A special needs training seminar over the weekend brought together 528 student transporters from 17 Michigan school districts, the largest such conference in the state so far this year.

The all-day "Special Saturday" event was hosted on April 2 by the Wayne County Regional Education Service Agency (RESA), the Melvindale-North Allen Park Schools and the Wayne County Transportation Supervisor Association. It consisted of six, one-hour sessions on such topics as "Students with Emotional Impairments," "Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder," "Students with Vision Impairments," "Severe Learning Behavior Impairments." The seminar also included courses on team building, positive approaches to behavior management, physical and sensory impairments, medical issues, school bus restraint systems, and bus evacuations.

"At the end of the day all attendees attended a real bus burn at the school with the assistance of the Melvindale Fire Department," said Kim Hooper, a transportation consultant with the Wayne County RESA. "Some of the attendees had the opportunity to go through a simulated smoking bus evacuation drill, where we use a fog to simulate the smoke."

Hooper said that local Fire Chief Dan Wilhelm was impressed with the program and said that every school bus driver should attend such training.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for our school transportation staff to come together to better serve our Wayne County students and families," added Mary Fayad, executive director for Special Education and Early Intervention Services for Wayne RESA.

All 34 of the county's school districts were invited to participate.

Editor's Note: See more photos of the event on the School Transportation News page at STNSOCiAL.