Big Questions Vexing Student Transporters - School Transportation News

As I prepared to leave for North Carolina to attend STN EXPO East this month, I began to
look forward to July and beyond. STN EXPO West in Reno, Nevada, will not be short on hot topics. Neither will TSD Conference in November. Developments in Washington, D.C, have made sure of that.

Plenty of issues impact student transportation without bringing politics into the conversation. Though School Transportation News continuously strives for impartiality,
there no escape from politics. They affect everything from property taxes that fund transportation to who the district administration selects as the next department leader.
That said, here are but a few of the biggest questions student transporters are grappling with:

What will be the impact of tariffs?
One reader accused STN of being political for emailing a question last month about anticipated cost increases tied to tariffs. Granted, tariffs are nothing new, but the
pace and potential increases are shocking to many. I think that’s precisely the point of President Donald Trump’s negotiation tactics.

The newsworthiness rests in school districts finalizing their budget requests for next school year. Transportation directors are analyzing what new school buses or other
related products might cost next year or the year after that. The industry and larger society were also just recently hit by the effects of COVID-19-worsened supply chain disruptions and resulting inflation.

What is next for the EPA Clean School Bus Program?
At this report, funding halted amid a federal review. The grantee portal was down, despite assurances that CSBP funding would continue. Partially as a result, diesel appears to be making a “comeback.” We all know that diesel will be available and necessary for years to come but, at least last year at this point, though the engines would be increasingly harder to come by, especially in the dozen states that recognize the California Air Resources Board Advanced Clean Trucks regulation. But now, with CARB foregoing additional federal waivers to fully enforce ACT, I sense that previous outlook on diesel is shifting.

A panel being planned for STN EXPO West with participating school bus and engine manufacturers hopes to shed as much light as possible on this and other topics.

Will Immigration Customs Enforcement agents conduct raids at school bus stops?
As reported by STN and media outlets nationwide, school districts are providing more guidance and training to educators, transportation professionals, students and parents about how to respond. This is amid President Trump’s executive order to increase vetting at the borders and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s subsequent directive to remove the exclusion of “sensitive areas” such as schools, hospitals and homeless shelters from immigration enforcement activities. There had been no reports of such activities at this writing. While ICE officials have reportedly said there are no immediate plans to raid schools and that any enforcement activities would target violent criminals, the potential remains. What might be the impact on student ridership as a result?

What will become of the U.S. Department of Education, its programs and related funding?
Presumptive (at press time) Education Secretary Linda McMahon has made no secret her job is to dismantle the department. I find it more interesting that two of her deputies have long, respected careers in state-level public education, where the Trump administration wants program control to reside. How exactly would that be accomplished?

It would take an act of Congress to dismantle the DOE as well as federal laws like the the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. McMahon said during her Senate confirmation hearing that IDEA could move to Health and Human Services. The Office of Civil Rights, meanwhile, could move to the Department of Justice.

These questions and more will be top of mind this month and beyond. They are all legitimate, no matter party affiliations. But the industry must not focus on red
or blue but yellow. Business must still be conducted with the priority being the children transported and doing everything possible to keep services for them running as safely, efficiently and effectively as possible.

Editor’s Note: As reprinted in the March 2025 issue of School Transportation News.

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