Thanks to Transportation Solutions, ESC 4, Houston, for sponsoring the printing of Student Manuals for the NHTSA National Training on Child Passenger Safety Restraint Systems needed by those who register to attend Workshop B.

Separate Registration Workshops, 2010     

In conjunction with the main conference, we offer two intensive highly focused workshops and an Executive Briefing, providing attendees with the opportunity to focus in greater depth on topics that are determined by the National Advisory Board to be of critical importance. 

The Workshops and the Executive Briefing require a registration fee separate from the conference. You may attend only the program for which you register. Here are descriptions of the Workshop sessions followed by program details.

WORKSHOP A (2 Segments)
Segment 1, Saturday, March 6, 8 am to Noon
Shared Services & Collaborative
Resolutions: Ideas Ripe for the Times

Developing Shared Services Initiatives:                       
Creating Cost Control Opportunities, 8 am to 9:45 am
 Tim Ammon, Management Partnership Services, Rockville MD
                   
Collaboration and cooperation among districts is proving to be an increasingly effective way for school districts to try to control the cost of services. This speaker presents a “lesson-learned session” on developing shared services initiatives. Using the 19 sites that Management Partner-ship Services has done these analyses for (some as small as 1000 students and some as large as 20,000 students) the presenter summarizes the opportunities that are available using shared services, the mechanics required to implement shared services (e.g., policy requirements, inter-governmental agreements, cost allocation), and the key pitfalls you’ll want to take steps to avoid.


Collaborative Resolutions:
Dimensions of Law & Creative Thinking, 10 am to Noon
Jane Dixon, Consultant and Goat Farmer(Ret. Director of System Wide Programs, Exceptional Education, Hamilton County Dept. of Education, Chattanooga, TN)

Collaborative resolutions, as called for in the reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, open new doors for transporters to work with the special education side of the house, and with other related services personnel.  This situational presentation pulls out dimensions of law, and then turns on your creative thinking as you work on collaborative solutions to issues you face in special needs transportation.

Segment 2, Sunday, March 7, 8 am to Noon
Autism & ED Behaviors:
Dimensions & Interventions

Exchanging Behaviors with Appropriate Alternatives:
Putting Your Training to the Test in the Real World, 8 to 9:45 am
Michelle Brower, Special Needs Coordinator, Douglas County Schools, Castle Rock, CO

This presentation concentrates on children who are autistic. Every behavior has a purpose and every student has a need.  Learn what students are trying to tell you by watching and listening to the language of special education.


ED: Behavior Manifestations & Interventions; 
The 3-D Effect: Drivers, Parents, Children, 10 am to Noon

Kathy Furneaux, Executive Director, Pupil Transportation Safety Institute
Behavior on the bus can be a multi-dimensional issue, involving the child, the bus driver/attendant, and the parent.  The first part of this presentation sets the stage with a discussion of the manifestations of behaviors of the emotionally disturbed child, and an overview of methods to diffuse undesirable behavior.  The later segment delves into illustrations of how drivers (and student passengers) who may be at risk, and parents who may be in denial, are a critical part of the 3-dimensional picture.              

WORKSHOP B

Child Passenger Safety Restraint                8 am to 5 pm, Sunday, March 7

Systems -- NHTSA's National Training (Certificate of Completion for Attendees)

This best practices classroom and hands-on training is NHTSA's 8-hour curriculum on child safety seating on the school bus. This definitive hands on and instructional clinic enables you to learn from the best in the nation -- the very instructors who consult with NHTSA on the curriculum and on its revisions. Join with Child Passenger Safety Technicians from school systems, the American Academy of Pediatrics and industry to learn this national curriculum on best practices.

As our instructors present it, look for new material and more best practice information on vests and other non-safety-seat securements.

The first part of the 8-hour session is devoted to classroom instruction and, following lunch at Noon the afternoon session is exclusively hands-on learning with school bus bench seats, and child securement systems of virtually all types.

Instruction Team Leaders: Charley Kennington, Texas Dept. of Public Safety; Sue Shutrump, OTR/L, Trumbull County OH ESC; Kathy Strotmeyer, American Academy of Pediatrics; and Cheryl Wolf , Lafayette IN School Corp

Certificates of Attendance will be given to those who complete these eight hours of instruction and hands on training.  You must be present during the entire workshop to earn a certificate.  Even veterans will learn in this class, which will cover refinements that are being made to the curriculum.  Our instructors are members of the team that worked with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to create the curriculum and continue to work with NHTSA on fine-tuning it.

 WORKSHOP C                                           8 am to 5 pm, Saturday, March 6

EXECUTIVE BRIEFING: Conducting Internal Investigations --Making Defensible Decisions

Peggy Burns, Esq, Education Compliance Group, and Mark Hinson, SPHR, Adams 12 Five Star Schools, and Consultant, Education Compliance Group

When a workplace or a student related internal investigation is undertaken, the outcome will only be as good as the process.

Whether you are conducting, participating in, or responding to an investigation, what you learn in this Executive Briefing will leave you better prepared to evaluate the strength of your position when conflict arises in the transportation of students.. You'll learn to make defensible decisions in such situations as student safety, sexual and disability-based harassment, the actions and inactions of staff members, and on a number of employment-related issues including time and attendance and workplace misconduct.

Learn about effective techniques, procedures and documentation. Learn the basic principles that guide all investigations, and improve questioning techniques. Participate in scenarios that demonstrate the route to productive and successful internal investications.

The issue has never been more timely! The U.S. Supreme Court recently returned a case to the trial court for examination of the district's complaint handling and investigation techniques. This was ordered despite the fact that a U.S. appellate court dismissed all claims against the district, finding its actions to be reasonable in addressing a kindergartner's complaint of peer sexual harassment on the school bus. Don't miss this opportunity to gather invaluable tips for constructing a framework for internal investigations that will stand up to legal scrutiny.