As students head back to the classroom, school bus drivers throughout Tennessee face new regulations this school year, specifically for how drivers handle phone calls, a response sparked by the fatal bus crash in Knoxville that killed two children and a teacher’s aide. Other regulations include ramping up procedures for railroad crossing, continuous training for bus evacuations, and increasing drivers training time. “Anytime something like that happens we want to make sure we try to learn from it and grow from that tragedy,” said Carter County Schools Transportation Director Wayne Sams, citing the crash as the reason for the several changes in the established regulations.
File this one under “The day that music died.” Following a parent’s complaint about overtly sexual lyrics, Rutherford County school buses will no longer be playing music from Nashville hip-hop and R&B station 101.1 The Beat. The parent said her child mentioned that other children were using profanity on the bus, yet when the mother asked if the bus driver objected to this behavior, her child told her that the bus driver played music that was even more explicit. “We’ve talked with the driver and the contractor, and they’ve agreed to turn the radio off while children are on the bus,” said James Evans, director of communications and community relations for the county.
The plan was supposed to ease traffic congestion at schools in Fallon, Nevada, but it didn’t work out that way. “It failed miserably,” said Dr. Sandra Sheldon, Churchill County superintendent. School buses were delayed more than an hour after school and a handful of students were left standing in the blazing afternoon sun. This all happened on the first day of school. The plan was supposed include busing some students after school to a transfer station where they would then board another bus to go home. This didn’t go smoothly. “Obviously that didn’t work. Monday night I met with the transportation director. Tuesday morning we met with principals where we came up with a new plan. Yesterday, things went much better,” said Sheldon on Thursday.
Students will no longer be transferred in the afternoon in the new plan. They will be put on their bus route home from their school.
Richard Devylder, a disability rights activist and former senior advisor for accessible transportation at the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), died at the age of 46. Richard will be most remembered for is how well he understood the connection between transportation and an independent lifestyle, which drove his life’s work of transportation advocacy. Along with his legacy as a voice for those with disabilities, he will be remembered as a great colleague and friend, the DOT said in a statement.
A key theme of our upcoming TSD Conference and Trade Show in Louisville, Kentucky will be that of how student transporters can better teach and ensure travel indepence for students with disabilities, a main tenet of IDEA that is often misunderstood or misconstrued within transportation operations.
A Baton Rouge, Louisiana man has been sentenced to 38 years in federal prison for carjacking an East Baton Rouge Parish School System school bus driver at gunpoint, forcing the woman to drive her school bus from her home to his home. While forcing the woman onto the bus, the man pointed his gun at the woman’s two children and threatened to kill them if they called the police. Police were notified about the incident and were able to locate the bus at the man’s home. Investigators said when officers arrived, the man released the woman, but he remained inside. The man surrendered shortly after. A federal grand jury indicted the man and charged him with one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, carjacking and using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence.
“This defendant, and other violent felons, undermine the safety of our communities and must be held accountable. Today’s sentence does just that. Our communities are now safer without this defendant on the streets. I greatly appreciate the work of the prosecutors, the ATF, and the Baton Rouge Police Department on this important matter,” said U.S. Attorney Walt Green.
Student Transportation Inc. (STI) Chairman and CEO Denis Gallagher appeared on the Fox Business Network to discuss STI’s new vision and role in the $24 billion school bus transportation industry. Gallagher also highlighted STI’s efforts with cleaner alternative fuel for domestic vehicles and on-board technology launches. “This is a great opportunity to continue to share our story,” said Gallagher.
