INDUSTRY CONNECTIONS Democracy at Work During his past career


with the New York State Office of Children and Family Services counseling youthful offenders, David Moraca saw firsthand the need for criminal back- ground checks. “One very important les-


son I learned there is that you cannot judge an of- fender simply by looking at them and interviewing


them,” said Moraca, now the director of transportation at Onteora Central School Dis- trict in the Hudson Valley about 10 miles west of Woodstock. “Tere is a very good reason why criminal background checks are done. It is done to help protect our children.” Tis motivated Moraca to write a letter to the editor of his local paper, the Daily


Freeman, on Jan. 2 of this year that asked why Section 509 of the state Penal Code had not been updated since 1986 to include a list of sex crimes against children. Te proliferation of sex crimes alone was Moraca’s biggest motivation in calling attention to the issue, which was also a main objective outlined in the New York Association for Pupil Transportation’s legislative agenda. Sen. John Bonacic read Moraca’s letter in the newspaper and introduced S.3100 in


February. It unanimously passed a Senate floor vote on March 7. Te bill adds more than two dozen felony convictions ranging from reckless assault of a child to multiple counts of aggravated sexual abuse to predatory sexual assault to possessing a sexual performance of a child. At this writing, the state assembly had yet to take up the bill. “Tis legislation is essential to protect students,” said Bonacic in commending


Moraca. “Without updating Section 509 (cc) of the Penal Code violations, an indi- vidual convicted of a variety of sex crimes, including crimes against children, would be able to pass the required background check and become a school bus driver.” Moraca added that his recent experience working with Bonacic was “democracy at its


best” and that he felt humbled to serve as an inspiration in getting the bill introduced. “I wrote the letter to the editor because I thought that, if people read the letter,


with a large sampling of the crimes at issue, people would realize that something had to be done,” he said. “Sen. Bonacic then grabbed the ball and, as far as I am concerned, ran it into the end zone. Now all we need is for someone in the assembly to pick it up and finish the job.” Onteora CSD transports 1,652 of the district’s 1,760 students on 62 routes through-


out the 300-square-mile area. Te transportation department employs seven drivers, two mechanics and a dispatcher. “All 10 of these employees are on our approved list,” Moraca said. “When we hire a


driver, we follow our district interview protocol and all references are checked. If the applicant is a new school bus driver, and not just new to the district, they are finger- printed, and those fingerprints are submitted to the Department of Motor Vehicles.” All drivers are also subject to verification by the Department of Criminal Justice


System and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for background checks. If the ap- plicant is just new to the district but has been a bus driver, their fingerprints are on file. Ten, when the driver is added to the district list, this automatically generates a background check through the same agencies. “Tis is why V&TL section 509 (cc) must have the list of crimes updated,” he added.


14 School Transportation News Magazine May 2011


A Rocky


Mountain High A case study in GPS at Adams 12


Five Star Schools in Tornton, Colo., was featured this spring by the EPA’s Rocky Mountain Clean Diesel Collab- orative. David Anderson, director of transportation at Adams 12 and the Region 1 director for NAPT, presented an overview of the district’s experi- ence with GPS and student tracking services provided by Zonar Systems. Te school district began installing


the system-wide fleet tracking system in 2009 in its 130 regular route buses and 50 summer school buses. Te district paid for the technology out of its own pocket at a price of about $600 per bus with a monthly charge of $16 per bus for cellular phone cov- erage. Anderson explained that GPS is considered a “behavior change” tech- nology, making it ineligible for federal grant funding under the Diesel Emis- sions Reduction Act. But the system paid for itself within


the first year, with the most cost sav- ings tied to route optimization because a smaller fleet is now able to provide a greater coverage area. Route optimiza- tion also led to fewer crashes and time spent by drivers in traffic jams. Other significant cost savings have


come in the form of reduced fuel consumption. Tis, according to An- derson, has led to the drivers having greater confidence that they won’t be inappropriately accused of missing a pick-up or drop-off location and/or driving aggressively. And parents can be assured that unnecessary idling is not affecting their children’s air qual- ity at schools and that their children are being picked up and dropped off on time and at the right location. Te Zonar suite also includes the Z


Pass System for tracking students, the Electronic Vehicle Inspection Reports (EVIR) for the pre- and post-trip pro- gram and rapid repairs.


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