The National Association for Pupil Transportation has posted its tentative agenda for its 38th annual Conference and Trade Show, which is marketed industrywide as the "Summit." The event will be held in Memphis, Tenn.

The doors open the afternoon of Oct. 19 for pre-conference registration, and the next day the learning begins with seven NAPT Professional Development Series courses on student transportation orientation, accident investigations, presentation skills, leadership and management, communication strategies, school bus routing and scheduling, and data-driven decision making. The return of NAPT's Leading Every Day, or LED, Initiative is also slated for that Saturday.

The opening general session will be presented the morning of Oct. 21 and will feature a keynote from Michael Eugene, the chief operating officer, of Orange County (Fla.) Public Schools, which received the "Managing for Results Achievement Award" earlier this year from the Council of Great City Schools. NAPT said Eugene is scheduled to share information about his district's performance based, higher-quality and lower-cost services provided to students in the Orlando, Fla., area.

Following the Sunday general session is an update on NAPT's KPI, or key-performance indicator, project. NAPT launched the initiative last fall as a tool to establish industry-wide operational benchmarks. Also highlighting the agenda that day is a roundtable discussion between former presidents of NAPT and the 38th Annual NAPT Awards Banquet. During the evening banquet, Aubrey Lawrence, the 2012 champion of the Texas Association for Pupil Transportation School Bus Safety Speech Contest, will recite "How to Stop Bullying...On the bus, at school, on street."

NTSB Vice Chairman Christopher Hart gives the Oct. 22 morning keynote, "Troubling Transportation Trends" followed by an address from FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro." A panel discussion will then discuss the industry's global outreach to assist other countries achieve "excellence in school transportation," including a new partnership between NAPT and the United Arab Emirates to host a school transportation conference next spring.

The Oct. 23 keynote is presented by Alan Brunacini, former chief of Phoenix Fire Department. Following morning breakout sessions, the 38th Annual NAPT Trade Show opens its doors. The trade show concludes at noon on Oct. 24.

Visit the NAPT website for more details on this fall's agenda.