McLerran Wins Inaugural Excellence Award; First Full Day of EXPO Concludes

Randy McLerran

RENO, Nevada (July 30, 2007) – School Transportation News and Sure-Lok announced Oklahoma’s Randy McLerran as the inaugural recipient of the Peter J. Grandolfo Memorial Award of Excellence during the Blue Bird 80th birthday breakfast.

McLerran, Oklahoma’s state director of pupil transportation, was recognized for more than 30 years of dedication to the yellow school bus. The former NAPT board member and NCST steering committee chair was lauded as a mentor for all in the industry. STN Publisher Bill Paul and Jerry Crunk, the director of sales at Sure-Lok, presented McLerran with a plaque, and Linda Grandolfo presented him with a school bus belt buckle that had belonged to her late husband

Grandolfo, the former transportation director for Chicago Public Schools and a champion of students with special needs, passed away in January of 2006. Following the award, national speaker and Cal LeMon gave the keynote address “How to Motivate with Heart in a Heartless Economy” before a standing-room only audience.

The first full day of workshops and panels at the Grand Sierra Resort guided attendees through new environmental technologies and how to pay for them.

Denny Coughlin of Minneapolis Public Schools launched a morning panel on emissions controls for pre-2007 engines with representatives from International Truck and Engine Corporation, Caterpillar and Donaldson Solutions. The school bus OEM, engine manufacturer and aftermarket technology manufacturer showcased different emissions control devices for different price, maintenance and operations needs.

“As we know, no two districts have the same types of operations,” said Caterpillar representative Mark Vorhees.

Later in the afternoon, transportation and environmental consultant Sarah Siwek demonstrated how school districts could secure grant funding to help purchase these kinds of retrofit technologies. According to Siwek, the reductions in particulate matter per dollar spent on school bus retrofits make them attractive to those who approve Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality grants. Siwek suggested districts apply for grants with the strongest emissions controls.

“If you’re going to spend the money, get level-three technology,” Siwek said.

In a panel before the day’s close, representatives from Thomas Built Buses, International and Blue Bird examined recent technological improvements in school buses and the advantage of replacing an aging fleet, including tremendous environmental improvements. Representatives from all three discussed finding a balance between immediate financial needs and technological benefits.

“I think we’d all agree that new buses are more expensive than they’ve ever been,” noted International’s Greg Saele. “But looking to the future, they’re never going to be cheaper than they are right now.”

Student behavior was the highlight of Dr. Nancy Blackwelder’s session, entitled “Managing the Bus Environment.” After a short introduction, including a retelling of a school shooting in which she was injured while serving as an assistant principal in Florida, Blackwelder started with her first, and most important, lesson — everyone is an educator, including bus drivers. Attendees were told to not only point out when a student misbehaves, but also when they deserve a compliment.
“You have to be their friend, but not their buddy,” said a transportation director attending the session. “You have to know where the line is and so do the kids.”
Head Start programs facing funding issues in relation to transportation may have found some solutions in a panel discussion titled “Is Bus Leasing a Solution for the Head Start Transportation Budget Crunch?” Marlan Rohlena, president of Western Bus Sales, and Anthony Petrolis, municipal and bus finance manger for DaimlerChrysler, explained the options for leasing a bus. Petrolis discussed the “zero track lease,” a program allowing local agencies to carry no balance due at the end of a five-year lease. Rohlena covered the eligibility of tax-exempt financing, stressing that programs must communicate with the IRS to figure out their eligibility status.

Sonayia Shepherd, the COO of Safe Havens International, also presented effective grant writing techniques to Head Start professionals and later led a discussion on crisis response and recovery. She is one of few consultants worldwide specializing in both disciplines.