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.NAPT MEMBER NEWS
Join us on Wednesday 12.2.20 for Trends in K-12 School (Re)Openings: Now, Early 2021 and Beyond
NAPT
K-12 school learning plans (virtual, hybrid, traditional in-person) are in major flux due to a resurgence of the coronavirus.
Join us for a 15 minute overview of the post-Thanksgiving landscape, followed by a live Q & A session regarding state lockdown strategies, local mitigation strategies, and preferred learning plans that vary by region as well as a discussion of the issues facing K-12 education for the remainder of this year and into 2021.
Event and Speaker Information:
- Trends in K-12 School (Re)Openings: Now, Early 2021 and Beyond
- Date: Wednesday, December 2, 2020
- Time: 1:00 p.m. EST
- To submit a question in advance please email the NAPT Headquarters.
Our Speaker: Dennis Roche is President of Burbio, a data service that tracks school opening by learning types (in person, virtual, etc) across the US. Burbio's school opening data has been cited by Bloomberg, CNBC, Politico, NPR, USA Today, and more, and the firm works with companies who use their data to better plan their operations.
Burbio actively monitors 1,200 districts, including the 200 largest school districts in the US. District plans are reviewed every 72 hours to identify changes. School districts in the data set are a mix of sizes and distributed nationally in such a way to represent local decision-making across the country and averages are weighted to reflect student populations.
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NAPT and Zonar Announce Recipients of Annual Don Carnahan Memorial Grant
NAPT
Zonar and the National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT), today announced the winners of the 2020 Don Carnahan Memorial Grant:
- Visalia Unified School District, CA
- New Albany Floyd County Schools, IN
- Morgan County School District, CO
- Laurel Public Schools, MT
- Twinsburg City Schools, OH
- Bloomfield Hills School District, MI
- Zeeland Public Schools, MI
The seven school district winners will each receive up to $50,000 in donations of Zonar’s industry-leading fleet management hardware and student tracking technology.
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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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RIP Joe Hart
NAPT
We are sad to report that long-time NAPT member Joe Hart passed away from Leukemia last Saturday.
Joe retired as the Director of Transportation for Killeen (TX) ISD several years ago but remained active in NAPT. In fact, he received our Distinguished Service Award in 2018, recognition in part for his many years of volunteer work as coordinator of our annual National School Bus Safety Poster Contest.
Joe was a very active member of the Texas Association for Pupil Transportation (TAPT ) too. He served on the TAPT Board of Directors for several years and was TAPT President in 2014-15.
Please keep Joe, a proud veteran of the US Army, his wife Myrna and their children and grandchildren in your thoughts and prayers. May he rest in peace.
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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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.INDUSTRY NEWS
How schools are preparing for the perfect storm of holiday travel and COVID-19
Education Week
Rapidly rising coronavirus cases nationwide and upcoming holiday travel plans could be the perfect storm to trigger COVID-19 spikes among students and teachers. That possibility is putting principals, school district leaders and state officials in the difficult spot of telling families what they should do during the holidays, but without the power to enforce that guidance.
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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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Technology could 'greatly reduce' rear-end crashes involving large trucks: IIHS study
Safety+Health Magazine
Installing crash prevention technologies on the front of large commercial trucks may reduce, by more than 40%, crashes in which those trucks rear-end another vehicle, according to a recent report from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. IIHS Director of Statistical Services Eric Teoh analyzed data from about 2,000 crashes involving large trucks that occurred from 2017 to 2019. He found that forward-collision warning systems reduced rear-end crashes by 44%, while automatic emergency braking systems reduced the crashes by 41%.
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2019-2020 National School Bus Loading and Unloading Survey
Kansas State Department of Education
The National School Bus Loading and Unloading Survey is a collection of fatality accident reports provided by state agencies that are responsible for school transportation and/or accident records. KSDE along with the help of NASDPTS, asks that all states and Washington, D.C. provide data to KSDE annually, who then compiles it for this survey. Only fatalities involving school children in or around the loading or unloading areas of a school bus are included.
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DC Public Schools welcomes hundreds to school hoping to expand after Thanksgiving; advocates ask that safe, clear transportation plans be top of mind
The 74
AFSCME Local 1959 president Corey Upchurch, who represents about 900 bus drivers and attendants in D.C., has spent weeks in a holding pattern, watching as local plans for school reopening shift. What's made that wait particularly concerning for him and his members, he said, is not being given a clear game plan to ensure safety as more students trickle back to school starting this week. What if a student can't wear a mask? Or doesn't understand social distancing? Many of the bus drivers and attendants Upchurch represents are older, some with pre-existing conditions like diabetes and asthma.
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COVID-19 see-saw for parents continues as districts face transportation issues, rising cases
WHIO-TV
As parents continue to grapple with the ever-changing landscape of education in the COVID-19 world, districts are also having to make difficult decisions as cases rise and impact staffing. That's something Troy Superintendent Chris Piper says this week they've had to deal with when several bus drivers were forced off the job for an extended period due to COVID-19. It forced Piper to have to move grades 6 through 12 to online learning.
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Wappingers bus driver, substitute shortages impact hybrid learning
Poughkeepsie Journal
After two months of remote instruction, which followed two months of distance learning to end last school year, high school students in the Wappingers Central School District returned to classrooms this week. But, as is also the case with the district's junior high hybrid learning plan, the high schoolers will only be in class for two half-days twice a week. Other learning will still be remote. Acting Superintendent Dwight Bonk said the district wants each of those students to have two full days in school per week, like those in the elementary schools. They just don't have the bus drivers and monitors needed to do it.
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Chicago sets Jan. 11 school reopening date for pre-kindergarten, some students with disabilities
Chalkbeat
Chicago Public Schools will reopen school buildings for pre-kindergarten students and some children with disabilities starting Jan. 11, with teachers set to return a week earlier, district officials said. Chicago will aim to bring back students in kindergarten to eighth grade on Feb. 1. Principals were briefed by a webinar Tuesday afternoon. The district followed with a statement.
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Education through the pandemic
The 74
Schools continue to grapple with unprecedented coronavirus-related issues while working to reopen buildings and continue in-person learning safely, including a now urgent backlog of infrastructure repairs that impact the ability of schools to guarantee safe, healthy classrooms. As Education Week reports, the need to address inadequate HVAC, fan, and ventilation systems piles onto a growing list of new concerns that schools and districts are facing, including a steep reduction in the number of students applying to free and reduced-priced meals and challenges in ensuring the safe continuation of fall and winter sports.
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States' accountability changes may impact school designations, improvement timelines
Education DIVE
Assessments and accountability plans, put on pause by the U.S. Education Department for the 2019-2020 school year due to COVID-19, are expected to resume this school year with addenda. "We are skeptical states can return to status-quo school accountability systems," said Chris Domaleski, associate director for the Center for Assessment, during a webinar hosted by CCSSO in October. "There is no easy answer." Status quo includes high stakes, like school report cards, which many states are moving away from this school year.
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CDC pulls statement that stressed importance of in-person school
Education Week
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has quietly removed a statement from its website that stressed "the importance of reopening America's schools" even as they take steps to address the coronavirus pandemic. The July statement had been attached to revised guidance from the agency that came after President Donald Trump criticized the CDC's guidance on COVID-19 and called for K-12 schools to reopen, threatening their funding if they remained in remote learning.
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Virus surge: Schools abandon classes, states retreat
The Associated Press
School systems in Detroit, Indianapolis, Philadelphia and suburban Minneapolis are giving up on in-person classes, and some governors are reimposing restrictions on bars and restaurants or getting more serious about masks, as the coast-to-coast resurgence of the coronavirus sends deaths, hospitalizations and new infections soaring. The crisis deepened at hospitals, with the situation so bad in North Dakota that the governor said nurses who test positive but have no symptoms can still work. Idaho clinics struggled to handle the deluge of phone calls from patients. And one of Utah's biggest hospital systems is bringing in nearly 200 traveling nurses, some of them from New York City.
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This checklist can help you get better at dealing with change
Fast Company
If you made any plans for 2020, chances are they were changed. The way you work probably changed, as did the things you do when you're off the clock. While many of us love things that are new and fresh, when it comes to being forced to change? Not so much.
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How to leverage skills tests to reduce unconscious bias in hiring
Forbes
As the groundswell of support for social justice rages on, employers nationwide have begun re-examining their equity and inclusion efforts. For many, a hard look in the mirror has revealed an unsettling reality: a workforce lacking diversity. Typically, a lack of diversity in the workplace boils down to the hiring process. Too often, organizations inadvertently let unconscious biases influence hiring decisions. These implicit biases create deep inequalities and open the door for discrimination lawsuits.
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How COVID-19 changed the way we look at hiring
Entrepreneur
The only way to win in a post-Covid-19 world is to relentlessly focus on creating the best team possible. This has always been important during periods of economic contraction and business uncertainty. The difference now is that the rewards and the risks have never been greater. COVID-19's disruptions, a shortage of in-demand talent and millennial-led trends will force a permanent rethinking of how companies are structured. The organizations that can do more with less — by attracting better talent and better engaging them — will likely see massive productivity improvements when compared to the average company, where 60% of the company is not engaged or actively disengaged.
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Ask these questions to find out if you're hiring a good human (not just a smart one)
Fast Company (commentary)
Andrea Kayal, a contributor for Fast Company, writes: "I talk ad nauseum about the importance for companies, especially high-growth startups, to hire people who exhibit exceptional emotional intelligence. I'm not the first one who has come to this conclusion, but I think more people need to realize that EQ is just as important of an asset to a company as IQ. In my opinion, it is the single biggest factor in startup growth acceleration. You can usually find smart people, but building a team with kind people usually plays second fiddle to those with practical experience."
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7 methods to help you switch from angry to calm in seconds
Forbes
Stay calm. Remain cool. Keep composed. It's easy for people to say this is how you should react when you're feeling angry, frustrated or disrespected at work. In theory, many of us would agree. The problem is that we don't know how to actually do it. For most of us, our first "normal" reaction to experiencing negative emotions is often reactive. Our anger comes seemingly automatically because our brains are interpreting what caused our negative feelings as a "threat."
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