School Bus Fleet, January 2018
34 SCHOOL BUS FLEET JANUARY 2018 WWW SCHOOLBUSFLEET COMportation conference in Columbus Ohio in November Grad school meets school bus Franklins career in pupil transportation can be traced back to a 3x5 card While working on a graduate degree in public administration and information systems in 1995 Franklin sought a part time job In the student employment office at Southwest Texas State University he spotted an index card advertising school bus driver openings for a local school district I called the director and a week later I was driving a bus Franklin recalls As it turned out the side gig influenced the direction of his graduate work For his research project Franklin took on a Low morale Buses breaking down Buses running late Those were a few of the critical issues facing John Franklin when he arrived at Atlanta Public Schools in May 2014 The transportation department had a fractured work culture as Franklin puts it And despite owning some of the newest school buses in Georgia the fleet was plagued by mechanical failures that racked up big towing bills As executive director of transportation for Atlanta Public Schools Franklin has spearheaded a turnaround that has ramped up the reliability and efficiency of the fleet while boosting relations with employees and the public All this for a large metropolitan operation that runs nearly 300 route buses in some of the nations worst traffic to transport 27000 students to and from school Atlanta Public Schools went through several transportation directors prior to John and he gave them what they needed most at the time leadership with a vision for continuous improvement says Mark Lindstrom former director of transportation for neighboring district Marietta City Schools His visionary leadership has been the key For his tireless efforts to provide safe and efficient pupil transportation in Atlanta and elsewhere throughout his career School Bus Fleet has named Franklin its 2017 Administrator of the Year The award was presented at the National Association for Pupil TransAt Atlanta Public Schools John Franklin has led a turnaround that has bolstered bus reliability while boosting staff and public relations By Thomas McMahon Executive Editor Franklin Tackles Critical Transportation Issues ADMINISTRATOR OF THE YEAR
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