Wheelchair use study discussed at NAPT Summit

Mary Ellen Buning of the University of Louisville in Kentucky spoke to attendees about the preliminary findings and data from a Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center study on wheelchair use and safety in school transportation. Bus drivers and attendants were surveyed and asked questions related to training, wheelchair securement and lap-shoulder restraints, among other topics.

12th person completes NAPT special-needs training

Tami Lynn Cooper is an employee of Student Transportation of America in Goleta, Calif. The NAPT Special Needs Training Program consists of six special-needs courses in a variety of different settings, including a school bus roadeo and a trade show, and it is supplemented by two courses from the NAPT Professional Development Series Program.

Specific special-needs evacuations: TBI and near drowning

Students who have suffered a traumatic brain injury or near drowning will require close physical safeguards and assistance in a bus evacuation. The commotion could set off a seizure.

Landmark acquires 2 bus operators in Ontario

Both Northway Bus Lines and Alouette Bus Lines were owned by Daniel Joanis, an industry veteran and former director of the Ontario School Bus Association. The companies' 200 employees will stay on under the new ownership, Landmark Student Transportation said.

Bus security DVD sent to nation’s school districts

The Transportation Security Administration is mailing the School Bus First Observer and School Transportation Security Awareness programs to around 15,000 public school districts, urging administrators to use them for in-service training. Agency official Steve Sprague also tells SBF that First Observer will continue beyond the three-year grant that created it.

Chinese officials study school bus safety in U.S.

During a visit to the Connecticut DMV, traffic security officials from the Chinese government learn about the state’s school bus safety program. DMV staff members perform a complete school bus inspection and discuss student transportation safety issues.

Stop-arm safety campaign launched in Ariz.

Washington Elementary School District No. 6 Special Education Transportation Supervisor Antonio "Tony" Mlynek introduces "For Children's Sake, Stop for School Buses." The campaign includes television and print messages, and is the first PSA to address the topic in the state, according to Mlynek.

REMINDER: <I>SBF</i> to spotlight school bus heroes

Our "Heroes in School Transportation" feature will again profile people in the industry who have saved a life or performed some other heroic act. The deadline for nominations is this Friday, Nov. 4.

NAPT Summit 2011

Out of my control

While I’m well aware that the statistics show that the yellow bus is the safest form of school transportation, the thought of letting someone I don’t know drive my sons is, to be honest, a little scary. This raises a pertinent question: Do some parents decline the school bus because they feel it’s safer for their kids to ride with Mom,