School Transportation News Magazine | September 2009


A ‘Head Start’ on Training Whether it be the $2.1 billion bump from the recent Head Start stimulus or their love for all things STN,


attendees from Head Start agencies located as far north as Al-


berta, Canada and as far east as Georgia made the trek to Reno to fill each and every related workshop. At the an- nual Head Start Forum, and after al- lowing all 80 attendees to introduce themselves, migrant and seasonal Head Start expert Nancy Nether- land came to the conclusion that the room contained 520 years of com- bined Head Start experience. Attend- ees were also introduced to one of STN’s newest blogs, headstartrides.blogspot.com, and given a crash course on how to contribute to the


site. The group discussion soon erupted, touching on everything from covering the costs of replacement buses to the case-by-case variance of federal and state on-site reviews. The group also filled other related classes, including Susan Hunt’s “Making Head Start Transportation More Efficient.” “The hardest part is mentoring and ed-


ucating the parents,” said Hunt, the lead transportation specialist at the Oregon Child Develop- ment Coalition.


TSA Makes its Case, Presence Known Transportation Security Administration Highway and Motor


Carrier General Manager Bill Arrington made his first visit to the STN EXPO, addressing the crowd after the July 28 morning key- note from NSTA’s Robin Leeds. Arrington said the current status of the school bus threat assessment is his “number one priority.” “It will continue to move forward and move out of the TSA by


the week of Labor Day,” said Arrington, who explained that Con- gress will also hear TSA reports on rail, freight, and transit. Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Janet Na-


politano requested a risk analysis from every mode of transpor- tation back in January 2009. The full report should be available this coming January, with the hopes that “Congress will realize the need for funding,” added Arrington. TSA and contractor TSSI kept close to 100 attendees in Reno un-


til the last minute to sit in on the revamping of School Bus Watch with the new First Observer Train the Trainer program. Read more about the program in this month’s Top Story on page 18.


Trading Wares, Business Cards and Smiles With more than a quarter of this year’s list of vendors and 40


percent of the conference attendees being first-timers to the an- nual trade show, it was no wonder there were so many new faces and products to see. The 100-plus booths that filled the Nevada Hall and Silver State Pavilion had everything from video secu- rity, bus OEMs, software and telematics to air conditioning, financing, engine and transmission remanufacturing, and child ID systems. The SCR/EGR debate continued with Blue Bird displaying its Cummins EGR solution in its booth and IC Bus exhibiting a 2010-compliant Maxx- Force engine over in the Silver State Pavilion. The InstallerNet-sponsored “STN Installation Pavil-


ion” also made its debut. One lucky Washoe County School District bus was outfitted with a Child Check- Mate system, a Zonar RFID/GPS combo, a 247 video surveillance system and DVR, a Sens-O-Lock ignition


interlock device, and a Geotab GPS system. The trade show floor was also abuzz with visitors from countries as far as China and India, including a


nine-member troupe from Istanbul, Turkey, Chamber of Commerce. The group met with STN speakers, Fischer, Lawrence, Leeds and Peggy Burns and filled their bags with as much information as they could from the vendors.


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