Six school districts from across North America have won the second annual Top Transportation Teams award, including one school district that took home the prize last year. In addition, a school bus contractor has received the first honorable mention. Winners are in five states, from coast to coast.

Like last year, the winners are divided into two categories: teams with 100 or more members and teams with fewer than 100 members.

Winners in the 100-plus Category

• Franklin Township Community School Corp., Indiana (repeat winner).

• Central Kitsap School District, Washington.

• The School District of Haverford Township, Pennsylvania.

Winners in the Under-100 Category

• East Peoria Elementary School District 86, Illinois.

• Wa-Nee Community School Corp., Indiana.

• Waterloo Central School District, New York.

The first honorable mention, also the first bus contractor to be recognized since the award’s inception last year, is Palmer Bus Service, based in Minnesota.

Participation in the Top Transportation Teams program, now in its second year, increased significantly, with the number of survey responses per team nearly tripling compared with the previous year. The number of enrollees with more than 100 staff members also tripled from last year.

“The Top Transportation Teams awards program has truly become a much sought-after award,” said Antonio Civitella, president and CEO of Transfinder, a transportation logistics software and hardware company that oversees the program. “We heard many stories about districts being celebrated by their local communities as well as by state transportation associations. Districts used the award to recruit new team members and build strong relationships within their department. Not surprisingly, the competition was even tougher this year. We were pleased to see such great involvement from the teams. The feedback each participant received will help them get even better than they already are.”

Winners were determined solely by anonymous survey results. Team members answered questions related to their department, such as leadership, career development, resources, and incentives.