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Leading by Exampleby Covering the Bases
Brian Weisinger is the fourth recipient of the annual STN Leadership Award for carrying the torch of service, commitment throughout Texas and the nation
By Ryan Gray W
hen one thinks of Texas school trans- portation, one name — Brian Weis- inger — quickly comes to mind. Weisinger embodies the word service, not only to the students of
Spring ISD outside Houston but to his employees and the community alike. For this reason, he is the 2009 STN Leadership Award winner. “He’s a jewel,” said Jackie Fields, director of trans-
portation at Belton ISD and TAPT’s current president. In baseball terminology, he’s an RBI guy. He
comes through in the clutch and can always be counted on to get a clutch hit. But beyond that, he’s just consistently good. It’s an apropos description that transcends his volunteer coaching activities the past 14 years for local Little League baseball and softball teams. He’s a mentor, a leader by example. He started a local Lions International club that works with optometrists to supply eyeglasses to third world countries. For his efforts he was named Lion of the Year. “Those qualities and leadership really helped me
in proving potential leadership skills to this em- ployer, for instance,” said Weisinger, speaking of Spring ISD, where he became the director of trans- portation in 2002. Because community service is so important to him,
he expects the same in the employees he hires. Dur- ing Spring ISD “adoption,” how Weisinger refers to the school district’s hiring process, he said he reviews applicant resumes for examples of service. It not only tells him the person is service and leadership oriented but that they care about their fellow man and have other interests outside of work. If job applicants are lucky enough to get an interview, they need only to gaze upon the many plaques and awards that line Weisinger’s office walls to see how much their pro- spective new boss values commitment.
Within the transportation community, at least,
it’s rubbed off. Numerous Spring ISD employees have served on state committees and placed well in state and national competitions. “Tey exceed expectations and excel. I’m very for-
tunate to work with motivated staff who never settle ‘for just enough,’” said Weisinger. “I encourage them to be active in the TAPT. Some have run for office, others are committee chairs and others volunteer to work registration or in the vendor show.” And Weisinger definitely walks the talk. He is
part of the Greater Houston Hurricane Advisory Committee, is a former TAPT Gulf Coast presi- dent and is active in the National Association for Pupil Transportation. He served as a judge for the 2009 National Special Needs Roadeo in Indianapo- lis, where he “nearly froze to death in the ice and snow,” Barney recalled. For years, he has served as chair of the Texas As-
sociation for Pupil Transportation’s school bus speci- fications committee, though recently he said he is trying to back away because of the time it takes him away from his own district and his employees. But for such a service-oriented guy, that’s probably easier said than done, especially if his fellow TAPT members have anything to say about it. “I don’t know how long he’s going to continue to
do this, but Texas is very fortunate to have Brian be the chairman of the committee, TAPT’s Fields said. “Buses will continue to move forward as long as he remains in that position.” Anyone who has been privy to discussions, and de-
bate, surrounding the school bus spec process can tes- tify to how contentious those committee meetings can be. But not with Weisinger at the helm. Like in most states, Fields said there can be a fair
share of jockeying by school districts from different parts of the state to have their needs addressed in
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