Special Needs Transportation

Explore best practices for safely and effectively transporting students with disabilities and special transportation needs. We cover accessibility, wheelchair securement, equipment, training, student behavior, regulations, and specialized transportation services.

Kelli Goterba, the 2026 Special-Needs Driver of the Year, stands with her arms crossed in front of a Trumbull County Board of Developmental Disabilities school bus.

News

Kelli Goterba Named 2026 Special-Needs School Bus Driver of the Year

Through building trust with students and strengthening her transportation team, Goterba exemplifies the impact special-needs drivers can make.

Digital Cover Features

The Most Common Wheelchair Securement Mistakes on School Buses (and How to Fix Them)

A wheelchair user operates a school bus wheelchair lift equipped with BraunAbility’s LiftSentinel barrier system as another person stands nearby with a handheld control.

News

BraunAbility Introduces New Safety Barrier for Wheelchair Lifts

A close up image of a hand holding a phone with HopSkipDrive's platform and CareDriver information on the screen.

News

HopSkipDrive Launches New Safety, Driver Consistency Features for 2026-27 School Year

Photo Galleries•by Staff•October 28, 2011

NAPT Summit 2011

News•by Staff•October 28, 2011

School bus officials cite concerns on flammability lobbying

Chemical companies are reportedly funding a nonprofit group that is lobbying state legislatures to adopt additional flammability standards for school buses. A new position paper from NASDPTS explains that the standards being proposed aren't suited for pupil transportation — and the industry's own national specifications are actually more stringent.

News•by Staff•October 24, 2011

NAPT sessions address bullying, operation management

Anti-bullying advocates Jodee Blanco and Jessica Brookshire discuss their individual crusades to end bullying, and they also offer tips for school bus drivers. Mark Aesch of the Rochester Genesee Regional Transit Authority offers management tips on how to generate data-driven information to help pupil transporters better make decisions.

News•by Staff•October 24, 2011

Training videos on sale at Education Compliance Group

With owner Peggy Burns moving soon, the company is offering a 25-percent discount on all video training programs until Nov. 16.

News•by Staff•October 3, 2011

Bus driver recommends student for sports wheelchair

Jordan Avis receives the new wheelchair from a foundation that raises money to benefit special-needs students during an assembly at his high school. Avis' school bus driver alerted the foundation that Avis' regular wheelchair, which he was using while playing basketball, was falling apart.

Articles•September 30, 2011

Specific Special-Needs Evacuations: OI

Students with osteogenesis imperfecta have bones that break easily. In spite of the urgency of a school bus evacuation, these passengers must be moved slowly and carefully.

News•by Staff•September 30, 2011

2 more pupil transporters complete NAPT special-needs training

Michele Drorbaugh of Seattle Public Schools and Jeffrey A. Finfrock of Student Transportation of America’s terminal in Carnegie, Pa., are the 10th and 11th people, respectively, to complete the association’s Special Needs Transportation Training Program. The program provides transportation personnel serving students with disabilities with access to educational opportunities at both local and national conferences.

News•by Staff•September 29, 2011

Ore. district enhances service, cuts crashes by 25%

Over the past year, Salem-Keizer Public Schools significantly reduced its accident rate, improved processing time for special-needs passengers and developed new bell times. Transportation department members also received some key honors from the Oregon Pupil Transportation Association.

News•by Staff•September 15, 2011

Special-needs conference to offer over 40 hours of training

Registration is now open for the 2012 National Conference on Transporting Students with Disabilities & Preschoolers, to be held in Orlando, Fla., March 9-14. Sessions will include “Compliance Versus Excellence,” “Medications on the School Bus,” and “Couples Therapy” — for relationships between transportation and special-ed departments.

News•by Staff•September 12, 2011

First Canadian pupil transporter completes NAPT special-needs training

Shelley Fletcher-Halls, an employee of STC Elliott Coach Lines, is the ninth person overall to complete the association's Special Needs Transportation Training Program. The program comprises six special-needs courses in a variety of settings and is supplemented by two courses of elective instruction from the NAPT Professional Development Series Program.

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