SPECIAL REPORT Get on Board with Grant Opportunities
Time taken to seek out funding can be time well spent By Lisa J. Hudson
School transportation professionals
are already doing their share to manage the depleted budgets they must work with. You probably have a team or indi- vidual in place that actively research and implement ways to save money through traditional cost-cutting measures. But perhaps the time has come to dedicate similar resources to find money. Te following offers a review of where
to look for certain school transportation- related grants.
ect, you could qualify for funding. She shared an example from her
experience as the former director of transportation
at San Diego Unified
School District. “I began a technician apprentice program in partnership with special education. Tese students came on site three times weekly for both classroom and hands-on technician in- struction. Because this program involved students and classroom work on-site, our site would have been able to qualify for instructional grant funds which previ- ously were out of reach.”
COMPANY ‘SCHOLARSHIPS’ & ‘STIMULUS PACKAGES’ In tune with the economic hardships
of the K-12 school customers they serve, companies that provide school transpor- tation products and services are offering new funding opportunities. For example: Student Transportation
of America
GRANTS FOR OTHER BUS EQUIPMENT When looking for funds for equipment
other than vehicles, such as devices and sys- tems, Alexandra Robinson, president-elect of the National Association for Pupil Trans- portation, recommends that you approach your search from the “offshoot angle.” “Don’t limit your thinking to the most
obvious agency that item might come from; e.g., grants for school bus cameras don’t have to be funded through security agen- cies,” she notes. Could cameras also be used for training? If so, now you may qualify for training funds to pay for the cameras. Many grants are curriculum- or student-benefit specific, and accordingly, if these groups can benefit from a school transportation proj-
(STA), the nation’s third largest school transportation company, announced in February the initiation of a “$100 million Education Stimulus Plan” designed to pro- vide U.S. school districts with capital to invest back into education when they con- tract their school bus operations to STA. “We will pay cash for district-owned
school transportation fleets and replace older buses with new, state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly vehicles. We will hire existing and local drivers with com- petitive compensation packages as well as purchase equipment and supplies from local merchants,”
said Denis Gallagher,
STA chairman and CEO in a press release. American Logistics Company recent-
ly announced the winner of its second American Logistics Scholarship to attend the National Conference & Exhibition on Transporting Students with Disabilities
& Preschoolers. Te scholarship covers travel, lodging, conference and workshop fees, and provides an allowance for certain meals not provided during the conference. Betsy Schulthess, transportation safety
coordinator at CUSD #303 in St. Charles, Ill., was the recipient of the 2010 award, and she will have the opportunity to par- ticipate as a presenter during the 2011 TSD&P Conference, with expenses paid by Edupro Group, the conference sponsor.
RELATED GRANTS Student safety and security is another
area where funding assistance is available to conduct emergency preparedness ex- ercises and programs that help youth at risk. Safe Havens International offers a funding source document online at
www.stnonline.com/go/544. Dr. Sonayia Shepherd, CEO and senior
analyst at Safe Havens International, notes that, “School transportation offi- cials can certainly apply for these grants along with the broader school commu- nity. We always suggest activities such as safety training, tabletop exercises and emergency response planning for trans- portation personnel.” Te cost of certain school field trips can
be supplemented by local and state cul- tural/arts councils. Te grants are usually limited to amounts under $1,000, they may be targeted at districts with high percent- ages of low-income students and there’s often an arts component requirement to the trip. But if the field trip would oth- erwise be canceled due to the cost, the funding might make a difference. Te Big Yellow School Bus program is available in a few states. See examples from the Iowa Arts Council (
www.stnonline.com/go/545), and the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (
www.stnonline.com/go/546). ■
For more information on where to find grants, visit
www.stnonline.com/go/551. Lisa J. Hudson is a New Jersey-based freelance writer who frequently covers school transportation issues.
26 School Transportation News Magazine April 2010
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