text: Barry is an Honor graduate of the USAF Academy with a double major in International Affairs and Political Science, received his Master's in Public Administration from Oklahoma University, was a White House Fellow in 1986-1987, attended the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard on a fellowship in 1993-1994 and is a graduate of the Broad Superintendent Academy in 2004.
  'Stand your ground' applies to school bus fights, too (MSN News)
  New test could impact number of North Carolina bus drivers hired this school year (WECT-TV)
  Bus drivers work hard to keep students safe during the school year (The Times of Northwest Indiana)
  Anderson and Gleaves nominated to run for NAPT Board of Directors
  David C. Anderson has been nominated for re-election to the NAPT Board of Directors. He was nominated to his current Region 5 Director seat by Pam McDonald, Orange USD, Orange, Calif., and seconded by Launi Schmutz Harden, Transportation Director, Washington County SD, St. George Utah.
  Dwight Gleaves, Vice President of Sales, Hydrotex, Farmers Branch, Texas, has been nominated to run for the NAPT Board of Directors as Affiliate Member Director. He was nominated by Corky Bynum, Vice President, Safety Systems and Controls, Inc., Houston, Texas, and seconded by Brandon Billingsley, President, Heavy Duty Bus Parts.
  Featured in our "Business Partner in the Spotlight" section are: BITZER US, Inc., ESW Group, National Bus Sales, Inc., and School Training Solutions. Their logos will be posted for the next few weeks, so please take a moment to become familiar with the products and services they offer.
  BITZER US, Inc. (www.bitzerus.com) designs, manufactures and supports refrigeration and air conditioning technology.
  ESW Group (www.eswgroup.com) develops, tests and obtains regulatory product approvals for leading emissions technologies.
  National Bus Sales, Inc. (www.nationalbus.com) provides new and used buses for all facets of the school bus industry and beyond.
  School Training Solutions (www.smarthorizons.org) offers content development, product delivery, student enrollment, support and record keeping.
  Researchers: Hands-free infotainment isn't the solution to distracted driving
  Automakers are touting voice-activated infotainment systems as a responsible, safety-conscious response to the demands of the modern consumer: In a time of near-ubiquitous connectivity, drivers want access to their phones, their music, their emails and their apps on the go, and hands-free technologies should eliminate the need to look away from the road. Yet safety advocates accuse the automakers of misrepresenting safety concerns when peddling new products. Far from making driving safer, they say, these infotainment systems simply enable car makers to pack their models with high-priced devices that still create cognitive distractions for drivers — with potentially fatal consequences.
  Alabama parents beg school officials to reverse school bus cuts at forum
  More than 500 people recently filled the theater at Spain Park High School in Hoover for a forum on the Hoover school board's decision to eliminate school bus service in the 2014-2015 school year. Parents, grandparents, students, business people and other community members listened to school officials spend about 45 minutes explaining the school system's financial struggles and "unsustainable" path of deficit spending. Then, they gave school officials a piece of their mind.
  A happy school life lost to unseen tormentors
  Isabella "Belle" Hankey says she had no enemies, no feuds. She was happy, popular, played softball. She had athletic rivals, but no one, she thought, who would ever do this. For a year and a half, she said, she was tortured by bullies at Concord-Carlisle High School. "I hated walking in the halls, thinking that you could be walking by the person that hates you," Hankey, 18, said in an interview. Hankey recently filed a $2 million federal civil rights lawsuit against the towns of Concord and Carlisle, the Concord-Carlisle school district, and three school administrators, alleging that the school did nothing to stop the bullying, which included death threats. Instead, the suit says, there were efforts to scrub graffiti before it could be photographed, and one of the administrators allegedly destroyed evidence.
  As Arkansas students return, school bus safety is top priority
  Classes start across Arkansas this month, and the Education Department will soon be implementing a new program called "Flashing Red, Kids Ahead." The program will last three weeks, and help educate those driving around schools that it is illegal and dangerous to pass buses when their lights are flashing.
  Whether you live in a city or a small town, and whether you drive a car, take the bus or ride a train, at some point in the day, everyone is a pedestrian. Unfortunately, in 2011, pedestrians in the U.S. were one of the very few groups of road users to experience an increase in fatalities. So as part of the campaign to combat that increase, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is making available $2 million in pedestrian safety grants. NHTSA has also joined with the Federal Highway Administration to launch a one-stop shop of safety tips and resources at www.nhtsa.gov/everyoneisapedestrian.
  Looking for similar articles? Search here, keyword(s): Pedestrian safety.
  Moonlighting Texas teachers ordered to stop driving school buses
  A group of veteran Dallas Independent School District teachers who drive school buses for extra income say they have been given a shocking ultimatum: Either keep driving a bus, or teach for DISD; you can no longer do both. They are employees of Dallas County Schools, hired by DISD to drive children to and from school. Thirty-seven of them are full-time employees of DISD. Driving a bus provides teachers with a critical second income. Some have been doing both jobs for decades. Until now, that is. DISD Superintendent Mike Miles has adopted a new policy, saying drivers and teachers can no longer do both.
  As a toddler, Xzavier Davis-Bilbo loved to scramble around the house and yard. Nicknamed "X," the boy imitated plays from his hometown Green Bay Packers. Then tragedy struck. Walking across the street with his older sister, he was struck by an oncoming car and is now is paralyzed, living in a wheelchair, breathing through a ventilator. He was hit by a driver who was texting, her face so buried in her phone that she didn't stop at the Stop sign, and was speeding, in a school zone. His story, and his mother's reflections, are included in a new documentary by Werner Herzog called "From One Second to the Next."
  'Buses and burgers': Consolidating school support services has unclear benefits
  Michigan's education chief says letting the state's more than 550 public school districts focus on teaching while intermediate school districts handle the administrative functions will improve classroom finances and help reduce the number of local districts facing budget deficits. The logistics of implementing such a plan, and the savings districts and the state might see from the change, however, are not entirely clear. What is clear is that intermediate school districts are anxious to give the plan a chance to work.
  Bullying is not a new phenomenon, but in this digital age there are so many more channels for bullying to take place. Where previously a young person might have had a few hours of peace after leaving the school gates, now they can experience abuse any time of day or night, in their most private of surroundings through their mobile phone or laptop computer. When young people are being bullied at school, we tell them to report it to professionals or parents when they get home. When they're being bullied in their own bedroom, it is often a lot harder for them to reach out for help.