Less than two months ago, Pete Baxter announced he was leaving the Indiana Department of Education after 34 years. This week, he was named the new corporate director of business relations at Synovia.

The school bus GPS and fleet management provider made the announcement on July 7. Baxter said he will start full-time with Synovia after completing his state career on July 26. His new role, which begins after using up accrued time off from the state agency, will put him in direct contact school superintendents, business officials and school transportation representatives and associations.

“My experience as both a regulator and service provider in the pupil transportation industry brings two somewhat contradicting but important perspectives together,” said Baxter, the former director of school transportation and emergency planning at Indiana DOE. “Synovia is without exception a customer-driven organization that develops tools and services in direct response to customer needs. The solutions are practical and useful and ultimately designed to increase efficiency, cost savings and student safety. After 34 years in school transportation and emergency planning, I can appreciate what that means to Synovia customers.”

A past president of NAPT and NASDPTS, Baxter completed in May a stint as steering committee chair for the 2010 National Congress on School Transportation. Around that time, he told School Transportation News that it would be difficult to completely walk away from the industry.

"It's more than just a job, and when you can be involved in something like that and contribute in all the ways you can, even after leaving your position, it's something I'd like to do," he added.