STN Media Group, the parent company of School Transportation News, acquired the National Conference and Exhibition on Transporting Students with Special Needs & Preschoolers (TSD) event from Edupro Group. STN will produce the event starting in 2013.

The deal was finalized today. STN will assume full control at the conclusion of this year’s 21st annual event, which begins tomorrow in Orlando, Fla., and runs through March 14. Roseann Schwaderer, owner of Edupro Group and founder and organizer of TSD, will remain involved with the conference through the end of December 2013 as conference chair and as an STN advisor.

“We are extremely pleased to have earned the trust and confidence of Roseann Schwaderer to continue the tradition of training and educating transporters of students with special needs that she and this conference have pioneered for nearly two decades,” said Bill Paul, founder of School Transportation News and chairman of the board of STN Media Group. “The synergy between this conference and the STN EXPO offer exciting opportunities. We look forward to a future that will benefit the entire student transportation industry.”

Roseann Schwaderer

“I’m enthusiastic about this opportunity to work with STN to strengthen the mission of the (TSD) conference, which has always been to look first at the wide-ranging and vital information needs of the pupil transportation community, and to task the experts in the field with providing workable answers and practical solutions for transportation professionals, school therapists, and special needs personnel,” said Schwaderer. “It’s real meat-and-potatoes for a community hungry for ways to do a better, safer, more efficient and more professional job for students with special needs.”

Though the end of 2013, Schwaderer will also become involved in the STN North American School Bus EXPO Conference and Trade Show, which is held each July. Meanwhile, she will retain ownership of Edupro Group and will continue to serve as publisher of a separate venture, "Legal Routes," a newsletter that covers legal and compliance issues pertinent to student transportation. Analysis for "Legal Routes" is provided by Peggy A. Burns, Esq., editor of the newsletter and owner of Education Compliance Group.