SPECIAL REPORT


NCST Takes on Issue of Non-School Bus Transportation


Written by Ryan Gray | ryan@stnonline.com


Amid an ongoing school bus driver shortage, the National Congress on School Transportation is creating guidelines to help student transporters that are turning to smaller passenger vehicles to serve the needs of increasing numbers of students with IEPs and who are experiencing homelessness.


L


ast November at the Transporting Students with Disabilities and Special Needs Conference, ten- ured faculty member Linda Bluth challenged the school bus industry to develop guidelines for


the use of non-school bus vehicles. The nationwide school bus shortage and increasing


numbers of students with individualized education programs (IEPs) that call for transportation as a related service as well as students protected by the McKin- ney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act has prompted more school districts to consider or use these services. But confusion has abounded. What is an alternative transportation company? How is it different from a transportation network compa-


14 School Transportation News • OCTOBER 2023


ny? What exactly is a transportation network company (TNC)? And do these companies adhere to state regula- tions governing student transportation? The National Congress on School Transportation is


looking to provide those answers. A new writing committee was developed this summer,


largely at Bluth’s urging during the general session on the relationship between the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and transportation as a related ser- vice. Last reauthorized in 2004, IDEA does not mention school bus once but repeatedly references the phrase related services, which “means transportation and such developmental, corrective and other supportive ser- vices as are required to assist a child with a disability to

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