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School Transportation News Published by STN Media Group


The July magazine edition featured the role artificial intelligence is playing in health screening students prior to them boarding the bus. Read this article and more at stnonline.com/go/july20.


We use those thermal thermometers every day. They are very unreliable, unless you are inside a temperature-controlled area. If you have kids waiting outside for 10 to 15 minutes under direct sunlight, their skin temperatures are going to read much higher than their actual temperatures. Instagram/@gigglesmcgee93, Christina Marie


Episode 13 of the School Transportation Nation podcast featured Michael Shields, the now retired director of transportation for Salem Keizer Public Schools in Oregon. He discussed what the new school year will look like. Visit stnonline.com/tag/podcast to listen to all the episodes.


This was extremely helpful. To date [July 20], schools don’t yet have new procedures defined for fall classes, much less for the school bus. As a school bus driver, your podcasts have provided insight into a lot of questions and concerns I’ve had. Everything is still up in the air, but at least I can now envision what may be coming. Thank you! YouTube/J Woods


Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf signed House Bill 364 on July 1, allowing stop-arm video enforcement companies to enter into contracts with school districts and local police and provide their services free of charge in exchange for part of the revenue generated by the fine. Read the article at stnonline.com/go/7d.


HB 364 sadly became law and should be repealed. This bill will modify the current stop-arm camera law for illegally passing school buses. It will assume a vehicle’s owner was the driver and will take away all the person’s rights. It will also allow camera vendors to recoup profits, based upon the number of tickets, which will act as an incentive to make sure the tickets keep flowing. The bill will do nothing to solve anything, as that is not the point. Where is a requirement for a minimum flashing yellow duration? How about mandating stop-arm extenders to block the next lane? Arranging bus stops so students don’t have to cross roads? Adults crossing the kids, as some areas do? Mov- ing bus stops to smaller roads away from intersections? Illegal passing is not an epidemic, and federal data proves it. So why use cherry-picked studies to justify cameras? Money, of course. That is why the law is being changed, as the previous bill had a stiffer penalty. Actually, stop-arm cameras should be repealed in the state and we should use common sense engineering. I doubt there will be school with buses any time soon, so why rush this through? Ah, the revenue. The bill also has multiple subjects and is nothing like the original bill, since it was amended, so perhaps it is not even legal? Let’s focus on hiring safe bus drivers without criminal backgrounds also. James Sikorski, Jr. National Motorists Association


8 School Transportation News • SEPTEMBER 2020


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CONTRIBUTORS: Linda Bluth Debbie Curtis Art Gissendaner Kari Lydersen Amanda Pampuro


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HOW TO CONTACT STN: School Transportation News welcomes expressions of all views. Letters should be brief and are subject to editing for grammar, style and space. Submissions must be legible, include a signature, job title/employer name, valid mailing and/or email address, and telephone number. Unsigned letters or letters signed only with a pseudonym or initials will not be used. Email letters to: ryan@stnmedia.com or send via U.S. mail to:


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