School Bus Fleet, March 2018

20 SCHOOL BUS FLEET MARCH 2018 WWW SCHOOLBUSFLEET COMnomic sting from the loss of the shuttle program There are new jobs being created and tourism and real estate have improved With economic stability returning there recently came a call for the reinstatement of choice busing After some very detailed cost projections the board decided it was time once again to provide more opportunities for students to take a broader range of classes at our choice schools by providing district wide bus service We are very pleased that beginning with the 2018 19 school year the district will add 35 buses to support district wide transportation to the schools of choice 5 What was the highlight of 2017 for you The personal highlight for me was the birth of my very first grandson Killian Nicholas was born on Feb 2 2017 What tremendous joy he has brought to our lives Now I just have to figure out how this grandparent thing works Professionally speaking I took over the reigns as the president of FAPT last year What a tremendous honor to work with one of the most professional and knowledgeable groups of transportation directors in the nation Florida directors are often called upon by transportation professionals from other states and OEMs for research purposes or for their technical expertise Our FAPT members are always willing and typically able to help with any transportation project issue of concern or operational maintenance campaign to keep our students safe as we travel millions and millions of miles each year as they maximize student loading and combination of routes to fill daily driver vacancies 3 What are you currently working on with FAPT In addition to closely monitoring the changing scope of Floridas legislative law process FAPT is creating a new Florida motor vehicle specialty license plate to promote safe student transportation Our goal is to design a plate that will raise awareness among motorists that when a school bus makes a pupil stop they must follow the law and stop as well We are very excited about the prospect and we have a professional graphic designer working on several different ideas FAPT is also deep in the summer conference planning process with the Southeastern States Pupil Transportation Conference SESPTC We are very excited to share a rare opportunity for FAPT and SESPTC to join resources and create an outstanding summer conference This year the conference will be held at the world renowned Saddlebrook Resort in Tampa Florida July 8 11 The conference covers all facets of student transportation but is primarily focused on student safety initiatives The highlight is always the exciting and informative trade show 4 Are there any recent developments at Brevard that youd like to discuss A very important event that is happening here in Brevard is the reinstatement of transportation service to our schools of choice The local economy of Brevard took a tremendous loss when NASAs last space shuttle blasted off from Cape Canaveral on July 8 2011 The end of the shuttle program signaled a downturn in jobs and spelled local economic disaster as hundreds of NASA workers and support contractors packed up and left the county For the very first time there was an overabundance of bus driver applicants especially in the north end of our 72 mile long district where the Kennedy Space Center is located Good for transportation but not good for those families directly impacted by the downturn School districts in Florida receive a very large percentage of their operational dollars from the local economy and home ownership taxes As such Brevard Public Schools suddenly found itself short on funding Vacant and foreclosed homes flooded the market and without large numbers of major manufacturing opportunities or business enterprises to rely on for tax revenue the district had to act quickly to reduce costs and balance a dwindling strategic reserve of funds One of the reductions was the end of the school choice transportation program which was forecast to remove 35 buses from the road and save the district almost 2 million per year The cancellation of the program was approved by the board and when school began in 2012 there were no longer school buses providing transportation service for our out of zone choice students Over the past five years the private space industry has taken root in the area and has reduced some of the eco5 QUESTIONS Next school year Brevard Public Schools will add 35 buses for the reinstatement of transportation to schools of choice Fortunately the districts fleet wasnt damaged by Hurricane Irma last fall