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NAPT friend, colleague receives ASBC Champion Award
NAPT
Congratulations Peggy Burns!
Last week during the Transporting Students with Disabilities and Preschoolers conference in Frisco, TX the American School Bus Council (ASBC) presented Peggy Burns with its School Bus Champion award.
For more than 20 years Peggy, owner of Education Compliance Group, has served as a key resource on legal issues for the pupil transportation community. She plans to retire at the end of 2015.
ASBC’s Award recognizes exceptional support for and advancement of the school bus industry. All recipients have demonstrated leadership that has produced demonstrable positive outcomes for the communities they serve, as well as the school bus industry as a whole.
Please join us in congratulating and thanking Peggy for all of her contributions to the industry!
NAPT Professional Development Courses Available at NAPT's 41st Annual Summit
NAPT
Take your profession to the next level through NAPT's Professional Development Series (PDS)! Be sure to register for one of the 15 PDS courses offered at our 41st Annual Summit: Engage. Explore. Empower. Online registration is open!
Here's this year's PDS course line-up:
- Friday, November 6 — 8-hour Classes (8am-5pm)
- PDS 609 — Accident Investigation
- PDS 802 (formerly SNT 102)- National Standardized Child Passenger Safety Training
- Friday, November 6 — 4-hour Morning Classes (8am-12pm)
- PDS 505 — School Facility Planning
- PDS 401 — Managing Human Resources I
- Friday, November 6 — 4-hour Morning Classes (1-5pm)
- PDS 303 — Procurement and Budget Management
- PDS 601 — School Bus Routing & Scheduling I
- Saturday, November 7 — 4-hour Morning Classes (8am-12pm)
- PDS 504 — School Bus Manufacturing
- PDS 304 — Data Driven Decision-Making
- PDS 801 (formerly SNT 101) — Special Needs Transportation Orientation
- Sunday, November 8 — 4-hour Morning Classes (8am-12pm)
- PDS 701 — Introduction to Leadership & Management
- PDS 704 — Strategic Planning for Transportation Departments
- PDS 803 — Specialized Transportation Skills
- Monday, November 9 — 4-hour Morning Classes (8am-12pm)
- PDS 202 — Presentation Skills
- PDS 503 — School Bus Specifications
- PDS 805 (formerly SNT 105) — Managing Sp Needs Student Behaviors: Transportation Challenges
- Tuesday, November 10 — PDS 804 (formerly SNT 104) — Product & Equipment Report
* The NAPT Professional Certification Exams will be held Sunday, November 8 from 1-4pm.
Early Bird Gets the Worm
Register early and save $100! Our full conference rate is only $299 before August 1. Take advantage of this great discount register online today!
Prefer paper? Download the Delegate packet and fax your form to 518.218.0867.
Plan your travel early. Visit the website for hotel information and travel options to and around Richmond, VA.
So, mark your calendar and make plans to be in Richmond, VA November 7-10 for NAPT's 41st Annual Summit: Engage. Explore. Empwer. We look forward to seeing you there!
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Mark your calendar for NAPT's April member webinar
NAPT
NAPT's April webinar will tackle employee evaluations. During this webinar we'll discuss techniques for making the evaluation a useful tool for professional growth and not a useless burden that must be completed each year.
Register today!
Date & Time: Wednesday, April 29 @ 1pm ET
Title: Employee Evaluations: Rote Processes or Thoughtful Endeavors?
Presenter: Barry Sudduth, CDPT-SNT, Director of Transportation, Stafford County Public Schools (VA), NAPT Region 2 Director
Registration Fee: FREE for NAPT members
Click here to register.
Save the date!
May Member Webinar: Wednesday, May 27 @ 1pm ET — Celebrating School Bus Safety: Behind the Scenes of Nat'l School Bus Safety Week — Click here to register.
Connect with NAPT
NAPT
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House adds fingerprints to Senate's K-12 background check bill
The Topeka Capital-Journal
A House committee amended a bill approved by the Senate requiring more than 60,000 public school district employees in direct contact with students to undergo fingerprint and criminal background checks every five years. The Senate prefers educators and support staff pay the $50 fee, while the House Education Committee voted to give local school boards the option of picking up the tab.
Indiana Supreme Court: Schools don't have to bus students
Indianapolis Star
The Indiana Supreme Court ruled that public schools are not constitutionally required to bus students to and from school. The ruling further clarifies state law, which already permitted public school corporations to opt out of providing transportation services. The case stems from a decision by Franklin Township Community Schools to discontinue free bus service in the 2011-2012 school year. Parents, upset by the district's action, filed a class-action lawsuit based on the premise that students had a constitutional right to bus service.
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Ohio Supreme Court considers school bus drivers responsibility
StateImpact Ohio
The Ohio Supreme Court went on the road to Mansfield. About 500 local high school students listened in on a case which touches on their own behaviors on school buses. The court heard oral arguments on whether school bus drivers are liable for injuries suffered by students who do not go straight home after leaving the vehicle. Is the bus driver liable if they are hurt in a traffic accident?
Education funding gaps: Which states are hitting, missing the mark?
The Christian Science Monitor
While the debate rages over the federal budget and how much will go to K-12 schools, states and localities supply the biggest share of education dollars — about 87 percent on average. But is that money distributed fairly to the students who need it most? School districts that serve the most students in poverty receive an average of $1,200, or 10 percent, less per student in state and local funding than districts with few students in poverty, according to a report by The Education Trust released by The Education Trust, a group in Washington that advocates for closing economic and racial inequities in schools.
Wake County making safety upgrades to school buses
The News&Observer
Wake County, North Carolina, school buses are getting upgrades, both inside and outside, designed to make them safer for students. All 900 Wake school buses will have a new system that will give more notice to motorists that the vehicles are stopping to pick up and drop off students. Sixteen Wake buses have also gotten exterior cameras to identify motorists who illegally pass stopped buses. To keep tabs on what's happening inside, Wake has installed digital cameras in four buses. School officials hope to expand the program to target buses with the worst discipline problems.
Connected school buses
KIMT-TV
School work for kids has changed. Now that more students have access to personal laptops and computers, much of their homework is done online, but what about those kids who are heavily involved in extra-curricular activities, and are often traveling for games or other events and don't have time to access the internet? That issue is prompting a state-wide discussion about implementing wireless internet in school buses. School leaders say it is a classic pros and cons debate. The positive side includes students being constantly connected and able to access their online work. On the other hand, school officials worry they would utilize the Wi-Fi more for personal sites like Facebook and Twitter, and that isn’t the only draw-back.
Missed last week's issue? See which articles your colleagues read most.
School districts using retread tires on school buses
KPHO-TV
Tight budgets are forcing some Valley school districts to use old tires with new treads, while others are moving away from the practice, citing safety concerns. That's what school transportation officials and dozens of public records requests tell CBS 5 Investigates. "You're taking a tire that's already had a serviceable life, and you're adding on a tread," said Bryan Henderson, who is the transportation manager for the Phoenix Union High School District. Phoenix Union does not use retread tires.
Service animals allowed on New Jersey school buses
The Associated Press via Houston Chronicle
Students with disabilities are now allowed to bring service animals on school buses in New Jersey. Gov. Chris Christie signed the measure into law. A prior law only allowed students to enter classrooms and school grounds with service animals. The law permits school officials to ask whether the service animal is required due to a disability and what task or work the animal has been trained to perform.
In Congress, new attention to student-privacy fears
NPR
Several efforts in Washington are converging on the sensitive question of how best to safeguard the information software programs are gathering on students. A proposed Student Digital Privacy and Parental Rights Act of 2015 is circulating in draft form. It has bipartisan sponsorship from Democratic Rep. Jared S. Polis of Colorado and Republican Rep. Luke Messer of Indiana. Drafted with White House input, the bill joins a previous Senate proposal, plus much action on the state level, from regulators, and from industry and other sector leaders. Consumer groups like Common Sense Media and companies like Microsoft have spoken positively of the bill.
Why tweens and teens need a vacation from technology
By: Corinne Garcia
 Technology is fully ingrained in our busy lives, and even more so in the lives of tweens and teens. Think about it: If it weren't for time spent in the classroom, students in the tween and teen years could easily fill the day without looking up from their handheld devices. They text instead of talk, keep up with friends through Instagram and SnapChat, and do most of their schoolwork in front of a computer. And then there's the entertainment: a series on Netflix, video games and streaming music.
Arnold Schwarzenegger calls on Congress to save funding for after-school programs
The Associated Press via The Huffington Post
Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is calling on Congress to preserve federal funding for after-school programs in a proposed reauthorization of the 2002 No Child Left Behind law. At a national summit in Los Angeles, Schwarzenegger will join education, business and law enforcement leaders in demanding that any bill maintain after-school funding. A House proposal would eliminate after-school centers designed to help children in low-income neighborhoods and 68 other programs in favor of a flexibility grant that would allow states to decide how to use funds.
Transporting Children with Disabilities, 5th Edition,
by Dr. Linda F. Bluth, is available for purchase. NAPT members may purchase the Handbook for $19.99, plus shipping. The nonmember rate is $29.99, plus shipping.
To order your copy, please email NAPT Member Services Specialist, Brianne Peck at Brianne.Peck@napt.org today! To learn more about the new Certification in Special Needs Transportation (CSNT) click here.
Transporting Children with Disabilities, 5th Edition contains new and updated information, including useful definitions of transportation and related special education terms as well as characteristics of children with special needs and special considerations for transporting children with special needs. This popular publication also explains the legal basis for special needs transportation in accordance with the requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 2004, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 and contains information about new Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act regulations.
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