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.NAPT MEMBER NEWS
NAPT Awards Committee Announces "People of the Year" Recognition Program
NAPT
During the COVID pandemic, we have witnessed countless acts of kindness and bravery and simple neighborliness. Many of those acts were performed by our school bus drivers, aides, and others in the school transportation community.
During this year's LOVE THE BUS MONTH (February), the NAPT Awards Committee would like to share some of those stories. We are therefore asking our members to help us identify these special "People of the Year".
Please send us brief descriptions of something special that one or more of your staff did to help children or the community during these past ten months or so. We would need to have:
- Name of person and employer
- Brief description of the event or action that make this person noteworthy (just a sentence or two to give us the basics)
- Anything unique or special about the person(s) you feel it is important to share (for example, the driver has been with the district for a very long time)
- A picture of the event or action if appropriate (if they sewed mittens for kids, for instance)
You should send the information directly to Theresa Anderson, Chair of the NAPT Awards Committee at thanders@comcast.net The Awards Committee will review and assist staff in posting in the social media and highlighting it in our newsletter during the month of February. For this reason, it would be most helpful to receive the information before January 31st!
Thank you for your participation. We appreciate all the good things the school transportation family has done to make the world a better place.
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NAPT
School Superintendents are leading K12 professionals through the pandemic but how do they anticipate the needs of the future during such an unprecedented time? They are paying attention.
They pay attention so that they are able to increase their awareness on the ever evolving issues that we as an industry are facing and help us to rise above the challenges and inspire action.
NAPT® Executive Director, Mike Martin, sits down with Noelle Ellerson Ng, Associate Executive Director, Policy & Advocacy at The School Superintendents Association, to talk about what School Superintendents are paying attention to right now from federal funding and policy to thought leadership during challenging times.
Join us on Wednesday, January 27, 2021 at 1pm EST on NAPT® ACTS! as Noelle and Mike talk about power of paying attention.
This will be an event you won't want to miss!
Event Information:
- What School Superintendents Are Paying Attention to Right Now
- Date: Wednesday, January 27, 2021
- Time: 1:00 p.m. EST
- How to Watch: Available Exclusively to NAPT® ACTS! Subscribers
- Speaker: Noelle Ellerson Ng, Associate Executive Director, Policy & Advocacy
Subscribe to NAPT® ACTS! to Access the Webinar (On-Demand or Live)
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The Safety Vision IR Thermometer is used to measure passengers’ temperature quickly and easily as they board the bus or enter the building. Scanning any part of the face or hand, temperature readings are displayed on the LED screen, in addition to an audible voice that states if the person’s temperature is within range.
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Percentage of Students Attending "Virtual only" Schools Drops for the First Time Since Early November.
NAPT
According to Dennis Roche, President of Burbio, the percentage of US K-12 students attending "virtual-only" schools decreased from 55% to 49.6% last week, it's first drop since before Thanksgiving.
"During the Fall the number of US K-12 students attending virtual only schools started at a high of 62% at Labor Day, falling gradually to a low of around 37% by early November. Rising Covid rates and precautionary holiday related breaks concentrated in the Midwest and Northeast took that number back up to 55% in early January.", said Roche.
Roche continued, "We counted schools in 26 states returning from virtual-only to in-person options, generally in small to mid-size districts concentrated in the Midwest and Northeast. Two weeks ago, the Des Moines, IA schools were denied a waiver to stay virtual and returned in person. Last week in Kanawha County, West Virginia (Charleston) the school board voted to stay remote until February 8th, but had to reverse hours later when the State Board of Education voted that full K-12 remote learning is no longer an option. In Rutherford County, TN the Director of Schools recommended a January 11th start to "hybrid" in-person to the County Board of Education. However, "no board member made a proposal in favor of the proposal and so the proposal was not adopted" and students returned fully in-person this past week."
"This coming week (January 19-22) another batch of school districts, some of which are larger, plan to return from slightly longer post-Holiday precautionary breaks and the virtual-only figure should drop further. In two examples, Indianapolis, IN plans to return K-3 students this week and grades 4-12 the week after while Colorado Springs, CO will return elementary (traditional) and grades 6-12 (hybrid) this week", said Roche.
The imminent return to school of students in Chicago, where preschoolers and special needs students returned this week, Atlanta, where they are planning to return K-2 students beginning the week of 1/25, and Columbus OH, where schools are planning to begin to bring students into the classroom on February 1st, should enhance the 'in-person' trend, said Roche.
On the other hand, Roches notes, "We did see some in-person reversals and delays." For example, Topeka, KS schools are going virtual for two weeks starting this week. Gwinnett County, GA will be going virtual next week. Evanston, IL delayed their (first time) return past January 19th. Alamance County, NC pushed their planned (first time) in-person return from February 1st to at least March 1st and Cumberland County, NC, which has also never been in-person, pushed their start date back to at least 3/15. The Austin, TX school district is "asking" parents to keep their students home to learn virtually while keeping schools open for special situations amid Covid-19 rates among school-age children that are above the rest of the community.
Roche also noted that Boston announced plans to phase in all students from March 1st-April 1st, Cleveland pushed virtual learning until at least February 26th, and Pittsburgh pushed plans to return students to the classroom until at least February 8th. Tulsa, OK pushed in-person return to March 22nd. In Ohio Governor Mike Dewine is offering priority vaccination to teachers on the condition they return to in-person learning by March 1st.
Districts in St Louis County, MO and Annoka Hennepin, MN announced plans to continue offering virtual only teaching as an option for parents for the entire 2021-22 year. Also noteworthy is an announcement in Henrico County, VA, where the school board says "In order to make up for lost learning time and to close achievement gaps, HCPS is in the early stages of planning robust, optional in-person summer academic programming. Expect to hear more about this in the weeks to come".
"In auditing districts nationwide we continue to be struck by the widespread acknowledgement of learning loss among large segments of the student population", said Roche. "Given the additional Federal funding initiatives underway, it would seem that this coming summer could be a practical time to begin addressing this issue."
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Keep Your NAPT® Member Profile Up-to-Date
NAPT
Now is a great time to log in to the NAPT® website and update your member profile!
Once you're logged in:
- View and update your personal information — it's quick and simple. As soon as you log in, you'll see all of your information and have the ability to make edits as necessary.
- Upload a professional photo to display in your profile that will be visible in the Online Member Directory.
- Provide a brief professional biography in the space provided so we can learn a little more about you.
- Select your Directory Category by clicking on "My Directory Options" and selecting the appropriate organization type.
Log in today! Please contact headquarters at 800.989.6278 if you need assistance logging in to the system.
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Connect with NAPT
NAPT
Let NAPT help you stay in touch with colleagues and up-to-date on industry news and interesting stories from around the nation.
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Does your district have students without Internet at home? Equip your buses with WiFi and park them in neighborhoods, apartment complexes, mobile home parks, and school parking lots to create Internet access point amid distance learning. Get started by downloading the Community WiFi Hotspot Guide.
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Wash a School Bus in less than 5 minutes! Using only 5 gallons of water and 1 ounce of soap per minute, walk around the bus applying soap and the second time using fresh water, all automated. We are the world’s most economical, ecological and efficient bus wash system!
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.INDUSTRY NEWS
Biden, aiming to reopen schools, set to request infusion of cash
The Washington Post
President-elect Joe Biden will ask Congress for $130 billion to help K-12 schools reopen, plus billions more to implement rapid coronavirus testing in schools, a far more aggressive response than anything lawmakers have approved to date. Another plank of Biden's proposal aims to mount a national vaccination plan that could facilitate school reopening as well, with vaccinated teachers more willing to return to classrooms.
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Bracing for whiplash: Helping your team build resilience for the uncertainty to come
Tech & Learning
At the start of the 2020-2021 school year, many districts had plans to return fully in-person before December. Now, with cases surging across the country and full vaccination still months away, alternative plans have been deployed. Regardless of your district's current trajectory, there are strategies that can be used to support a smooth transition across any modality.
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Philadelphia families missing payments for school bus program
WPVI
Some families that are eligible to use School District of Philadelphia transportation are asking the district to show them the money. They say they are missing payments they're due from a new pilot program involving transportation. The "Flat Rate Pilot Program" pays families who opt out of taking the bus this year.
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The yellow school bus is going green as Miami-Dade starts transition to an electric fleet
Miami Herald
A landmark decision by Miami-Dade County Public Schools to begin converting its noisy, pollutant-belching diesel buses into an electric fleet was driven by middle school student Holly Thorpe's science fair project. Her investigation yielded even more alarming conclusions than she expected, showing that carbon dioxide fumes inside buses were 10 times higher than limits recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency.
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Big budget boost planned for Georgia schools
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Education saw big cuts last year as Georgia lawmakers girded themselves for the COVID-19 recession, but that money and more would go to the state's schools, colleges and universities in Gov. Brian Kemp's new budget. K-12 schools, which saw cuts of $950 million during last year's legislative session, would see an extra $1.2 billion under the governor's spending plan for the rest of fiscal 2021, which ends June 30, and fiscal 2022.
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Biden team's multibillion-dollar school testing plan takes shape
Politico
President-elect Joe Biden is weighing a multibillion-dollar plan for fully reopening schools that would hinge on testing all students, teachers and staff for Covid-19 at least once a week, according to four people with knowledge of the discussions. The proposal under consideration calls for the federal government to cover the cost of providing tests to K-12 schools throughout the country. These could then be administered regularly by staff at each school, providing results in minutes.
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COVID impact on school districts varies across Pennsylvania, new report shows
Reading Eagle
Each year, the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials puts out a report on the financial picture for school districts across the state. In the newest version, one thing was crystal clear. "The fact that we clearly know is that all school districts are negatively impacted by COVID," said Hannah Barrick, PASBO assistant executive director.
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January forces some schools to extend remote learning, others to reopen classrooms
The Wall Street Journal
School districts across the country are changing their plans with the new year, with some deciding to prolong remote instruction and others moving to reopen classrooms. Tenuous schedules are expected to remain fluid as districts weigh rising coronavirus cases in much of the country against concerns about student learning loss and when teachers can be vaccinated.
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How to ease back to in-person learning
District Administration Magazine
The unpredictability of COVID-19 means that while many districts have returned to full in-person learning, many also have retained either a fully remote or hybrid learning schedule. Still others returned to in-person learning and then had to pivot to remote learning due to positive cases in the building, and then pivot back again.
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How empathy helps bridge generational differences
Harvard Business Review
Mimi Nicklin, a business coach and executive, has seen many leaders blame poor performance and communication on generational differences. But she argues managers should spend less time forcing Millennial and Gen Z employees to conform to company culture and more time on perspective taking and listening. In her experience, practicing empathy can vastly improve team collaboration and lead to better business and individual outcomes.
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5 reasons why good leaders must be great followers
Entrepreneur
"He who cannot be a good follower, cannot be a good leader." Aristotle's old adage has never seemed more prescient. Consider the current COVID crisis: It has taken a pandemic to prove that distant, aloof and larger-than-life leaders are no longer effective. Now more than ever it has become advisable for the modern manager to empathize with, and lend an ear to, those he manages.
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How to plan simply for 2021
The Lead Change Group
You maybe have not yet set out your goals for 2021, just like any other year. Of course, like 2020, 2021 will not be any other year. In the U.K., we started the year with our third national lockdown. So, these are not ordinary times.
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Leadershift: Switching gears while staying on course during a crisis
Forbes
When leaders sit around the table building their organization's strategic plan, forecasting a worldwide pandemic is not usually part of the discussion. Why? Well, because most of us think a pandemic would never happen in our lifetime. But it did. And it completely turned our lives upside down. From the way we conduct business to the way we manage staff to the way we lead our organizations, everything has changed.
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Employee retention: 4 tips to help keep your top talent
Entrepreneur
Decent employees might be a dime a dozen, but all-star employees are worth their weight in gold. The talent you keep on your roster has a major impact on your ability to scale your SaaS business effectively and make customers return again and again. Once you find a team that meets and beats your expectations, they're worth every attempt to get them to stay around.
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The most powerful words you hear
Leadership Freak
People may notice your strengths, but until your inner voice agrees, you reject affirmations. Your inner voice is more powerful than external voices. Words aren't magic, but they are rudders. Words set the direction of your attitudes, actions, relationships and leadership.
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