Left: One of three walking bridges located near the DeVos Place Convention Center. Below: State directors, vendor suppliers and student transporters listen in on a wide range of topics affecting the school bus industry at the state and federal level.


mechanics in an effort to save maintenance and repair costs. Coughlin and Reu noted that the mechanics didn’t do this out of malice but to help curb costs. “Te bottom line is a lot of the time me-


chanics do what it takes to make things work, and (these mechanics) were saving $400,” said Coughlin, who also was fleet manager for Min- neapolis Public Schools for 25 years. “Anytime we do any modifications, we’re taking on some tremendous liability.” Allan Jones, Washington state director of


pupil transportation, provided an overview on the state’s recreational marijuana law that went into last effect Dec. 6 and the possible impact on school bus drivers, as well as future develop- ments. Te state on Oct. 16 adopted rules for the recreational sale of marijuana, setting what advocates expect to become a template for the legalization of the drug in other states, even around the world. Washington’s law includes language on the amount for impairment, and that enforcement requires blood tests rather than a urine test. For school bus drivers who smoke marijuana, more than one positive test within a five-year period in Washington results in a lifetime CDL disqualification. Jones said the federal government as well as other states considering passing similar leg- islation are watching “very closely” how both Washington state and Colorado, which passed its own recreational marijuana use legislation last September, are moving forward with their laws regarding regulated use and enforcement. He said this is something his department is em- phatic about in making school bus drivers aware


6 THE SHOW REPORTER • OCT 18-24, 2013


ASBC PRESENTS ITS CHAMPION AWARDS DURING JOINT SESSION


of since recreational use would impact their life employment. “If someone can’t give up being high in the


exchange for their job then maybe they have a drug problem,” he said. Jones said what his department may see due to the state’s enforcement of the law are more personal vehicle DUIs by school bus drivers, resulting in loss of their school bus driver autho- rization. “If they fail a sobriety test, they go to a clinic


to get their blood drawn to determine if the active ingredient is at a level established by law to be deemed as impairment, and a judge has to give a search warrant to do the blood draw,” he explained. Another potential outcome from this law is


the creation of a technological device similar to a current breathalyzer. “Once there’s a motivation to have technology available to show a person is


The American School Bus Council presented “School Bus Champi- on” awards Sunday morning to Randy Dorn, a two-term super- intendent of Washington state’s Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and to Ken Kanikeberg, Dorn’s chief of staff. Both men were instrumental in the state legislature appropriating $109 million for home-to-school student transportation operations throughout the next two fiscal years, which will fully fund these programs statewide for the first time in 25 years. Dorn and Kanikeberg also have successfully fought to keep alive a team of regional coordinators that oversee training and funding reimbursements for districts. “If we can’t get kids to and from school, we can’t educate them,” said Dorn, who has a school bus endorsement for his CDL.


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