School districts and bus companies can use a two-hour training session at the 2026 Transporting Students with Disabilities (TSD) Conference to take a closer look at how they prepare school bus aides, attendants or monitors — and identify where their programs need to grow.
Launi Harden and Teena Mitchell will lead the two-hour session Nov. 9. It is designed for organizations with an established attendant-training program as well as those still developing one. Participants will examine whether their current training prepares aides and monitors for the responsibilities in their job descriptions. Those without a formal program can use the session as a starting point for building one.
Harden is a retired director of transportation for the Washington County School District in Utah. She is now a school transportation consultant, executive director of the Florida Association for Pupil Transportation and a tenured faculty member of the TSD Conference. Mitchell is a special needs transportation coordinator for Greenville Public Schools in South Carolina, an expert witness in legal cases involving the transportation of students with disabilities and special needs and immediate past-president of the National Association for Pupil Transportation.
Rather than relying on a lecture format, the presenters plan to make the session participatory. Attendees will work in small groups to unpack what specific job duties mean in practice, discuss how they should be taught and consider how to evaluate whether employees can perform them. The goal is for participants to leave with practical ideas they can bring back to their own organizations.
The discussion will draw on eight areas of attendant training: Disability awareness, equipment use, job duties, individualized education programs, confidentiality, student behavior, de-escalation and support strategies, and professional performance and communication skills. The presenters will connect those topics to actual job-description language, helping attendees move from broad expectations to specific skills and procedures.
The Accuracy of School Bus Attendant Job Descriptions
A job description might say that an aide or attendant is responsible for loading and unloading students or using specialty equipment. The session will encourage participants to consider what those job duties require beyond the wording on the page. For example, how can aides support students during the process? What equipment knowledge is needed? How do expectations change for a student who uses a wheelchair? And how should training be verified before an aide handles a task independently?
That approach can also help districts and companies identify whether a job description is clear enough to guide training and whether training covers the responsibilities employees are expected to carry out. Attendees can examine where a program is working, where it may leave gaps and what steps could make it more consistent.
The two-hour session will use focused discussions and small group exercises to keep participants involved. Harden and Mitchell expect attendees to share questions and experiences, compare approaches and discuss best practices. The format is intended to help participants build a usable framework, not simply collect a list of topics.
The presenters will also address the importance of matching support to students’ needs and considering safety responsibilities in context. As part of that discussion, participants can reflect on the role of IEP teams, the need to document concerns and what a district may need to consider when it knows a student faces a safety risk. Mitchell’s work as an expert witness informs her perspective on how decisions about transportation support may be scrutinized. The session is a professional training opportunity, not legal advice.
For districts and contractors, the value of the training may be in the questions it helps them ask. Do aides understand the full scope of their duties? Are they prepared to support students with different needs? Do they know how to use required equipment? Does the organization have a way to confirm that training has been understood and applied?
Attendees who already have an attendant program can use the session as a litmus test for their current practices. Those starting from scratch can use its topics and activities to begin designing a program that fits their own operations and workforce. In either case, the focus is on translating expectations into skills that can be taught, discussed and evaluated.
The TSD Conference and Trade Show takes place Nov. 4–10 at the Embassy Suites in Frisco, Texas.
Attendees can save $100 on Main Conference registration by registering before the Early Bird discount expires this Friday, Oct. 2. The Early Bird rate is $499, compared with the $599 standard rate. Main Conference registration includes breakout, general and keynote sessions, networking events and the trade show. Special training courses require additional registration or fees.
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