TSD Conference Expands to Two Evacuation Training Opportunities This Fall

August 3, 2023

Attendees practiced evacuation drills in real time during the school bus evacuation training at the 2022 TSD Conference. (Photo by Taylor Ekbatani.)

In response to increased interest and demand, the Transporting Students with Disabilities and Special Needs (TSD) Conference, held Nov. 15-20, will offer a second class of evacuation training.

The two, full-day school bus evacuation training experiences will be held at Frisco Independent School District on Nov. 18 and Nov. 20. Attendees will be bused to and from the training and lunch will be provided. Each class has a capacity of 32 participants.

Training will be led by Launi Harden, who recently joined the TSD tenured faculty and is a consultant and retired director of transportation for Washington County School District in Utah. She is joined by Denny Coughlin, owner of the School Bus Training Company and a retired fleet manager for Minneapolis Public Schools who has trained fire and police departments on school bus emergency response and rescue; Aaron Harris, national sales and training manager for BESI; and Diandra Neugent, transportation manager for the Community Council of Idaho and lead trainer for the Head Start agency.

Each day will start with classroom training covering topics such as emergency protocols, communicating safety plans to students as well as staff, and designating roles for transportation personnel. During the second half of the day, attendees will transition to the hands-on section of the training, which consists of four stations: belt-cutting and emergency evacuation devices, fire extinguishers, electric and manual wheelchair lift operations, and a timed evacuation drill.

Attendees will practice evacuating “students” by using training dolls of various sizes inside a school bus filled with theater smoke to simulate a real-life emergency. Instructors will cover the specific plans needed for assisting students with disabilities and preschoolers.

Learn more about the evacuation training from the 2022 TSD Conference in the January 2023 issue.

This year’s TSD Conference will feature over two dozen educational sessions and workshops, hands-on wheelchair and child securement training, product demonstrations, a trade show, a special needs roadeo, and networking opportunities with peers and vendors.

Save $100 on main conference registration with the Super Early Bird Discount, available through Aug. 18.