News

Yesterday the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) under the Department of Labor issued an emergency temporary standard requiring covered employers to develop, implement, and enforce a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy unless they adopt a policy requiring employees to choose to either be vaccinated or undergo regular COVID-19 testing and wear a face covering at work. This directive applies to two-third of the nation’s private sector workforce, covering employers with 100 or more employees, and the 26 states and two territories with OSHA State Plans. (For a map showing OSHA State Plans, click here: https://www.osha.gov/stateplans/.)

Under the directive, employers are also required to:

• Determine the vaccination status of each employee, obtain acceptable proof of vaccination status from vaccinated employees, and maintain records and a roster of each employee’s vaccination status.
• Require employees to provide prompt notice when they test positive for COVID-19 or receive a COVID-19 diagnosis. Employers must then remove the employee from the workplace, regardless of vaccination status and not allow them to return to work until they meet the criteria.
• Ensure each worker who is not fully vaccinated is tested for COVID-19 at least weekly or within 7 days before returning to work under the return-to-work protocol.
• Ensure that in most cases each employee who has not been fully vaccinated wears a face covering when indoors and when occupying a vehicle with another person for work purposes.

Under the directive employers are not required to pay for testing. Employers may be required to pay for testing, however, according or other laws or requirements. In addition, the directive requires employers to provide paid time off to workers to get vaccinated and to allow for paid leave to recover from any side effects.

This directive is effective immediately and employers are required to comply with most requirements within 30 days and testing requirements within 60 days (by January 4, 2022). OSHA has also issued this directive as a notice for proposed rulemaking and is open for comment. The full notice can be found here: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/11/05/2021-23643/covid-19-vaccination-and-testing-emergency-temporary-standard.

As you know, due to the ongoing travel restrictions attendant to COVID we have canceled our in-person 2021 Annual Conference this year.  We are pleased to announce, however, that we will be holding a virtual conference for all of our members, and we hope you will be able to join us.

After considering the many different facets of our Annual Conference, we believe we have put together a program that includes many of the elements you have come to expect of our conference while ensuring everyone can participate, regardless of the virus or travel and/or budget restrictions.

Our schedule for the virtual conference follows, and at this time, includes a mix of confirmed and invited speakers.  Please know this is the schedule we hope to keep, but we may have to shift things around as speakers continue to confirm their availability.

If you would like to participate in our conference for part, or all, of the sessions, you will need to register for both December and January, although registration is complimentary.  By registering, this will allow us to us to confirm you are a current NASDPTS member, as well as assist us in the elections process at our NASDPTS Annual Meeting being held on December 1^st. 

REGISTRATION:

You can also visit the Upcoming Events section of the website to register.

ANNUAL CONFERENCE DETAILS:

Details on the Annual Conference can be found here.  The schedule is tentative and may change slightly, so check back often.

While we will not be meeting in-person this year, we hope you will join us and take full advantage of this alternate options.  If you have any questions or comments, contact us any time.

Thank you for your continued support of NASDPTS!

Montpelier, Vermont – The 2021 National School Bus Safety Week (NSBSW), which is held every year during the third week in October, is October 18 – 22, 2021.  Celebrations during this week encourage communities to join together to focus on school bus transportation generally, and school bus safety specifically.

“National School Bus Safety Week is a great time for school districts to focus their efforts on safe school transportation by reminding everyone of the safety message highlighted in each year’s specific campaign.  This year the theme is, ‘Be Safe, Know the Danger Zone’, which is an especially important safety message as children board and exit the school bus each and every day,” offered NASDPTS President Pat McManamon.

“Being aware of the danger zone is a very important safety message.  The danger zone is the area immediately around the school bus and it’s important for students to remember three things when they are around the school bus.  First, it is very important for students to arrive to their school bus stop early, so they are not rushed.  Second, they need to stay three, giant steps back from the curb until the bus stops and opens the doors.  And third, they need to pay attention to the driver when they are boarding and exiting the bus.  The safety of all children depends on students actively using these guidelines each and every day,” noted NASDPTS Executive Director Ronna Weber.

Important School Bus Safety Week resources can be found at www.americanschoolbuscouncil.org and www.schoolbusfacts.com.

For more information on the National School Bus Safety Week Poster Contest, please go to:  https://www.napt.org/postercontest.

The U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Service (OSERS) has issued the following documents:

• A letter sent to all state and local education agencies clarifying that despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rights of students under the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) to a free appropriate public education (FAPE) have not changed. (https://sites.ed.gov/idea/files/rts-idea-08-24-2021.pdf)
• The first in a series of Q&A guidance documents in response to multiple requests from stakeholders for clarification. (https://sites.ed.gov/idea/files/rts-qa-child-find-part-b-08-24-2021.pdf)
• The second in a series of Q&A guidance documents in response to multiple requests from stakeholders for clarification. (https://sites.ed.gov/idea/files/rts-iep-09-30-2021.pdf)

We will continue to monitor this office for further Q&A guidance documents and alert you as they become available.

If you have any questions, contact Ronna Weber at ExecDir@NASDPTS.org.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) recently released a Final Rule on Drug and Alcohol Testing and the State Driver’s License Agency (SDLA) Non-issuance or Downgrade of Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) or Commercial Learners Permit (CLP).  The rule is effective as of November 8, 2021, and compliance is required as of November 18, 2024.

The purpose of this final rule is to improve highway safety by ensuring that CLP or CDL holders with drug and alcohol program violations do not operate a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) until they complete the return to duty (RTD) process and can lawfully resume driving. Currently, most SDLAs do not receive drug and alcohol program violation information about CDL, or CLP holders licensed in their State. Therefore, these SDLAs are unaware when a CMV operator is subject to the driving prohibition set forth in 49 CFR 382.501(a), and the CMV operator continues to hold a valid CDL or CLP despite the driving prohibition. The rule closes that knowledge gap by ensuring that all SDLAs are able to determine whether CMV drivers licensed in their State are subject to FMCSA’s CMV driving prohibition. The rule facilitates enforcement of the driving prohibition by requiring that SDLAs deny certain commercial licensing transactions and remove the commercial driving privileges of individuals who are prohibited from operating a CMV and performing other safety-sensitive functions, due to drug and alcohol program violations. By requiring SDLAs to downgrade the driver’s licensing status by removing the commercial driving privilege, the final rule will also permit all traffic safety enforcement officers to readily identify prohibited drivers by conducting a license check during a traffic stop or other roadside intervention.

Under the Final Rule there are two ways the SDLA will receive notification of the driver’s prohibited status: (1) The SDLA ‘‘pulls’’ the information from the Clearinghouse by conducting a required query prior to a specified commercial licensing transaction; and (2) FMCSA ‘‘pushes’’ the information to the SDLA whenever a drug or alcohol program violation is reported to the Clearinghouse for a CLP or CDL holder licensed in that State. FMCSA will also ‘‘push’’ a notification to the SDLA when the driver complies with RTD requirements and is no longer prohibited by FMCSA’s regulations from operating a CMV. In addition, if FMCSA determines that a driver was erroneously identified as prohibited, the Agency will notify the SDLA that the individual is not prohibited from operating a CMV; the SDLA must promptly reinstate the commercial driving privilege to the driver’s license and expunge the driving record accordingly.

The final rule does not establish specific downgrade or reinstatement procedures. All States currently have established procedures to downgrade the CDL or CLP of a driver whose medical certification has expired or otherwise been invalidated. The Agency anticipates that States will adapt their existing processes to remove the CLP or CDL credential from the license of any driver subject to the CMV driving prohibition, and to reinstate the commercial privilege following receipt of notification from FMCSA that the individual is no longer prohibited from driving a CMV (or was incorrectly identified as prohibited).

The full Final Rule may be accessed here:  https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection/2021-21928/controlled-substances-and-alcohol-testing-state-drivers-licensing-agency-non-issuancedowngrade-of.

If you have any questions, contact Ronna Weber at ExecDir@NASDPTS.org.

Montpelier, Vermont – The National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS) announces the cancellation of the 2021 National School Bus Illegal Passing Survey. NASDPTS made the difficult decision to cancel this year’s survey due to the continued impact of the COVID pandemic on school services as well as the current shortage of school bus drivers and the need to focus all operations on safely transporting students each and every day.

“The National School Bus Illegal Passing Survey is a very important tool in school transportation to not only highlight the safe transportation of students but to also assist in the continued education of motorists about the need to stop for the yellow school bus. As regular operations return, hopefully in 2022, we look to resume the survey at that time,” stated NASDPTS President Pat McManamon.

“Consistent data from one year to the next is very important, but 2020 and 2021 have been anything but normal for school transportation. It is our hope that by delaying our survey to 2022 districts can focus solely on safety at this time,” added NASDPTS Executive Director Ronna Weber.

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Please be aware that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) opened up two School Bus Rebate programs yesterday. These programs provide funding to replace older diesel buses with cleaner school buses.

• The latest round of the DERA School Bus Rebates can be found here: https://www.epa.gov/dera/rebates

• The new 2021 American Rescue Plan (ARP) Electric School Bus Rebates can be found here: https://www.epa.gov/dera/2021-american-rescue-plan-arp-electric-school-bus-rebates

You will find separate applications, program guides, and FAQs at the two sites above. The programs will follow the same timeline, with applications due by Friday, November 5, 2021, at 4pm EST.

If you have any questions, contact Ronna Weber at ExecDir@NASDPTS.org or call (703) 203-6485.

The Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) Surface Transportation Security Advisory Committee’s (STSAC) Annual Report is now available and can be found here: Surface Transportation Security Advisory Committee | Transportation Security Administration (tsa.gov) under “Annual Reports.”

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) opened up two School Bus Rebate programs yesterday. These programs provide funding to replace older diesel buses with cleaner school buses.

• The latest round of the DERA School Bus Rebates can be found here: https://www.epa.gov/dera/rebates

• The new 2021 American Rescue Plan (ARP) Electric School Bus Rebates can be found here: https://www.epa.gov/dera/2021-american-rescue-plan-arp-electric-school-bus-rebates

Note: The new ARP rebates exclusively fund electric school bus replacements at a rebate amount of $300,000 per bus, but the rebates are narrowly targeted to school districts estimated to have high student poverty levels. School districts and private fleets serving public schools must check the eligibility list at the link above to determine if they qualify to apply to this new program. The ARP rebate webpage also includes a table comparing the two rebate programs.

The U.S. Environmental and Protection Agency has released an updated website specific to the 2021 American Rescue Plan Electric School Bus Rebate Program (2021 American Rescue Plan (ARP) Electric School Bus Rebates | US EPA). EPA will fund $7 million in electric school bus rebates in underserved communities under this program and it will run concurrent to the annual DERA program rebates. Funding is available for school districts as well as contractors. Of note, the website contains a chart comparing the Electric School Bus Rebate Program with the DERA program. The website is meant to give you advance notice to the opportunity and details as well as relevant documents, information, dates, and deadlines will be updated as they become available.