similar instant alerts to review video when yaw sensors detect, for example, driver acceleration and harsh braking that reaches a certain risk level. Student transportation operations rely heavily on IT, but none more so than First
Student, North America’s largest school bus contractor. Camera systems are just one piece—a vital one—of the extensive technology suite integrated across a fleet of 45,000 school buses.

However, managing the data, particularly video footage, presents the biggest challenge.
With all the data collection now possible for student transporters, video or otherwise,
that’s where IT can play an active role.

“You can get all this data from technology, but it’s what you do with it, right?” commented Melinda Hall, First Student’s operations support manager. “You need IT to pull the reports together, give you what you need, so that operations can then do something with it.”

That requires IT to be privy to conversations between transportation departments and vendors in terms of not only the technology but what school districts are looking and what parents are wanting school districts to deliver.

“Senior IT members are starting to go into the bidding proposal process and participate, because of the saturation of technology offerings,” said Brent Maher, First Student’s vice president of information technology, adding that for as large as the company is, IT can’t be a part of every deal. A school district IT department at a smaller scale likely would have similar time and workforce constraints. Maher said the most important aspect is for transportation to engage IT professionals for their expert perspectives and know-how.

“If a school district is going to invest any energy in their transportation technology management, we recommend they focus on student data,” he concluded.

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

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The post As Camera Systems Evolve, IT Collaboration Necessary appeared first on School Transportation News.

School districts that have purchased some 2,000 Lion Electric school buses are in a wait-and-see mode regarding repairs and warranties following the company filing for and receiving protection from its creditors under the Canadian Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA).

Compounding the challenge in securing electric school buses are climate-related initiatives on the Trump administration radar.

In late January, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget listed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Program—which has helped fund electric bus purchases—as one of the many federal spending programs the Trump administration attempted to freeze in January. Despite a federal judge blocking that move, the funds were slow to start flowing again at this report.

Meanwhile, Lion could be acquired through an auction of its assets by next month. A Lion representative said the company was not bankrupt or in liquidation, per “the recognition of the CCAA proceedings in the U.S. pursuant to Chapter 15 of the United States Bankruptcy Code.”

A School Transportation News report about Lion Electric’s financial status outlined the company’s many layoffs and an SEC filing announcing the resignation of company president Nicolas Brunet in November. At this report, all U.S. employees had been laid off, with only a handful of executives based in Canada still working.

In 2023, Lion Electric opened its Joliet, Illinois plant, a move celebrated with much fanfare and investment by elected officials and local business leaders. The 900,000-square-foot facility was hailed as the largest all-electric U.S. plant dedicated to medium and heavy-duty commercial vehicle production. The plant was expected to produce 20,000 school buses a year.

In all, Lion Electric has more than 2,200 electric commercial vehicles on the roads across North America, logging more than 62,000 miles a week and more than 32 million driven miles transporting 130,000 children, noted company spokesman Patrick Gervais.

Continued delays and challenges associated with the granting of subsidies to Lion’s clients related to the Canadian Zero-Emission Transit Fund program, Gervais added. “Given the capital-intensive nature of its business, the Lion Group has required significant investment and capital over the years to operate its business,” he explained. “Such investment and capital have come in the form of longterm debt.”

He said the timing of EPA Clean School Bus Program funding rounds was also a challenge.

Funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the program had been designed to provide $5 billion from fiscal years 2022 to 2026 to replace existing school buses with zero-emission and clean school buses. To date, 1,039 awards have been issued to 1,344 school districts and nearly $2.785 billion of the total $5 billion has been awarded, replacing 8,936 buses. But as of this report, when and if 2024 rebates and subsequent funds are in doubt. The EPA did not respond to a request for comment on Lion, referring STN instead to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Public Affairs, which also had not responded at this report.

Meanwhile, the phase-one bid deadline for the company and its assets was Feb. 5 with a phase-two bid deadline of March 7. Auctions as required take place during the week of March 10 with the selection of final bids on March 19. Approval application of successful bids takes place during the week of March 31. The earliest closing is April 7.

The application for sale and investment solicitation for the CCAA monitored by court-appointed Deloitte Touche states that Lion leases the Joliet plant as well as its Saint-Jerome, Quebec headquarters—which included manufacturing, R&D, and testing and experience centers—and Mirabel, Quebec battery manufacturing facility. Gervais said Lion continues to assist customers with the maintenance and servicing of their vehicles for school buses and trucks, including warranty, adding that customers can follow the same claims process for warranty repairs.

“We are conducting the necessary follow-ups and aim to provide the highest level of support possible in the circumstances to customers with their fleet,” he added. “Our service team remains in action to support customers.”

Gervais added Lion is also committed to providing clients with as much information as possible to assist them remotely in resolving their issues. “Complex repairs and technology-related breakdowns will be prioritized for on-site support during this period,” he said.

Lion Electric established experience/service centers: Three in California as well as one each in Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts, Texas, Vermont and Washington. Only the Sacramento, California, location remained open at this report.

“It is important to emphasize that customer service is maintained for all customers, trucks and buses, regardless of the state or city they are located in,” Gervais said.

What’s Next for Lion and Its Customers?
Lion Electric sent an email to customers in December regarding its financial situation, stating that its management remained in control of the company during the CCAA process with the anticipation the customer’s existing “point person” at Lion would not change.

Despite the subsequent layoffs, Gervais said school transportation departments can work directly with parts suppliers as needed.

Yet many school districts find themselves with little to no customer support because their reps no longer work for the company. Or they have active purchase orders for new electric school buses that won’t be delivered.

Peoria Public Schools in Illinois was awarded a 2023 EPA Clean School Bus Program grant to purchase 15 electric buses and infrastructure. Joshua Collins, director of transportation and fleet services, said Peoria chose Lion because its electric vehicle manufacturing experience.

“At the time, they were building the plant in Joliet, so they were local and looked like they were the people to go with,” he added. “Fast forward a year later, and things didn’t go their way and didn’t work out.”

Collins noted he doesn’t know what’s left of the company. “It left us in limbo because we had made a purchase agreement with them,” he continued. “We’re navigating with our attorneys on what steps we should take and what we need to do. How do we separate ourselves from this? How do we end these service purchase agreements?

“We’ve moved on to another partner we are working with. We have to vacate our purchase agreement with Lion, which we’re still in the process of doing through our attorneys. We don’t want to get stuck with two purchase agreements.”

Collins said he was also concerned about a potential federal pause in funding “and we [hope we] are able to use those and move forward. It’s just been one thing after another, after another.”

Half of the 50-bus fleet operated by Herscher Community Unit School District 2 fleet in Illinois is comprised of Lion Electric buses, said Superintendent Dr. Richard Decman. He added that the school district selected Lion Electric because of manufacturing at now shuttered plant in nearby Joliet.

“Our district was given $9.875 million for the purchase of 25 electric buses and the related charging stations. Lion Electric worked directly with us to write the grant,
so that we did not have to worry about spending an inordinate amount of time on grant writing for something that may or may not happen,” he explained.

Decman said an additional benefit included projected long-term savings of operating electric buses compared to internal combustion engine buses. He said an analysis completed after one semester of use showed $125,000 to $150,000 in total savings per year.

Long-term health benefits to the school community are derived from less emissions from electric buses compared to diesel buses and the ability to get air-conditioned buses, he added.

“Weight is evenly distributed, the bus is quiet, and the bus is slightly larger, so the aisles and seats are more comfortable for the movement of passengers,” Decman added. “We wanted to get a head start on working out the kinks of implementing this type of technology as we believe it is likely a matter of time before more schools see the benefits.”

Decman indicated to Canadian media that while he’s been pleased with bus performance to date, it’s taking longer to secure replacement parts for minor maintenance issues, like replacing a stop arm motor, a door open/close motor, a heat sensor, and a strobe light fuse.

“Most if not all of our new contacts are no longer in the state,” said Decman. “Since we have our own mechanics, as long as we can get parts and have their experts show our guys what is needed, via Zoom is fine, location is not really an issue for most repairs.

“We just want to make sure we can get the parts in a timely fashion as well,” he continued. “Obviously, if a bus gets in an accident or needs major repairs, that will be a different story. Hopefully this all gets resolved one way or another.”

Decman added that his biggest concern is whether the warranties on the district’s buses will carry over if the company is sold.

Dr. Andrew Brooks, superintendent of schools for the Wethersfield District #230 in Kewanee, Illinois, said the purchase last fall of three Lion Electric buses was funded by EPA. Upon finding out the company was in financial trouble, he reached out to his service contact, who relayed that he had been laid off.

If Lion Electric cannot find a buyer, Brooks said the district will seek another supplier. “We are looking at Blue Bird, IC, and Thomas [Built Buses] models of EV buses,” he added.

Brooks said there is no delay in student transportation operations as Wethersfield awaits Lion Electric’s status “as they can still provide them on our timetable, if they power back up.”

Yarmouth School Department in Maine bought two Lion Electric buses in 2023 with federal grant money, said Superintendent Dr. Andrew Dolloff. The community’s Climate Action Committee along with students and school staff “placed a priority on awareness and action pertaining to climate change and use of renewable energy,” he said. “A quality EV bus program aligns with the town’s goal of being carbon neutral in the coming decade.”

Dolloff told Canadian media the Lion Electric buses often display messages indicating heating, electrical or battery problems, necessitating they be pulled out of service.

It has taken weeks to months to get someone from Lion Electric to visit the area and fix the issue, he said. “We have asked for the buses to be replaced, not likely or for compensation to be made so we can purchase others, also not likely, and have communicated with Maine’s Department of Education and the Governor’s Office, who have reached out to the EPA to see if there might be some relief provided through their grant programs,” Dolloff said.

Customers do have other options. “We are able to assist districts with maintenance on Lion EV buses. Maintenance on electric school buses is part of our offering to all districts, regardless, if you contract with First Student for home to school services or not,” noted
Danielle Becker, senior marketing manager for First Student, of the fee-based service. “We can provide maintenance for all vehicles including diesel/ gasoline yellow and white fleet. We are able to provide comprehensive preventative and corrective maintenance. Districts can contract directly with First Services or use the buying cooperative Sourcewell to contract with First Services for maintenance services.”

Much of the customer service Lion provided was via a proprietary remote diagnostics tool. Frank Naelitz, the director of electric vehicle maintenance for First Student, said any school bus customer should be wary about losing turnkey service when the provider ceases operation. Because the school bus contractor owns and operates 350 Lions—all of which operate in Quebec—Naelitz helped to create a technical assistance center and First Student’s own remote diagnostics tool, available at all 600 of its locations.

“That same infrastructure is able to provide some of that technical support to groups outside of First Student, if there is that need,” he explained. “That program does anything from finding service information to remoting into a diagnostics computer at the point of repair and helping them trouble shoot while connected to the vehicle, reviewing log files from various components. We could probably source parts at some point.”

Todd Hawkins, First Student’s senior vice president of maintenance, explained that all company technicians use tablets for work orders. “A tech can log in to the help desk and Frank can take over their iPad, take pictures of what they’re working on, draw on it, write in specs. He can walk them through a repair. We may end up dispensing these programs where we could talk to [techs] directly,” he added, noting the company won’t work on high-voltage issues without the customer first taking basic arc flash and other relevant training.

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

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The post On the Block appeared first on School Transportation News.

Delvico ‘Vec’ Dunn, the new executive director of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) in Charlotte, North Carolina, started his career as a school bus driver for CMS. He uses that experience to lead by example, especially since his CDL remains current.

Dunn started in pupil transportation in August 1997 as a school bus driver. When he was 18 years old, his parents told him he had to get a job, he shared. “I was one paper from signing up for the military, and a buddy who still drives now said, ‘Hey, they’re hiring bus drivers.’ ‘I said that’s something I would never do.’ But once doing it, I got the passion for it,” he said. “Never did I think it would be a career, though, just something to do. But as time passed and promotions started, I said ‘Hey, I like this.’ It was just about being in the community, being around others, meeting new people, and also seeing things and individuals.”

He transitioned to a lead driver with more office responsibilities and then became an operations technician that oversaw driver and monitor payroll within his area. He left CMS in 2006 to work at neighboring Union County Public Schools, in positions ranging from transportation specialist to operations manager to assistant director.

In 2014, Dunn returned to CMS as a transportation specialist and was promoted within a year to director of operations. In 2020, he became the director of fleet, which encompassed support services.

“Now here we are in 2025, I’ve come full circle to the highest position in our industry, within the CMS sector as the executive director of transportation,” he said. “So basically, starting from the bottom, going through different positions, going to another county and to run one of the largest transportation systems around the country.”

Starting his career as a school bus driver for the same department he’s leading, shapes his daily perspective and priorities. Because he sat in the bus driver’s seat, he said he knows what drivers deal with. And some of the same people that he drove alongside, still drive for CMS.

“To sit in every seat that we have within our department, it shows that I know each level. When an employee says you don’t understand, I fully understand. I drove a bus, I worked in office, I did payroll,” he explained “That’s the advantage I have, which made me more able to adjust to the role of being the executive director. So, the cliche, you don’t know where I come from, I truly do.”

Dunn noted he is following in the footsteps of Adam Johnson, who left CMS earlier this year to become the senior executive director of transportation for Atlanta Public Schools in Georgia.

“Me and Mr. Johnson have been tied to the hip for over 20 years,” Dunn said, adding that he was a supervisor when Dunn was a lead driver. Johnson was also the transportation director when Dunn returned to the district after working at Union County.

“He set high standards,” Dunn added.

He noted that he wants to continue to promote Johnson’s vision but also put his own spin on it. He shared that his leadership style has always been straightforward, and that the administration is only as strong as the front-line employees.

Leveraging Social Media at Transportation’s Level: Share your Story

 

When Thomas Miner ran the district-wide social media platforms for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, he repeatedly saw that transportation operations were being highlighted on the district’s main accounts. This kickstarted his  transfer to work with transportation exclusively. He’s now the the operations specialist in charge of sharing transportation’s stories.

Miner said that while his position existed in transportation before he joined the department two years ago, former transportation director Adam Johnson incorporated more social and digital media elements into his role, which included creating transportation-specific social media accounts. Miner now not only manages department social media but also creates newsletters and distributes internal department messaging.

“We really do try to emphasize as much as we can in the department,” Miner said of using social media for transportation. “We try to share good news from across the department. When you have over 800 drivers, there are stories happening on our buses and throughout our department every day. So, we try to lift up as much of our good news as we can and show the community how we’re serving students and how we are working with schools and principals to make sure that we get students to and from school safely and on time.”

He said having their own social media channels gives transportation an avenue to share their story through photos and videos.

“We get to lift them up and kind of show the community what’s happening in transportation,” he said.

He noted that having a social media dedicated to transportation has changed the dynamic with parents and students in a positive way.

“The district itself has a real focus on communication and customer service, so we prioritize that in all the conventional ways,” he explained. “But we also use our social media tool to directly connect to students and parents. Sometimes they’ll send us messages of compliment. Sometimes they’ll send us a message of something that we need to look into. We really utilized that tool as one more avenue to connect and engage with parents and in the community.

“When we win awards, when we’re doing community service projects, we get to lift that up and show our side and show our story,” he continued, of potential posts. “So often, the news around school districts can be a little negative. We use this as an opportunity to lift up as much good as we can, and to use our platform to share our story.”

“We can’t forget about the drivers, the monitors, our area supervisors, our mechanics, our maintenance supervisors, they do the day-to-day nuts and bolts. If they’re doing their job effectively, it makes, as the executive director or manager, your day run smoothly,” he noted. “I truly believe the top is only strong as the bottom. If the foundation is shaky, the top will be shaky no matter how good or a true leader you have. To have the buy-in, that speaks volumes.”

He added that hiring an internal candidate to fill his role offers stability, but he noted it also comes with challenges as everyone is comfortable in their ways. “I make sure the folks know what my vision is, in parallel to what our district vision is: our goal is to transport students to and from school safely,” he added.

Operational Breakdown

CMS operates about 1,100 pieces of equipment, 838 of which are routed school buses. When Dunn first started driving, he said, CMS had over 1,000 routed buses. He explained that across the nation, student ridership is increasing, but drivers are diminishing.

“Everybody is seeing that shortfall around the industry,” he said, adding that retention is key. That can entail ensuring applicants have other driving job options once they receive their CDL.

He explained CMS was short 27 drivers for the 838 routed bus in mid-March. The biggest hurdle to overcome is driver retirements. “Every year we want to recruit, retain and retrain,” he said, adding that when an industry veteran retires, the district loses that level of 20 to 30 years of experience.

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To help combat this, he said CMS offers over $20 per hour starting pay for new drivers. But in addition to finances, there is a positive culture to maintain, not necessarily within the department but on each school bus with student behavior. Dunn said the district prioritizes professional development and training to de-escalate conflicts when they arise. Additionally, transportation focus on self-incentive awards to recognize staff.

“It always can’t be monetary, but sometimes it’s that simple,” he said of recognizing drivers and showing appreciation. “Thank you for the service you’re doing.”

The district will also be holding its annual Bus Rodeo, which provides drivers with an outlet to compete against one another. “We try to keep them engaged and but it’s all about talking in those open lines of communication,” he said. “And also, my door is always open, as well as their area supervisor’s door.”

He said CMS also has a bus driver committee, represented by all the 14 service areas the district operates out of five facilities. It’s a chance for drivers to not only bring concerns and questions to administrators needing answers to transportation leaders. This, he said, instills in the culture that managers aren’t simply making a given decision, but do so after getting buy-in from all staff members and making them feel a part of the team.

Technology Through the Ages

Two of the five CMS transportation locations, including the one where this interview was held, were updated within the past year. “That’s a first in my tenure because when I started in 1997, the newest bus garage had just opened up,” Dunn recalled.

In terms of bus technology, Dunn said CMS has GPS, camera systems and tablets. He added that a wish list item, pending available budgetary resources, is RFID card technology. Dunn said the district has an app that can shows the bus location, but it doesn’t alert parents or guardians if their child is on the bus or if/when they got off.

He said another technology solution he’s eyeing is turn-by-turn directions on the tablets. He noted that whether the technology is a distraction has been debated, but he thinks a paper route is more dangerous than following an audible command.

When he started in the industry, Dunn said he and his fellow drivers didn’t even have radios, and the loading doors had to be manually opened and closed. “Now everything is on the steering wheel and buses have air conditioning,” he commented.

In his day behind the wheel, he said air conditioning was driving downhill with the windows open, or “all 32 down,” to catch a good breeze.

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