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that would give states a way to cover situations when a bus from one state was involved in an accident across state lines. Alexandra Robinson, the chair of the Gen- eral Operations Writing Committee, was surprised that the section on school bus inspection was so controversial. “Te school bus inspection committee
spent a great deal of time on this section, and for a brief time, we thought it was shot down completely,” said Robinson. Tat “brief time” lasted until the next
School Bus Inspections Writing Committee Chair Sgt. Sharron VanCampen initially saw her entire section voted down on the first day of NCST until it was moved to review it again the next day, ending in its overall approval.
2010 NCST Ends with Cordial Compromises, Additions
By Stephane Babcock Tere were a number of firsts at this
year’s National Congress on School
Transportation this past May. Whether it was a new section, a new way of voting or some new attendees, the proceedings went off with limited controversy and an enormous amount of effort on the part of the organizers. “This was my first conference and I
was pleasantly surprised,” said Trooper Cathy McHugh, supervisor of the New Hampshire Division of Motor Vehicles. “I did not know what to expect and I re- ally enjoyed it. It was amazing to see all the hard work and efforts that went into this Congress.”
National
A FEW BUMPS IN THE ROAD Many of the changes made to the School Transportation
Speci- fications and Procedures manual were
accepted with little fanfare, until the School Bus Inspections Writing Commit- tee took to the stage and moved that the section be approved all at once. Te motion did not sit well with many of the state representatives, and once a few dis- senters suggested that approving this section would open school districts to federal fines, the mood in the hall notice- ably changed. Te motion failed, and Sgt. Sharron VanCampen, the writing com- mittee chair, departed the stage without approval on the section she had spent the last few years working on. “We revamped the entire section,” said
VanCampen of the Michigan State Police School Bus Inspection Unit. “We literally cut out the old and added the new.” VanCampen and her committee
members had worked with the U.S. De- partment of Transportation on verbiage
20 School Transportation News Magazine July 2010
morning when Oregon State Director Steve Huillet moved to reconsider the section. Te motion passed, and Van- Campen took the stage once again, this time going line by line until the entire sec- tion was approved. In hindsight, she was not surprised by the move, one that Van- Campen called “consistent” within “such a caring industry.” “Tey looked at it overnight, thought
about it and said, ‘We at least have to take a look at this,’” said VanCampen. “We changed the verbiage to make it consistent with what enforcement would see across the country. We’re trying to bridge the gap.” Other changes that had a possibility
of causing alarm among the delegates passed without controversy. School Ac- tivity Transportation Writing Committee Chair Maxine Mougeot, Montana’s state director, said she believed the motion that would regulate drivers on trips oth- er than to and from school would meet more than a little debate. Te change to a section on hours of service would align with Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulation 49 CFR 395.3, which calls for restricting drivers to “15 hours on duty of which no more than 10 hours are driving time; 8 hours continuous off-duty prior to a long trip; no more than 60 hours driving in a week.” “It’s going to cost the districts more
money. Tey are either going to have two drivers on a long trip or provide a room for the driver to go take a rest period,” said Mougeot. “It wasn’t challenged or argued; it just passed. It was amazing to me.” She added that she recently fielded a
phone call from a driver who had driven for 19 hours straight.
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