INDUSTRY CONNECTIONS First Student Invited to White House
Screening of ‘Bully’ Two First Student executives represented the nation’s
largest school bus contractor during an April 20 event at the White House that spotlighted student bullying. Te docu- mentary “Bully” follows five kids and families during one school year, profiling the mother of a 14-year-old girl who was incarcerated for bringing a gun onto her school bus and middle-school student Alex Libby, who was tormented daily at school and on the bus. Maureen Richmond, director of media relations, and Lisa Marrs, national charter sales manager, were invited to the
From left: Valerie Jarrett, special advisor to President Obama; Alex Libby, one of the stars of the documentary “Bully;” and Maureen Richmond, director of media relations for FirstGroup America. The trio met during a White House screening of the film on April 20. FirstGroup representatives were invited because of the company’s “See Something. Do Something” campaign that targets school bus bullying.
event in recognition of First Student’s national anti-bullying campaign “See Something. Do Something.” It was launched last fall to raise awareness and provide bullying prevention training to more than 59,000 bus drivers and attendants. First Student is supporting Te Bully Project’s “1 Million
Kids” campaign by volunteering to transport 1 million stu- dents to weekday screenings of the film, which received a PG-13 rating from the MPAA after a long battle.
“Te movie ‘Bully’ will bring national awareness to the impact that words and actions have on a child’s self-esteem, sense of worth and sense of security,” Richmond said. “We are proud to support its message of action and hope.”
Illinois Board of Education Considers Ending Free School Bus Service
Te Illinois State Board of Education is mulling two proposals
designed to drive down transportation costs for the state’s cash- strapped school districts, and legislation was expected in early May. Proposed changes include charging school bus fees or ending the state mandate for free busing for students who live more than 1.5 miles from school or who face certain road hazards that prevent them from walking. Te ideas come in response to state cutbacks in recent years for
transportation services. Funding for student transportation was slashed 42 percent in 2011 compared to the previous year, and the state plans to keep that funding level flat. Currently, Illinois reimburses school districts at a fixed percent-
age of their transportation costs. A new proposal means the state would determine the average transportation costs for schools state- wide and only reimburse them up to that amount. So, districts that spend more than the average would be forced to find ways to cut costs, potentially eliminating free school bus transportation. Don West, president of the Illinois Association for Pupil Transpor-
tation and transportation coordinator for Rockford Public Schools, said the IAPT opposes charging for school bus service. “We really don’t know what legislators are going to do,” he said. “As
transportation professionals, we do what we can to reduce costs as much as possible and try to plan the next year on a guess of what is going to happen.”
16 School Transportation News Magazine June 2012
2013 TSD National Conference Scheduled for March in Texas
Te 22nd Transporting Students with Disabilities &
Preschoolers (TSD) is heading to Frisco, Texas, March 8-13, 2013. STN Media Group, which owns and oper- ates TSD in addition to School Transportation News and the STN EXPO Conference & Trade Show, finalized the agreement in late April to host the conference at the Embassy Suites Dallas-Frisco Conference Center and Spa. Te TSD room block offers attendees rates of $129
per night for two-room suites. Te 16th Annual Spe- cial Needs Team Safety Roadeo will be held alongside the annual conference at nearby Frisco Independent School District. More information on the 2013 TSD Conference is available at
www.tsdconference.com.
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