Preparedness, Collaboration
Key Themes in Orlando

By Ryan Gray | Senior Editor

ORLANDO, Fla. - To most in the industry the "3 Ps" means something completely different.

Post 9/11 the phrase has become synonymous with the efforts of the three respective presidents of NAPT, NASDPTS and NSTA as the associations strive for federal acceptance of the yellow school bus in its security awareness plans. But that preparation and collaboration took on a new meaning this week here at the 15 th annual Transporting Students with Disabilities & Preschoolers conference, which featured an all-day track on the relationship between pupil transporters and school district special needs programs.

Roseann Schwaderer, conference chair, said more than 550 attended the five-day event from March 3-8 held in the Doubletree Hotel at the entrance to Universal Studios Orlando. Next year's conference will be held in Louisville, Ky., March 9-14.

"The school system is the largest employer in a large (metropolitan) area," said Jane Dixon, director of system-wide programs, Exceptional Education, for Hamilton County (Tenn.) Schools. "We must put out the effort to communicate."

She defined the special education "3 Ps" - namely partnership, preparedness and professionalism - for about 150 conferees during her presentation "How YOU Can Reach Me: Let's Talk it Over." Echoing the sentiments of several other conference speakers, Dixon said resources are more important than ever for transporters and special needs educators alike to increase the partnerships necessary to provide the absolute best service to all the nation's students.

A quick show of hands in Doubletree Hotel's Seminole room revealed only about eight special needs administrators among the throng of school district and state pupil transportation specialists.

"The administrations are changing, young people are coming in. It's important we learn people are changing," she said. "You need to learn your resources; you need to know each other."

In giving a snapshot of how to best align themselves for the ultimate in collaboration, Dixon advocated that transporters and special needs alike ally themselves with district counsel to assist in policymaking and the management of services, operations, employees and students. Just as important is the school systems have a well-designed and defined transportation system leadership in place.

Peggy Burns, in-house counsel for Adams 12 Five Star Schools in Thornton, Colo., said transporters often err when developing policies for busing special needs students, and she said having none is sometimes better than having flawed rules in place that an attorney can exploit in court. Burns presented her Top Ten Reasons for Transportation-Special Ed Collaboration.

Because special education doesn't always involve transportation, Burns said both departments must work closely to determine how involved transporters must be in the IEP process. It can even be a violation of law not to share necessary information. But most of all there is an abundance of information to process for each special needs child and, in the end, "why would you turn down an opportunity to do it right?"

Jean Zimmerman, the supervisor of occupational and physical therapy for the Palm Beach (Fla.) County School District, gave presentations on the proper guidelines for evacuating special needs students from the school bus.

"You should never put a student on the bus until you know how to get them off," she said. Bus drivers should also ensure all school bus safety equipment works during the pre-trip inspection

Attendees also reviewed tools available for administering and managing Head Start transportation programs and securing federal grants.

Jason Guthrie, project director for the Head Start Fiscal Assistant and Head Start Pathfinder at Cleverex Systems, Inc., demonstrated how transporters can obtain updated information on Head Start regulations, federal policy issuances, downloadable forms, and a list of contacts. He said the Fiscal Assistant, also available in a CD version, can help with facilities management, records access and retention, procurement and more.

Trade Show

The half-day special needs trade show was held March 7 and featured the return of Invacare, one of the nation's largest wheelchair manufacturers, to the pupil transportation industry. Invacare used to exhibit at this conference in the mid-1990s.

Susan Kirinich of NHTSA said federal regulations do not exist for wheelchairs because they are intended for pedestrians, and usage as a transportation seat in a motor vehicle is secondary. Liability issues keep many wheelchair manufacturers out of the transportation sector altogether.

Ben Kingery, Invacare's group product manager of powered mobility products, said the company had been hesitant to attend the disability conference because of the liability concerns stemming from the lack of federal regulations governing wheelchairs as a seat in school buses. He also cited concerns over current WC-19 tests that use test dummies rated to only 205 pounds.

By count approximately 50 to 60 exhibiting companies pushed wheelchair tie-downs and securements, safety vests, special needs school buses, surveillance systems, and routing software.

Trade Talk

Bettye Robinson is the coordinator for specials needs transportation with Little Rock, Ark., Public Schools. Last month in Orlando marked her 14th year attending the annual disabilities transportation conference.

She said one of her main concerns is door-to-door pick up of students when drivers park the bus and walk to the door to greet and escort the student back to the vehicle. Other special needs school bus drivers pull up to the curb in front of a student's home. She said Little Rock , which contracts with Laidlaw Education Services to transport about 1,000 special needs students on 66 routes, prefers the latter scenario as it presents fewer liability issues, but she added that the district must remain flexible.

"(Door-to-door) might be something we have to do if a child doesn't come down," she said. "Some of these children are left behind."

Kathy Scaturro is a safety specialist for Hunterdon/Flemington Transportation, Inc. in New Jersey, which transports about 3,000 special needs students on 80 school buses. REI's surveillance system was of special interest to her at the tradeshow on March 7. Her school district offers a combination of district- and contractor-operated services (using Laidlaw and Stotts Bus Company) to reduce costs.

She said a major issue in her school district is parents who park their cars at bus stops on campus, which reduces bus driver visibility. Another issue is getting students to remember and practice lessons learned through the district's school bus safety program.

Juanita Carillo is the supervisor of safety and training for Lee County School District in Fort Myers, Fla. She said she particularly enjoyed attending workshops presented by Dr. Linda Bluth of the Maryland Department of Education and school attorney Peggy Burns. She said both did a great job of assisting attendees with "knowing the law and the things we can do in districts to keep from going to court. They give very good advice. You learn a lot from them."

Lee County operates 160 special needs buses.

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