INDUSTRY CONNECTIONS: BRIEFS
Devastating Tornadoes Create Chaos in Schools From Nebraska to North Carolina
Schools were closed through April 30 in two towns north of Little Rock devastated by a tornado that killed 16 people. Severe weather in the area also took the lives of about a dozen more in Mississippi, Tennessee and Alabama. Mike Simmons, the senior transportation manager at the Arkan- sas Department of Education, said Vilonia School District received the brunt of the storm as 10 people there were killed. Te area suffered through another major tornado just three years ago. “It’s part of our weather pattern, and spring’s always the worst,” Simmons told STN. “Tere’s a path that runs between Little Rock
T
he recent outbreak of tornadoes from Nebraska to North Caro- lina was the largest in the U.S. since the Nov. 17, 2013 Midwest outbreak, reported Te Weather Channel, with 75 confirmed tornadoes from April 27–30.
and Conway, and we call it Tornado Alley. When you live there, you know it’s a part of life. But it’s tough. It’s absolutely devastating what a tornado can do.” Simmons added that a new multimillion-dollar middle school
that had just been built at the Vilonia district was flattened. “Tey hadn’t even taken ownership yet,” he said. “Everything in
town is pretty well gone.” About 10 miles away, three people were killed in Mayflower, Ark. As far as training for tornado response, he said schools perform
drills for students and faculty inside buildings, but there is little that can be done for school buses on the road. “We used to teach them to get under an overpass, but now they
say ‘don’t do that,’” he explained. “Te best thing to do is to keep [students] at school if you think it’s going to happen.”
NEW YORK BUS CONTRACTORS ASSOCIATION ELECTS PAPE AS NEXT PRESIDENT
Robert “Bob” Pape is the new president of the New York
School Bus Contractors Association, the board of directors announced May 8. A past NAPT president from 2001 through 2002, Pape has
served on the NYSBCA Board of Directors since 2007 and has been a member since 2005. He is also the finance chair for NSTA, the contractors’ association. Pape was officially voted into office in February. His current
terms will expire in October 2015. He started in the student transportation industry nearly 40
years ago at Hendrickson Bus Corporation. Since then, he has been the director of trans- portation for Lawrence Public Schools and is the current partner and officer secretary with Dell Transportation in Port Washington, N.Y. NYSBCA referred to Pape as “a leading authority on student transportation” as he has
served as a school transportation and financial consultant to numerous local, state, and national associations. He co-founded the NAPT Foundation and received the NAPT Dis- tinguished Service Award in 2008. “I’m thrilled and honored to head the New York School Bus Contractors Association and
to continue spreading the message on the benefits of private pupil transportation in New York,” said Pape in a statement. Pape noted the association is focused on increasing school bus safety initiatives, encour-
aging school districts to utilize private transportation services and pushing for removal of the state and local sales tax on the state’s yellow buses.
28 School Transportation News June 2014
NEB. STATE DIRECTOR INBODY PASSES AWAY, WILSON NAMED REPLACEMENT
Nebraska State Director of Transporta-
tion Russell C. “Russ” Inbody passed away March 18, the Nebraska Department of Education announced. He was 64. Inbody worked at the Department of
Education for the past 38 years, and most recently was the director of finance and or- ganizational services. He also served as the state’s transportation chief since 1998. A department spokeswoman said Bryce
Wilson is Inbody’s successor in both roles, and added that Inbody had been mentoring him for the last couple of years. “(Inbody’s) colleagues at NDE and those
he served in the education community will miss his ready smile, quick wit and his ex- pertise. Russ always had a thought to share or a comment to make,” the department said in a statement.
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