While 10 new state directors have taken the helm since 2011 — the most recent being Lt. Brian Reu of Minnesota — Florida State Director and the immediate NASDPTS Past President Charlie Hood continues his 20-plus year tenure leading student transportation in the Sunshine State.
It was December 1989 when Hood became state director for the Florida Department of Education. At the time, the industry was dealing with the aftermath of two major high-profile bus accidents: the May 14, 1988, Carrollton, Ky., church bus crash, known as one of the deadliest bus disasters in U.S. history that resulted in the death of 27 people; and the Sept. 21, 1989, accident in Texas that sent a school bus plunging into a flooded roadside gravel pit. Twenty-one students drowned or died soon after of their injuries.
Naturally NHTSA got involved with investigations, and there was a large focus in general on how the industry could mitigate these types of accidents, Hood said. Talks began about having more emergency exits on school buses and improving the fire retardency of school bus seats and the overall interior. NHTSA was hard at work upgrading its emergency exit standards for school buses.
While school bus accidents and dealing with the aftermath will always be an industry issue, emerging issues have surfaced, from driver distraction and chronic illegal school bus passings, to reducing idling and a new era of bullying. Hood, like other state directors, is dealing with these issues along with issues that affect his state.
Currently, Hood said he’s been working with the state association in forming a committee to look at the state’s funding formula. “We’re looking to see how funding is distributed, if it is adequate. It was last revised in 1995,” he said. He added that the committee is also looking at the method by which school districts report their student riders for state reimbursement.
As School Transportation News featured in the April issue an article profiling four state directors who have held that title for one to two years, we asked Hood if he had any tips or advice for these “new” state directors.
He began by noting that all “new” state directors have extensive school and education experience, so they are already an astute group of individuals. But he did advise on continued professional development and instilling a culture over time of dedication and safety by the way they lead their office. In essence, the state director represents the state department, so the more effective the leader, the more effective the department.
He also compared the way a state director might have to approach an issue to the role of a transportation director. “The most critical thing I’ve seen in local operations is that the support you get as an operation tends to be based on how authorative you are in conveying the issues to your boss,” he said. “If they feel like they can trust you, you are able to instill some confidence.”
