The National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS) has postponed its 2020 annual conference, which had been set to take place in November, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The conference had been slated to run from Nov. 7 to 11 in Grand Rapids, Mich., but has been pushed back to November 2021, NASDPTS announced in an email to its members on Wednesday. The association will provide the dates of the conference to members in the coming months.  

Patrick McManamon, the president elect and conference program chair for NASDPTS, also said in the message that NASDPTS has been monitoring the pandemic and its impacts throughout the U.S., and recently surveyed all state directors, the majority of whom responded that their states have prohibited all out-of-state travel until further notice.

“The health and safety of our members, your families, and the nation’s communities is paramount,” McManamon said in the message. “We believe it would be neither feasible nor wise to ask or expect our members to travel this year, especially in light of the recent surge in cases throughout the sunbelt and now in many midwestern states.”

Meanwhile, NASDPTS plans to discuss in its board meeting later this month the possibility of holding an alternative virtual conference later this year.