HEADLINES
Industry Keeps Professional Development Alive Despite Travel Bans
By Sylvia Arroyo No matter what their position, many
student transporters are experiencing travel restrictions due to tight budgets. Yet they all still must continue their training and professional development somehow. “On the national level, it is a challenge
for people to be permitted to travel,” said NASDPTS Executive Director Bob Riley. Tankfully, through the help of the
group’s Supplier Council, Riley said state directors can receive scholarships to help cover travel and lodging costs to annual national conferences. Riley said this is the third year scholarships have been award- ed on the basis of need. Indiana State Director Mike LaRocco
said he has no travel restrictions within his state. Te state has allocated funds for him and two support staff members to visit dis- tricts requesting to receive training classes for in-service or contractor-specific issues. He added that state-provided training for new bus drivers and recertifications are all completed online. However, both LaRocco and Mike Ment-
zel, president of the School Transportation Association of Indiana, said it’s been difficult for them to attract attendees to the state as- sociation conference. LaRocco said this year’s event was moved from April to June, out of the school calendar, and it helped increase attendance. “[Before,] it was problematic for
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[transporters] to take three days out of the week despite the value,” he said. Mentzel said he and his team are working
on upgrading the association’s website to be able to stream training videos so members can train their staff more conveniently. “It gives them flexibility and makes the training more accessible,” said Mentzel, who’s also director of transportation for the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation. Cheryl Nadeau-Brackett, president of the
Maine Association for Pupil Transportation, said money is hard to come by from school districts. “Tere’s a big struggle going on in education. [But,] the association feels that drivers really need the training,” she said. Nadeau-Brackett noted the state as-
sociation offers regional conferences free of charge on months strategically chosen to accommodate transporters’ schedules. Nadeau-Brackett said state law mandates that districts pay transportation officials a daily wage, so districts want their employ- ees to be working during the school year. Te MAPT’s conferences are held
throughout April during spring break and in June at the end of the school year. Its an- nual conference in July saw more than 300 attendees, better than last year’s numbers, Nadeau-Brakett said, thanks to word of mouth at the regional conferences. In neighboring New Hampshire, the
state’s School Transportation Association offers training free to members. “We have the financial ability in our budget to not charge [money] so it doesn’t become a fac- tor,” said Executive Director Walter Perry. Two years ago, the association began of-
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fering half-day Saturday in-service training sessions throughout the year for members and their employees. Non-members pay a nominal fee for these sessions. ■
Let us know what your state association is doing to help members travel for training and professional development by emailing
sylvia@stnonline.com.
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