Student transportation is a tremendous responsibility for boards of education. It not only involves buses and drivers, but careful planning and an awareness of a multitude of laws, rules and regulations. The costs often seem high, but taken in perspective are typically less than 5% of the total school budget. Understandably, the attention by parents and the community is typically much more significant.
Safety is always the paramount concern. Districts continuously strive to become more efficient, but assessing and understanding the intricacies of school transportation can be difficult.
To help districts improve the effectiveness of their student transportation systems, OSBA now has transportation professionals within their Board & Management Services Division to provide transportation consulting services.
Transportation Services focuses on issues such as safety, operations and financial matters and provides the following services to members:
• board member in-service presentations;
• driver training seminars;
• administrative training seminars;
• routing efficiency audits;
• assistance with legislated procedures including payments in lieu of transportation;
• driver qualifications assurance studies;
• emergency plan development;
• general transportation consulting and assistance.
OSBA offers a unique subscription service to support districts with their pupil transportation administration. For a one-time nominal fee, districts that subscribe can access a number of transportation support services without additional cost. Learn more about the Virtual Transportation Supervisor program or register for the VTS program.
For more information, contact Pete Japikse, Diana Paulins or Doug Palmer at (614) 540-4000.