Yes
0% No
Does your operation use multiple service providers to transport special needs students?
80%
20% 40% 60%
Yes 0% No
Is your transportation department included in special needs IEP meetings/discussions?
20% 40% 60% 80%
Yes 0% No
than the 61 percent of respondents who indicated that they participated in the IEP process for the PASBO survey. However, a more detailed review of the comments submitted indicated that many frustrations among pupil transporters persist. Spe- cific comments related to limited participation such as “when they do not forget to invite me,” “rarely,” and “not on a regular basis” represent concerns expressed by large and small opera- tions across the United States. Additional comments included “Te decisions are made without any input from Transporta- tion. We only do what we are told to do,” and “Transportation personnel are not present at any IEP. Tis does create a prob- lem for the transportation staff, however the district does not include us.” Te detailed responses indicated that 18 of 80 written responses, or 23 percent, do not participate in the IEP process at all. Tere was at least one response that appeared to show that the special needs program arbitrarily makes all transportation decisions themselves without any input from the transportation personnel. “In each of these cases these are organizations that indicate that program locations severely impact their cost structure, cer-
tainly a potential result of lack of participation in the IEP process, despite full policy infrastructure,” Ammon commented. For districts that do participate in the IEP process, it is most
80%
common for the director of transportation to participate (12 of 80, or 15 percent), and those discussions are usually related to the specific requirements of the transport and not to more stra- tegic issues of mode or location. Te most frequent response (20 of 80 written responses) indicates that transportation is involved periodically when specific issues or problems arise. One area of significant cost impact when it comes to collabo-
ration is the selection and location of special needs programs. Te survey found that 72 percent of the respondents indicated that location moderately or severely impacts costs, either by allowing for limited integration or re-use of existing assets or re- quiring separate special needs routing schemes be implemented. “Tese results are clearly an indication that industry efforts
20% 40% 60%
Yes 0% No
should focus on greater coordination with special needs super- visors and facilities planners to increase the awareness of how location is influencing cost and service design,” Ammon added. “Additionally, efforts to establish routing strategies to address
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