Why Transportation Must be Wary of Virtual Schooling for K-12

By Ryan Gray

For several decades now, online courses have been a resource for adult continuing education. But virtual schools are also gaining steam in public childhood education, and student transporters best become familiar with how such services can affect their operations.

I first grew interested in this trend a couple years ago as virtual field trip providers entered the education scene as an alternative to expensive, traditional student visits to museums and the such. My initial reaction was how sad it was that some students now were being deprived of my favorite part of school growing up. But the ramifications go far beyond escaping the classroom for several hours and the hands-on learning that can result. In speaking with one transportation software provider, I asked if these virtual field trip companies are in fact becoming a new competitor?

While you won't hear many industry vendors officially say so, the general feeling is that the growth of virtual school programs ... and now classes ... is something the industry must closely monitor, especially in light of a growing movement aimed at protecting school transportation as we know it. Then, just last week, the University of Florida released a study that said virtual schools can increase student learning while also driving down skyrocketing school costs, such as transportation. Look for more on this topic in our July magazine issue.

Surprisingly, many school transporters we talked to for our editorial coverage said they don't see a correlation between transportation and online learning. That disconnect could spell very big problems for an industry that's fighting for its life amid the current economy and state budget crises nationwide.

Could Maryland School Busing be that Good?

The Washington Post ran an article today, picked up by MSNBC.com, that tells of an 18-year old high school senior who has never missed a day of school. Stefanie Zaner is known as the Iron Kid of Darnestown, a suburb of Baltimore where Cal Ripken Jr. set the Major League Baseball record for consecutive games played at 2,632.

Zaner, the article says, is approaching the likewise amazing milestone of 2,340 straight days of public school. She attends Northwest High School in Montgomery County. There must be something in the Maryland water. In addition to Ripken Jr.'s and Zaner's feats, the Post conducted an informal survey of 20 local school systems that turned up another graduating senior with perfect attendance since kindergarten (officially, 180 days a year, for 13 years, although the exact annual total hinges on snow days): Kristen Waddle, 18, of Brentsville District High School in Prince William County. Austin White of Mountain View High School in Stafford County hasn't missed a day since first grade.

It was not immediately known if the students had ever utilized school busing, but it appeared likely at some point they may have utilized the transportation service. The most recent data obtained from the Maryland Department of Education that 73 percent of the state's nearly 850,000 public school students take the yellow bus.

Emergency Preparedness Takes Center Stage

President Obama proclaimed May 24-May 30 as National Hurricane Preparedness Week. He called upon government agencies, private organizations, media, community groups, schools, and residents of hurricane-prone areas to share information about hurricane preparedness and response to help protect communities and save lives. Hurricane Katrina taught lessons to all of these entities on the importance of disaster plans and collaboration and communication.

“Awareness and preparation are critical to surviving and recovering from hurricanes. During National Hurricane Preparedness Week, I call on all Americans -- including private citizens and those working in government, business, and the nonprofit sector -- to plan ahead and help secure the safety and property of those who face advancing storms,” said President Obama in a written proclamation.

Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honoré (Ret.) is scheduled to address STN EXPO attendees on this very topic during a keynote speech on July 27 during a breakfast sponsored by Blue Bird Corporation and Allison Transmission. Read our May 2009 article on him, his experiences with Hurricane Katrina and his keynote speech this summer.

Moving Towards an Electirc Bus at Thomas?

Daimler AG, a parent company of Thomas Built Buses, has purchased a 10 percent stake in electric vehicle company Tesla Motors, according to a press release. The companies said they will cooperate on battery drive systems, electric drive systems and vehicle projects. Could this put Thomas closer to an all-electric school bus? The company is already working on a hybrid Saf-T-Liner C2. According to the release, Daimler and Tesla were already working together to integrate Tesla's lithium-ion battery packs and chargers into Daimler's electric smart car. The release goes on to note that Daimler just founded the Deutsche Accumotive GmbH, a joint venture with Evonik Industries AG, which makes the company "the first vehicle manufacturer worldwide that develops, produces and markets batteries for automotive applications."

They'll Remember You. Will You Remember Them?

Four in ten adults remember their school bus driver's name, according to a survey from First Student cited in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The survey continued:

When asked to share their most memorable experiences on a school bus, most survey respondents recalled having fun and riding the bus with friends. Many surveyed still remember riding the bus on their first day of school. Other fond memories included singing favorite songs, a bumpy ride in the back of the bus, budding romances, field trips and receiving special holiday and end-of-year treats from bus drivers.

The journalist remembers her own driver and the not-so-kind nickname she had for her. ("How could we be so cruel?" she now wonders). At this writing, 23 had left memories of their drivers on the newspaper's comment section. Most of them are incredibly kind.

How well do you remember your bus driver? How do you want your riders to remember you? We only hope it's not as "Cakeface."

Shaken, Not Stirred

This morning STN is shaken, but not stirred after a small earthquake near our offices last night. We came in to a few pictures askew, a couple things knocked over and an email with a great PowerPoint from Dick Fischer. Download this and take a look at how unsafe a bus with too much junk can be. It's a pretty much a worst-case scenario, but it's good to think about how you pack your bus on athletic and extracurricular trips. All those loose extras can become projectiles in a crash or even sudden, hard braking.

Tips for packing the bus? Share them here.

Have you seen worse? Email david@stnonline.com with your photos and we'll publish your pictures (anonymously, of course).

Tornadeo Warnings: You Be the Judge?

Guest blogger Cheri Clymer shares these thoughts on tornado warnings on some of the confusing advice on what to do. Take a read and consider how pupil transporters can best prepare for this emergency.

What is a tornado warning? A tornado warning means that a tornado has been spotted, or that Doppler radar indicates a thunderstorm circulation which can spawn a tornado. When a tornado warning is issued for your town or county, take immediate safety precautions. Local NWS offices issue tornado warnings.

When a tornado warning is issued, transportation personnel look to the prominent weather service professionals for advice and response. Recently, there has been a change of procedures in tornado warning response issued by the American Red Cross. Following are suggested responses to tornado warnings issued by the National Weather Service, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the American Red Cross.

National Weather Service:

• In a car or truck: Vehicles are extremely dangerous in a tornado. If the tornado is visible, far away, and the traffic is light, you may be able to drive out of its path by moving at right angles to the tornado. Otherwise, park the car as quickly and safely as possible -- out of the traffic lanes. [It is safer to get the car out of mud later if necessary than to cause a crash.] Get out and seek shelter in a sturdy building. If in the open country, run to low ground away from any cars (which may roll over on you). Lie flat and face-down, protecting the back of your head with your arms. Avoid seeking shelter under bridges, which can create deadly traffic hazards while offering little protection against flying debris.

Federal Emergency Management Agency:

• Get out immediately and go to the lowest floor of a sturdy, nearby building or a storm shelter. Mobile homes, even if tied down, offer little protection from tornadoes.

What if you are outside with no shelter? Lie flat in a nearby ditch or depression and cover your head with your hands. Be aware of the potential for flooding. Do not get under an overpass or bridge. You are safer in a low, flat location.

Never try to outrun a tornado in urban or congested areas in a car or truck. Instead, leave the vehicle immediately for safe shelter.

Red Cross:

• If you are inside, go to the safe place you picked to protect yourself from glass and other flying objects. The tornado may be approaching your area.
• If you are caught outdoors, seek shelter in a basement, shelter, or sturdy building. If you cannot get to shelter, a recent study* suggests doing the following:
• Get into a vehicle, buckle your seat belt, and try to drive at right angles to the storm movement and out of the path.
• If strong winds and flying debris occur while you are driving, pull over and park, keeping seat belts on and the engine running. Put your head down below the windows, covering with your hands and a blanket if possible.
• If you are unable to get to a building or vehicle, as a last resort, lie in a ditch or depression and cover your head with your hands.
  

The emergency agencies follow similar response to tornados. Each suggests driving at right angles to the tornado, if possible. If you cannot continue driving, the next suggested response by the NWS and FEMA is to leave your vehicle immediately and seek shelter in a building or if outside, in a low lying area such as a ditch. The American Red Cross suggests seeking shelter in a building as well. However, their recommendation, if you cannot get to a shelter, is to stay with the vehicle, seat belted in with engine running and ride out the storm. They suggest lying in a ditch or depression as a last resort.

As you can see, there is a definite area of discrepancy. This is an extremely important issue, one that requires research on the part of the transportation professional. Should you be the judge? What is the correct response?

Must Read: A Tough Assignment in Boston

The Boston Globe offers this editorial on changes to Boston's well known busing system. Dismantling the school's attendance zones and assembling a more neighborhood-based system could save $10 million per year in transportation costs. The paper calls the move "a leap of faith" but "still a leap forward."

No education takes place during expensive, enervating bus rides across the city. The hours spent onboard actually undermine one of Mayor Menino's best initiatives: linking the offerings of neighborhood schools, libraries, and community centers into enrichment zones available within easy reach from morning until late afternoon or evening. Johnson also wants to add intramural athletics at the city's middle schools to the mix. A good library program or flag football game beats a bus ride any day.

The paper questions how prepared Superintendent Carol Johnson is for bringing equity to schools that will be largely minority and disproportionately underperforming. Will she ask the employees for the same sacrifices she is asking of families?

What the paper does not ask and what we as an industry will have to ask is what sacrfice is she asking from pupil transporters? According the paper, there are more than 700 buses in a $76 million operation that's expected to cost $99 million by 2015. As the paper points out, that's no small ammount. But reform means change. What is this going to do for the 700 people behind the wheels and the staffs and leaders that support them? What would it mean to us if schools around the country decided to focus on more neighborhood-based schools?

In past issues we've looked at what changes to desegregation systems mean for school transportation. So far, there is no consensus on what these kinds of changes mean for transportation or even how best they can be done. But we must ask ourselves these questions now instead of scrambling for answers when school board decisions arive at the garage.

Take a look at the editorial and take a look at our op-ed. Remember, busing like isn't just a "forced" black and white issue these days. There are racial systems, socioeconomic systems, hybrid systems, voluntary systems and even systems based entirely on student choice. If busing like this in your district, consider what changes like these mean for you. Share your thoughts and your experiences here.

'Twas in Another Lifetime...

... couldn't resist a little Dylan this morning after seeing this series of photos of interesting bus shelters from around the world. Shelters range from the school bus bus stop (Athens, Ga.) to swing set bus stops in London and indoor air-conditioned bus stops in Dubai.

Also this morning, Bus No. 6 looks forward to June Bug season.

Just for fun (and to make sure I'm doing my share in thinning the June bug herd so they'll never rise up en masse to take over our world) I decided to see how many June bugs splatter on my windshield in a week's time, and how long I could drive without cleaning any of them off. Not only that, but I wanted to see who would notice my disgusting windshield first -- students, a teacher, or Eduardo our transportation guy.

Today's highlight from the Nation's Press: School Bus Driver's Say They're Not to Blame for Recent Problems

Arne Duncan vs. the Blob

The Economist has a broad, if not particularly deep, profile of Education Secretary Arne Duncan that's well worth reading for anyone interested in the big picture of the future of American public schools. Duncan comes off as extraordinarily well liked, capable and fixed to make major reforms in education. At the same time, the magazine opines that the former pro-ball player has no sure slam dunk:

But the bigger reason to be pessimistic about Mr Duncan is that the education establishment has an astonishing record of neutralising reform-minded politicians. Entrenched vested interests and a decentralised system—with much of the day-to-day decision-making controlled by 16,000 school districts—combine to squash most promises of improvement. The mighty teachers’ unions regularly welcome reforms in theory while destroying them in practice. Bill Bennett, Ronald Reagan’s education secretary, perfectly described this slippery bunch as “the blob”.

The battle between Mr Duncan and the blob is a crucial one. The result of the battle will determine, first, whether it is worth continuing with moderate education reforms—for if these reforms cannot succeed with $100 billion and a golden boy at the helm, they never will. It will also determine whether Mr Obama can deliver on his promise to build the American economy on the rock of well-educated and productive workers rather than the sand of financial speculation. A pity that, however many battles it loses, the blob always seems to win the long war.

When Duncan was first nominated, we ran our own snapshot of Duncan and school transportation. As CEO of Chicago Public Schools, Duncan appeared to have experience with busing systems and recognized their value. At the same time, he resisted a No Child Left Behind requirement that would have demanded more cross-town transfers, saying:

"I am not for putting money into yellow school buses when I can put it into teaching and learning ... I am not going to overburden schools that are improving. Where the law does not make sense, I am not going to do anything to jeopardize the progress we are making."

Ed. Says Keep Schools Open

The U.S. Department of Education is telling schools they don't need to shut down to stop swine flu, the AP is reporting.

The Center for Disease Control had advised schools to close for as many as 14 days if there was a suspected case in their school. According to Ed., 726 public and nonpublic schools were closed for flu-related reasons in 24 states and the District of Columbia. Some schools are saying they will use emergency days to make up any time lost and, if necessary, make up days at the end of the year.

Last week, we looked at some of those in Texas, including one that started disinfecting its buses as a precaution. Others seem to be doing the same. Now, officials are saying the flu is milder than expected and the best precaution is keeping sick kids home. This week in our online poll, we ask 'What's your operation doing?' Share your experiences in detail by clicking 'Comments' below.

If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, a local news station has some good resources about what's going on there. If you're elsewhere in the country and you've found good resources, please share them in the comments section. Be sure to include where you are writing from.

What to do about gossip school bus drivers...

Occasionally, Google brings across some really weird stuff. Today, we found a post on a blog all about gossip in which a parent asks, what s/he should do about a school bus driver that gossips with other drivers and the kids every time s/he brings up a problem*

Do other drivers gossip about parents like this? What about each other? What's going on in your operation?

Also online today:

• Texas Seeks to Ban Cell Phones in School Zones
• Student Accused of Hitting Driver in the Head
• Man Gets Prison in BBs Shot at School Bus
  

*Please note: In a rare exception, we have not included a link to the original story as the comments and postings on this site were offensive, unhelpful and potentially Not Safe For Work.

What Part of 'Don't Walk in Front of the Bus' Don't You Understand?

School Bus Stories recounts what happened earlier this week with a rider who was once struck by a bus but who still won't listen to pleas not to step in front of the bus.

... while I was waiting to unload the kid came walking by my bus to catch a transfer bus. He threw a water bottle up into the air and it landed in front of my bus where more buses were shortly due to be pulling up in front of my bus. The kid impulsively jumped into the street to retrieve the water bottle.

I opened the door my bus and went down the steps. I sternly told the kid that he is, was not to go into the street in front of my bus or any bus. That it was dangerous and that I did not want to see him get hurt.

... This kid might believe that I told him not to jump out in front of the bus because of his story about getting run over by a bus. Not true. I have been taught by my trainers that students are not to do that and that it's dangerous. I have read the stories of these accidents.

It is dangerous. That kid is an example of how dangerous it can be and that bus drivers, how ever diligent and watchful and careful and cautious can make a mistake. There are a multitude of distractions that can occur from a call on a radio to an occurrence outside or inside the bus that shifts attention.

Do you have riders like this? How can drivers get kids to understand safety in the Danger Zone?