Social Networking the Old Fashioned Way: Be Bold

By Peggy Burns

I’ve given presentations at a number of conferences this summer, in all parts of the country. Concern about transportation professionals’ relationship with immediate supervisors, superintendents, and boards of education is a common theme of questions and comments I’ve heard. It seems you’re being asked to make exceptions to policy, move bus stops to appease an individual powerful – or persistent – parent, and, generally, to operate in an atmosphere in which you feel a lack of support. School transportation professionals need to “do” rather than be “done to.” I strongly recommend you take initiative to do the following:

• Determine specific safety risks inherent in exceptions you’re asked to make

• Identify real costs when changes are made

• Anticipate unintended consequences of budget cuts

• Be constant learners about school transportation options, alternatives, equipments, and methods

• Educate your supervisors about what you learn

• Demonstrate the impact of decisions that you make, and that others make

You may have far more power if you’re a bit less passive. Let’s see what happens.

Peggy Burns is an attorney/consultant with Education Compliance Group, Inc. Peggy can be reached at (888) 604-6141, and by email to ecginc@qwestoffice.net.

Not Quite the Kind of PR One Desires

Or is it?

Bob Braun of the Star-Ledger newspaper in New Jersey had a lede yesterday in a crime story that made us chuckle:

The Blue Bird. The All-American Blue Bird. That was the name written on the bus that today brought to court scores of shackled defendants in what federal prosecutors are calling the "most significant" corruption case in recent New Jersey history.

I'm sure the paragraph, albeit clever, ruffled some feathers at Blue Bird's corporate headquarters in Fort Valley, Ga. But it might also make the company happy as it can revel in seeing its logo fly all across the country serving a variety of people, not just school students. Blue Bird buses are regularly used to transport U.S. troops both domestically and abroad. And, the 'Bird hauls prisoners, like the 44 defendants arrested in an FBI sting and charged with participating in a complex, multi-country money laundering scheme.

Who said school busing wasn't recession proof?

California Preparing for 20 Percent Budget Cuts for School Transportation

By Ryan Gray

The Los Angeles Times blogs about "A mixture of worry and measured relief for state school districts" as California legislators have come to a compromise to solve a $26 billion budget shortfall. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenneger earlier this month proposed cuts to school transportation as a means of closing the expenditure gap resulting in a demonstration at the state capitol last week by school bus drivers and teachers. The rally, which included school buses circling the capitol, appeared not to have worked

While the budget was still being written by legislators and no final numbers were available in advance of a scheduled vote on Thursday, state school transportation is expected to be cut for the 2009-2010 school year by 20 percent. And that's not to mention cuts to other programs as the state attempts to keep as much money in the classroom as possible.

As the Times writes, schools have already begun laying off school bus drivers:

In anticipation of proposed cuts, the rural Mojave Unified District gave notice to all 17 of its bus drivers. About two-thirds of the district’s 3,000 students rely on bus service to get to school. District Supt. Larry Phelps said he hoped to salvage some of those jobs as well as some student transportation in a district where more than half the students are from low-income families.

We'll be talking to John Green, the state director of pupil transportation with the California Department of Education, over the weekend at the STN EXPO to get more details on how the environment will shape up.

No Wonder There are So Many Crashes on the Road

By Ryan Gray

Here's a head scratcher for you: last week, the following exchange between two online forum users occurred regarding proposed school bus budget cuts in California by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenneger. It goes to show how motorists misunderstand laws and regulations governing school bus routes, such as the one that requires the driver to stop at every railroad crossing and open the door to ensure a train isn't coming. When one user comments that buses could save an inordinate amount of fuel -- and hence budget money -- by not stopping at the tracks, another user, a person who identifies self as a bus driver, no less, responds that motorists could always drive around the bus if they don't want to wait. Granted, many times humor doesn't come across in online posts, but just consider how literal some people can be. Something to think about the next time you're commenting in an online forum.

Agility Station: Keeping School Bus Drivers in Shape

By Ryan Gray

New laws in several states that require school bus drivers to pass agility tests, and First Student is holding all of its drivers accountable for staying fit. They either pass, or they don't drive.

The State Journal-Register in Springfield, Ill., describes how the test is affecting 350 local First Student employees who have until Nov. 1 to pass their tests or be grounded. One driver is 70 years old and passed, and drivers who don't can retake it as many times as needed. Writes the Journal-Register:

The point is to make sure the drivers have enough strength and endurance to act quickly in emergencies.

Drivers are expected to drag a 125-pound bag the length of a bus in 30 seconds, run up and down bus steps three times within 30 seconds and run from the front to the back of the bus and scoot down to the ground outside in 20 seconds.

But not all are happy with the new requirement. Driver unions are crying foul saying the tests violate civil rights. Some users on a online school bus driving forum call some of the tests "stupid" while others agree that drivers must meet certain basic physical requirement because of the important cargo they drive, the children. Others express frustration about additional requirements being placed on their positions but they still receive the same low pay.

Disturbing Video on Weapons in Schools

Thanks to Peter Lawrence of Fairport Central School District in upstate New York for sharing this one. Anyone who ever wondered why metal detectors are not on school buses (aside from the obvious cost issue) has to ask themselves what's next in terms of weapons.

School Year Calendar Changes and the Impact on Transportation

As the 2009-2010 school year approaches, we have started to see a few major school calendar changes across the states; changes that will most likely have an impact on school transportation schedules, and possibly staffing.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that under new state legislation that takes affect this school year, Georgia schools have the option of moving away from the traditional 180-day school year so long as students are in class the required number of hours per year. For example, the Murray County School System in Chatsworth is moving to a 160-day school year that starts after Labor Day and ends before Memorial Day. The change extends the school day by an hour for elementary school pupils and 30 minutes for older students, equating to an estimated savings of $124,000 in administrative services costs this year.

And in what the Star Bulletin reports is the second major calendar change in three years for Hawaii public schools, the school year will now begin on July 30 and end May 26. The move shortens winter and spring breaks and lengthens summer vacation.

Are there major school calendar changes coming your way? If so, how will this impact your operations and staffing?

North Carolina District to Teachers: Learn How to Drive Yellow

Need more evidence of the strain being put on school budgets? Look no further than a disturbing news item that ran last month in the Daily Herald of Roanoke, N.C.

The district eliminated at least 12 school bus driver positions due to budget constraints and will fill those vacancies with assistant teachers who are already on staff. The teachers were set to receive school bus driver training this summer.

By all accounts, Roanoke Rapids Grading School District is much accomplished and innovative. The school's Web site says that it was the first public school district in the state to offer 12 grades and the first to offer Kindergarten. It's won state and national awards for student achievement and boasts the largest number of National Board Certified teachers of any school district in North Carolina, which by the way can mean a 12 percent pay increase. During the upcoming 2009-2010 school year, it would seem that some of those teachers will be working even harder for their wages after the school board voted to eliminate school bus driver positions.

Doug Miller, RRGSD maintenance director, said the school planned to use money from the state for transportation costs to supplement the teachers' incomes.

“What we’re trying to do is provide enough work for teacher assistants. The state is cutting their funding," Miller told the Daily Herald. "We’re trying to keep them around because of the work they do. It’s because of them that we’ve had such good test scores.”

Here's hoping that the district's student safety statistics don't suffer as a result.