Winter Workshop 2025 

 Schedule of Events

Wednesday, February 19, 2025

Pre-Conference Workshops

8:00 – 5:00

NHTSA Child Safety Restraints on School Buses Training - Empire Room –Conducted and sponsored by the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee

Instructors:

Kecia Healy – Lead Instructor – Traffic Safety Educator – Orange County

Jean Triest – Course Assistant – Traffic Safety Specialist – Monroe County

Bill VanAlstyne – Program Director – Albany County

Louisa Boehlert Vaughan – Course Assistant – CPST-1, STAC 1

8:00 – 12:00 Noon

NYS DMV Certified Examiner 19-A Refresher- Salon AB

John Spacht – NYAPT Vice- President

Transportation Director at Southwestern Schools, Jamestown City Schools, and Frewsburg Schools

1:00 – 3:00 PM

Maximizing Transportation Aid & the Non-Allowable Pupil Decimal - Salon AB

Sarah Morrison and Mike Los - Questar BOCES

This workshop will provide an overview of school transportation aid and how to improve the non-allowable pupil decimal to maximize state transportation aid for your school district.

Thursday, February 20, 2025

9:00 – Opening Session - Salon EFGH – Mark Medina – NYAPT President

9:30 – 10:30 “Mindset Matters - Cultivating a Positive Mindset to Increase Engagement”

Clint Swindall – Keynote Speaker

We are living in challenging times. Even as we put a once-in-a-lifetime global pandemic behind us, we face divisive politics, national security concerns, economic woes, and more. The number of issues out of our control can be daunting. 

While many of the significant issues may be out of our control, we each have within us an incredible power to deal with chaos and confusion all around us. This incredible power is called mindset – the beliefs that shape how we make sense of the world and ourselves.

In this program, Clint will discuss the role we each play in creating a culture of engagement. He’ll share the multiple opposing mindsets that hold us back from being successful, with a focus on negativity vs. positivity. He’ll share some simple things we all can do to overcome negativity in our lives, and he’ll deliver his message in an entertaining and inspirational style!

10:30 – 11:00 Break – Visit out Exhibitor Partners- Sponsored by Goosetown Communications

11:00 Marc Medina- Inspired Leadership for School Transportation Leaders- From the Fire Department to the Transportation Department - Sponsored by RIDE

Marc will share insights on effective leadership gained from his experience as a firefighter and how those lessons learned apply to the school transportation department.

12:00 Lunch

1:00 – 2:00 Breakout Session - Repeated at 2:30

• 1.     Time Management - Schenectady Room – Belinda Govich – Shenendehowa Central School District - Sponsored by Lower Hudson Chapter of NYAPT

Good leaders manage their time to be effective.  In this session, you will hear strategies to manage time by empowering your team to be problem-solvers and effective thinkers to deliver the best customer service possible to their school communities.

• 2.     Working with Your Administration and Board of Education - Salon EFGH – David Richardson – Greece Central School - Sponsored by BusRight

This workshop focuses on the necessity and challenges of building strong relationships with school district administrators and the Board of Education. Attendees will learn how to foster an effective partnership with these stakeholder groups, establish effective communication protocols, and work productively with them to implement changes in your Transportation Department's Policies and Procedures. 

• 3.     The Importance of a Well-Trained Trainer - Empire Room – David Webb – Pupil Transportation Safety Institute

This thought-provoking workshop explores who our trainers are today, their role in the transportation department, and their impact on student safety.

• 4.     How To Get Your Team to Embrace the Mission - Albany Colonie Room – Jeff Olefson – Staff Development Associates

This session will explore techniques and strategies for leaders to help their team members embrace the mission, take pride in their work, and feel good because they know what they do is important, worthwhile, and makes a difference. The key to job satisfaction is to do worthwhile work well. Effective leaders emphasize the importance of the work and keep it as the focus in their interactions with their team. We will explore what that looks like in practice for leaders in pupil transportation.

2:00 – 2:30 – Break – Visit out Exhibitor Partners

2:30 – 3:30 Breakout Sessions - Repeat 1:00 Sessions

• 1.           Time Management - Schenectady Room – Belinda Govich

            2.         Working with Your Administration and BOE - Salon EFGH  – David Richardson

            3.         The Importance of a Well-Trained Trainer - Empire Room – David Webb – PTSI

            4.         How To Get Your Team to Embrace the Mission - Albany Colonie Room– Jeff Olefson

3:30 – 4:00 Break – Visit out Exhibitor Partners

4:00 – 5:00 General Session

NYS Department of Transportation Update - Salon EFGH – Marc Berger – Director, Passenger Carrier Safety Bureau - Sponsored by Leonard Bus Sales, Inc.

           

6:00 – 10:00 Scholarship Event –  Salon ABCD - Dinner

            Battle of the Bands – NYAPT Karaoke Night!

Friday, February 21, 2025

7:30 Breakfast –  Salon ABCD – Sponsored by Transfinder

8:30 – 9:30 - Special Education Transportation Law Update- Tara Moffett – Girvan-Ferlazzo Law Firm/Kelly Brock

Special Education transportation law update and de-escalation training as it relates to the new law

9:30-10:00 Break – Visit our Exhibitor Partners

10:00 – 11:00 - The AI Blueprint for Safety, Efficiency, and Quality – Optimizing Student Transportation – Ted Thien – Vice President and General Manager - Tyler Technologies

As student transportation systems evolve, implementing Artificial Intelligence (AI) is more critical than ever. This workshop will explore AI potential in school transportation operations and how it will set the stage for future innovations in the school transportation space.

 

11:00 – 11:45 - State Education Department Update – Inho Suh – State Director of Pupil Transportation - Sponsored by Leonard Bus Sales, Inc.

11:45 – 12:00 Noon –Operation Safe Stop Update

Belinda Govich – NYAPT Operation Safe Stop Committee Chair

12:00 Closing Remarks – Marc Medina – NYAPT President

12:30 – Leadership Development and Certification Test Offering