RENO, Nev. — Kenny Mulder, director of transportation for the Special School District of St. Louis in Missouri, was named the 17th recipient of the annual Peter J. Grandolfo Memorial Award of Excellence at STN EXPO Reno.
The award, sponsored by Q’Straint/SureLok, was presented to Mulder on July 15, during the opening welcome announcement by Linda Grandolfo, Peter’s widow. Linda keeps Peter’s legacy alive by telling his story every year, and this year was no exception.
“Even though 19 years have passed, the value of his memory and his dedication to this industry remains,” Linda said, adding that there’s a great deal of comfort in giving the award to so many deserving professionals, some currently in the audience.
About the Award
Peter Grandolfo was a director of transportation for Chicago Public Schools, a school board member for 35 years, a National Association for Pupil Transportation board member, and local and national school bus trainer. He spent the last two and a half years of his life as the bus supervisor and router for Northside Learning Center in Chicago. He died suddenly on Jan. 22, 2006.
The award in his honor was established the following year by friends and colleagues Bill and Colette Paul, the founders of School Transportation News. The award recognizes a school transportation professional who exhibits exemplary service on behalf of the nation’s schoolchildren, especially those with disabilities.
She said Mulder is a leader in student transportation. “He is dedicated. He is soft-spoken, and he is passionate about everything he does. Our winner oversees the transportation of over 5,000 special needs students and has attended over 300 IEPs.”
She added that he also volunteers extensively for local and national organizations and serves as coordinator for the national special needs Roadeo held during the Transporting Students with Disabilities Conference, as well as a former Region 4 board member for the National Association of Pupil Transportation. He is the past president and current treasurer of the Missouri Association of Pupil Transportation.
In 2023, he was awarded the NAPT Special Needs Transportation Award, also sponsored by Q’Straint/SureLok.
“I just want to say thank you. This is such an honor. I’m starting my 29th year in student transportation and I learned what I know from attending these conferences, networking and learning from everyone,” Mulder said after receiving his award. “So, I’m happy I can pass on what I do to the future. There’s a lot of new faces … and that’s very exciting. Welcome aboard and hopefully, we can train you and teach you to receive this award some day.”
Related: NAPT Awards Student Transporters at Annual Conference
Related: Texas Transportation Director Receives 2023 Grandolfo Award
Related: November 2014
Four years after Mulder started his career with Laidlaw in 1995, the company took over the contract for the Special School District of St. Louis, where he remains, and operated student transportation there until 2004. He then became a consultant with TransPar Group until 2010. At this time, he went to work directly for the school district.
He added that he’s served on the national board for 10 years with NAPT, as well as the state board through two rounds of presidency, and the Region 3 director for the past 24 years. Mulder also won the 2014 Leadership Award from STN.
“I’m honored to have the award,” he told STN. “I didn’t get to know Peter but I’m glad I can carry on his legacy and hopefully educate people. There’s not a manual out there that tells us what we need to do, what the job entails and the importance of what we do. But you learn it from coming to these conferences.”
