Inaugural Outstanding School Admin Among NSTA Awards

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Nev. – The 42nd annual NSTA Convention on the south shore of Lake Tahoe highlighted the life of a Chicago Public Schools transportation and special needs director, celebrated the long-deserved accomplishments of the father of the ANSI RESNA WC-19 wheelchair design and construction standard, and recognized a longtime educator and transportation industry leader at Durham Educational Services, during its annual awards ceremony here in late July.

From the first Golden Merit Award in 1969 through 2006, the NSTA has given 363 awards to school bus contractors for meritorious service.

To qualify for an NSTA award the nominee must be a school bus contractor, a member in good standing of NSTA, and hold membership in the state contractor association. Letters of recommendation are encouraged from the state contractor associations, superintendents, school board members or principals from all locations in which the nominee operates, state directors of pupil transportation, and the nominee’s insurance company.

Four Golden Merit Awards were given this year to: Tim Gunn, Durham School Services, Oakland, Calif.; Cal Hull, First Student, Vancouver, Wash.; Beatrice Kunde, First Student, Danville, Ill.; and Chloe Williams, B.R. Williams, Inc., Woodstown, N.J.

NSTA added two names to its Hall of Fame Award this year. Established in 1992, no more than three of these awards are given annually. The year’s recipients are John A. Elliott, CEO of Durham School Services, Downers Grove, Ill., and Kevin J. Clifford, CEO of Huntington Coach Corp., Huntington State, N.Y.

Robert W. Nelson, president and general manager of Dousman Transport Co., Inc., Dousman, Wis., was presented the Thomas Built Buses Continuing Education and Professional Growth Grant. The award provides a $2,500 grant to a contractor member of NSTA for continuing education purposes.

Elizabeth Bamberger, Huntington Coach Corp., was awarded NSTA’s 2006 Outstanding Driver Service Award.

Distinguished Service

The NSTA’s Distinguished Service Award was given to Lyle L. Stephens. Now retired, Stephens is the founder of Special Transportation Inc., and a former partner of Dean Transportation. NSTA recognized him for “his personal effort to require the U.S. Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to develop guidelines for the safe transportation of children in wheelchairs.”

Stephens engaged in legal battles for several years and made personal contributions of time and financial support to research forward-facing wheelchairs and tie-down systems tested for structural integrity with lap and shoulder restraints. “His vision later became the standard for wheelchair design and construction known today as ANSI-RESNA WC 19,” according to NSTA. “Lyle has been a great leader in the industry and has made school buses safer for millions of special needs children across the United States,” said Phil Paige, chairman of the NSTA Awards Committee.

Meanwhile, the NSTA presented its inaugural Outstanding School Transportation Administrator Award this year. Association officials want to recognize the contribution of school district administrators to school bus safety.

The award was presented posthumously to Peter J. Grandolfo who served for three decades as the director of student transportation for the Chicago Public Schools. Although not a school bus contractor, Grandolfo was known nationwide for his unyielding dedication to the safety of all school children whether they were transported by public or private yellow bus. “He instructed students who had reached the age when the school bus was no longer an option, how to make the transition from the yellow bus to public mass transit bus and rail service,” said Paige, who is also president of Paige Bus Enterprises in Riverdale, Ill. Within days of retirement from his last position as transportation director for the Northside Community Learning Center in northwest Chicago, Grandolfo passed away. Accepting the award was Linda Grandolfo, Peter’s widow.

Source: School Transportation News, September 2006. All rights reserved.