School Bus Transportation News at STN Media

Publisher's Commentary

STN EXPO on the Web

I’d like to direct readers, attention to the STN EXPO 2006 Web site at www.schoolbusconference.com. There, we’ve added four elements that originate with the annual STN EXPO Conference & Trade Show.

Speakers and presenters at the EXPO are asked to provide conference organizers with a one-to-two page outline of their presentation and, if appropriate, prepare an accompanying PowerPoint presentation. Altogether STN sponsored nearly 50 workshops at the recent 2006 STN Conference in Reno this past summer.

Many of the presentations given there can now be accessed online. Here’s how readers can view these presentation as PowerPoint presentations and/or PDF files.
Visit the URL of the Web site listed above. Then once there, click on the Program tab at the top of the page and select either the EXPO PDF Files or EXPO PowerPoint Files.

You’ll be taken to another PDF index page where you can select the workshops in which you’re interested. These are the actual PDF outlines our speakers provided and that were distributed to conferees. They aren’t the full presentation but give enough information so readers will gain an appreciation of the ideas expressed in the workshop. In hopes they may spark readers’ interest, we’ve activated an email link to the presenter towards the bottom of the PDF files in case an industry association, school district or contractor is looking for a speaker or consultant. (Readers can also navigate their way to these files by visiting www.stnonline.com and clicking on the STN EXPO tab at the top of the page.)

If your interest runs more to PowerPoint, from www.schoolbusconference.com click on the Program tab and scroll down to EXPO PowerPoint 2006. These presentations take a little longer to download than PDF files.

Among them, readers will find a PDF and PowerPoint presentation by Al Sauvadon about how to motivate employees before they drag the rest of the operation down. Sauvadon’s presentation about how to deal effectively with unions is particularly pertinent in light of increased organizing activity by the Service Employees International Union and the Teamsters to organize school bus drivers.
A PDF and PowerPoint presentation by Dan Roberts explains how a transportation consultant can save your district up to 10 percent of its costs.
In a PDF presentation, school attorney Peggy Burns discussed 21 court decisions involving special education transportation. She describes the cases, court reasoning and decisions.

Paul Novak describes the zero tolerance policy for ANY misbehavior in the Tempe School District. The PDF opens quickly, but Novak’s PowerPoint presentation is a large file at 2.8 Mb; trust me, it is worth the wait!
Frank Marasco and Ed Fourchalk of British Columbia describe how to change the prevalent “driving culture” among bus operators to one geared toward customer service. (PDF and PowerPoint)

Barry DeRoze explains the security threat to school transportation and provides information on how to detect, deter, respond to and defeat an attack against all school assets, buses included. Importantly, this PowerPoint offers a complete training package delivered via the Internet to school personnel.

“Assigning Bus Monitors: Roles, Problems, Liability and Horror Stories” is the title of the presentation (PDF and PowerPoint) by Ned Einstein, one of the most knowledgeable expert witnesses in the country dealing with lawsuits defending school bus service. During his presentation he described progressive driver assignments, the role of bus monitors, passenger management and more. Einstein’s presentation on “Expert Witnesses and Lawsuits” is equally compelling as he explains what goes on behind the scenes in lawsuit preparation and defense.

If readers are interested in the growing involvement of the federal government in pupil transportation, the keynote address by Robin Leeds and Becky Weber of the National School Transportation Association is superb. These two women are the leading lobbyists on behalf of the school bus industry in the nation’s capitol. Their report, “The Growing Federal Role in Pupil Transportation,” shown in PDF format, outlines in precise detail the legislative and regulatory issues, roadblocks and successes the industry is confronting in Washington, D.C.

Altogether, readers will find 25 PDF files and 15 PowerPoint files on the Web site. We’ve also placed onto the Web site a detailed report of the entire conference. From the Presentations tab, click on EXPO 2006 Report. Finally, we’ve placed the winners of the annual STN Newsletter Contest (see article on pg. 13) onto the Web site. Click on Newsletter Contest on the Presentations tab.