4 School Transportation News Magazine September 2011 NSTA Gathers in Baltimore for Annual Confab After more than four decades, the


National School Transportation As- sociation appointed its first female president. Magda Dimmendaal, who started in the industry 37 years ago, just a few short years after NSTA was founded in 1964, succeeded Donnie Fowler as president at the associa- tion’s 47th annual conference in July. Dimmendaal is also president and


owner of Dousman Transportation in Dousman, Wis. Her appointment was not the only


noteworthy development. Rep. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) stirred the entrepre- neurship of the assembled private school bus contractors with his call on July 18 for outsourcing school bus service in South Carolina. He also discussed the debt ceiling issue, which finally reached a compromise on Aug. 2. A couple of days after his talk in Baltimore, Scott also has in- troduced the “Protecting Jobs From Government Interference Act,” HR 2587, to prevent the National Labor


Relations Board from dictating the location of American jobs. U.S. Secretary of Transportation


Ray LaHood delivered an address on July 19 lauding the importance of school bus transportation to the safety of America’s school children. LaHood is the first cabinet-level Administration official to not only address NSTA but an official student transportation industry gathering. “My message for you this morn- ing is that we at the Department of


Transportation understand the full spectrum of benefits your buses provide — and we want to be your partners in spreading the gospel. We get it,” said LaHood. He said school buses provide three


crucial benefits. First, they aid the environment via new diesel engine standards that make today’s buses 98 percent cleaner than those manufac- tured two decades ago. Meanwhile, retrofits of older buses have reduced emissions by up to 90 percent. LaHood also pointed put that


school buses remove 17.2 million cars off the road each morning and afternoon. In fact, the average school bus replaces 36 cars that would each travel about 3,600 miles per year. Tis translates into a savings of 4,800 gallons of gas, per bus, per year — or an annual savings of 2.3 billion gal- lons of fuel, according to American School Bus Council figures. Most significantly, he added, yel-


low school buses help get students to school who might not otherwise be able to attend. Te buses also provide options to parents. “For all these reasons, I want to


express my gratitude — and to offer our hand in collaboration,” he added. NHTSA is set to launch a nation-


wide public outreach campaign this month that will espouse the very same ideas, with the help of the American School Bus Council.


AWARDS AND RECOGNITION Te NSTA Annual Convention


also heralded the return of the School Bus Driver


International


Safety Competition, a roadeo event that honors qualifiers from across the United States and Canada. Larry Hannon of the Centennial


(Pa.) School District won the con- ventional class for the eighth time and for the third consecutive year with a total of 611 points. Hannon won the overall roadeo in 1980 and followed up with conventional wins in 1996, 2001, 2005 and 2006. But it was Mark Miller of the Bell-


ingham (Wash.) School District who took home the overall trophy this year in addition to winning the transit class with 616 points. Russell Altizer of the Montgomery County (Va.) Public Schools won the small bus class with 571 points. Te International School Bus


Driver Safety Competition was first held in 1971, when only one over- all winner was crowned. Separate classes for conventional and transit


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56