2021-Second-Quarter-Newsletter
| 2020 In Review |
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| Think back one short year ago, many of you were sitting on the beach in warm and sunny Key Largo enjoying time away from the daily riggers of coordinating and planning for the business year ahead. STAM was planning for all the activities it sponsors for the membership. Activities such as the Roadeo, summer conference as well as the many training courses offered through the year. The STAM office also started a change in the structure and the way it worked for the Association, as it’s two long time stalwarts announced their retirements. First let me try my best to properly thank Frank and Lyn for their years of commitment to STAM and all of it’s members. |
A Thank You to Frank and Lyn |
| Lyn started with STAM in 1993 as it Managing Director. Through the years she built a strong organization by being the “go to” person for everything STAM. Her strong and personal relationship with all members built a family environment where all were welcome equally. Lyn’s ability to place a high value and importance on outside organization was a major part in the relationship with the RMV. She knew hot to produce the high quality SBDI classes, which required a strong partnership. As many changes were occurring in the industry, Lyn would provide everyone with all the vital information needed so a solid decision can be made and support by all. Lyn carried this relationship building skills to be a trusted member of NSTA. Lyn would take any information of value coming from the many NSTA publications or meetings and make sure it was shared with all. She also would not hesitate to work with NSTA for their input on many important topics affecting all of us. She would also work with NSTA legal team to be guest speakers at our annual winter conference. I have heard how great and timely their speeches were to our membership. Over the years the success and growth of the many events STAM sponsored can be directly attributed to Lyn and her commitment to STAM. Frank started with STAM in 1993 as an accountant. Brought in by Pete Eastman, Frank brought a strong accounting background and quickly brought the Association into a financially solid footing. Frank established a series of financial reports that clearly highlighted where the Association was every month, and was always available to answer questions for its members. He was also a student of how the Association ran and what the objectives and goals were which needed to be met to improve it both for the members as well as legislatively. Frank maintained this role until the untimely death of Pete Eastman. At this point he combined the jobs of accounting and the Executive Director of the Association. Using both roles Frank not only built a stronger Association for all members, he also built strong relationships with our lobbyist and state legislatures to ensure STAM’s voice was always heard when it came to the school bus industry in Massachusetts. Over the years many changes having an impact on the Bussing Industry in the state were brought in front of the legislature for action. Frank took pride in his ability to develop legislation as well as present it in front of many legislative committees. Frank is directly responsible for STAM’s name being highly thought of and regarded with the many state agencies we work with. With 2020 being as it was, we were not able to give both Frank and Lyn a proper thank you for the value they provided to STAM, but hopefully 2021 will provide us an opportunity to do so. |
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2020’s Challenges |
| 2020 brought an unimaginable year of obstacles and mountains everyone needed to climb. School’s closing early, legislation changes, federal programs, law suits, and trying to maintain staff. Then there were the changes the RMV tried to implement. Changes such as seating capacity in 7D vans, pre-registration inspections and changes to training to name just a few. As the RMV went through management and structural changes it appeared we suffered many head scratching regulation changes. With these obstacles we met as a group to design action plans in which all members could benefit from or use. We met weekly to provide updates, either from STAM or each other. We brought in a PR firm to help us with a very successful letter writing campaign to our state house leaders strongly advocating for the changes top M.G.L c. 41 sec. 56. Our P.R. firm worked with us to get our message out as to the very difficult times the School Bus Industry was in and will continue to face long after the fiscal year 2020 ended. These actions showed the importance of staying focused and aggressive when trying to get our message out. Thanks to the help of many, we were able to convince the legislature to extend the change to c. 41 sec 56 for the current fiscal year. Once this was done many of the districts agreed to work with their bus contractors on a fair compensation rate. As a group our members banded together to initiate legal action against two school districts who ignored the law change and refused to work with either our member or STAM. We continue to monitor the lawsuits as they work their way through the court system. The goal is to get a positive ruling in our member’s favor which will set precedents moving forward. Going into this fiscal year the picture still looked cloudy and bleak, but, at least we knew some of the obstacles we were facing. DESE shortened the school year and many districts began the school year in total remote learning. It was clear we were entering a new era in education in the state. Knowing there would be less days of in-person learning, again, we began an aggressive letter writing campaign notifying districts of their contractual agreements of 180 school days. From this, many districts stepped up and agreed to negotiate with their transportation providers for potential lost transportation days. We continue to work with state agencies to ensure the bus contractors are not forgotten and when schools open we will be ready to provide the quality and safe transportation of students they have come to count on. |
| Changes Within The RMV |
| We began last year with many major changes within the RMV. First, was the change from the registry to the state police taking over the school bus driver road test. Neither the RMV nor the State Police initially liked the change putting us in the middle. Many meetings were setup with the State Police so they could get a better idea of who we were as well as STAM getting a better idea of what their expectations were of us. As what turned out to be a typical scenario for 2020, both sides went into this relationship blind. There were many bumps along the way, but, as we got further into the year, the line of communication grew, which provided a better understanding on each side. We will still look to expand our communication with all who have a stake driver licensing. The RMV also looked to change the seating capacity in all 7D vans from 12 to 10. With this change their expectation was to have this in place by the end of August 2020. As a group we were able to get the RMV leadership group to hold off on this change until the end of August 2021, as well as put together a working group to review the value of this change. With our urging, we able to get a few seats in this working group which will prove beneficial as we step up the relationship with the RMV. The RMV also decided they were not going to participate in the updated training of certified School Bus Driver Instructor’s. They dropped this on STAM in October and told us we were now in charge of this. We were able to quickly get three longtime SBDI to agree to try and take over this class. We ran the first two classes with Margaret in attendance and they were a success. We are now prepared to take this on full speed for all member and non-members moving forward. The RMV also informed us that they were looking to get others involved in the training but have been unsuccessful in finding anyone. As we wrap up a crazy and busy year, I want to welcome Liz Dacey to our staff. Liz will become a valuable member as she works with both Julie and I to bring all that STAM does for its members to a new level. They will coordinate all training courses, schedule all conference and conventions as well ensure all communication to the members is done in a proper and timely manner. On a personal note I want to thank all of you for your patience and understanding with me as I learn the School Bus business. I personally want to thank David for his time and valuable information he has shared with me. The learning process would have been much harder without David. The STAM office has many projects planned for 2021. All which will hopefully benefit all of the members. Our number one goal is to increase everyone’s awareness of STAM and the value we have and offer to the industry. |
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