Commissioner's SBDI/MI Advisory Committee
Draft Minutes
Commissioner’s SBDI Advisory Committee
September 27, 2007
Meeting began with welcome and introductions of committee members and guests. Pete James, Committee Chair, appointed Linda Gaffney as secretary for the 2007/2008 year. A draft of the minutes of the meeting will be sent to Marion Edick, final approved minutes to be posted on the SED web site. Minutes will be officially approved at the subsequent meeting. Pete also invited members and guests to send “after-thoughts” to the secretary to that they could be added as an addendum to the minutes.
Sub Committee sign up sheet was circulated for members to indicate their areas of interest. Non Committee members were invited to serve in a non voting capacity on sub committees. Sub Committees consist of the following:
- PDS Committee-Chair, Pete James
- Master Instructor Committee
- Accident Investigation Committee
- Curriculum Development Committee
- Physical Performance Standards Committee
Committees will be appointed and list attached to the Minutes before the next meeting.
(these 2006/2007 Ad-hoc committees will probably not be needed for 2007/2008)
- Distance Learning Ad-Hoc Committee 2006/2007
- Occasional Driver Ad-Hoc Committee 2006/2007
At this time Pete introduced Mr. Charles Szuberla, Coordinator of School Operations and Management Services. Mr. Szuberla spoke briefly about the contract for excellence, New York State school bus fatalities, school safety, bullying, passing motorists and budget issues. He then invited questions from the committee members and guests. Jim Minihan asked for a discussion regarding the Curriculum Sub Committee and the entrepreneurial approach. It was pointed out that currently there are different approved curriculums for Attendant/Monitor training being successfully used today and some feel that training has not been compromised. Kathy Furneaux suggested that tighter control of curriculum approval may be the way to go to maintain the continuity in instruction. The possibility of direct observation and quality control was also suggested. Periodic updates of the Basic and Advanced Manuals was determined to be a priority among the group. Also, once the Driver-Pre-Service is updated, that one should be reviewed periodically to keep it current. Mr. Szuberla suggested that perhaps consideration be given to requesting more than $400,000 on a year to year basis. John McCormick suggested that the RFP process be looked at and a more efficient process be investigated. Mr. Szuberla then had to leave our meeting to meet another schedule. Chairman James thanked him on behalf of the full Committee for making time in his schedule for this meeting.
Committee Reports and Updates and Other Business
Distance Learning
Marion Edick, reported that the Distance Learning Sub Committee has presented recommendations for review and that a draft policy has been developed and sent to BOCES Superintendents for consideration. It was the Department’s position that using technology to deliver curriculum was advisable in remote locations with the following provisions:
- Room approval
- Encourages but does not mandate SBDI presence in each location
- Maximum total enrollment for all locations limited to 35 (or 40 with prior approval)
A question was raised concerning the Point Insurance Reduction
Program (PIRP), Marion responded that a distance learning format cannot be used at this time to deliver PIRP and that the final determination of that rests with DMV.
Occasional Driver
Marion reports that at this time DMV is revising it’s 19-A requirements and that the requirements for volunteer drivers are being reviewed. SED will hold off on any further action on occasional drivers until DMV finalizes their requirements.
Status of RFP Awards
Five year contracts have been awarded for the following:
- PDS Curriculum Development- awarded to Safety Rules
PDS Delivery-awarded to PTSI
2008 PDS Curriculum
Ted Finlayson-Schueler from Safety Rules distributed a proposed document outlining his draft outline of the PDS program for committee members. He pointed out that the PDS Manual will be available on line prior to the actual PDS. Ted asked for feedback for his proposal. Various committee members voiced their opinions on pre-session assignments and topics. It was suggested that a curriculum other than Pre-Service be explored because it seems to be a duplication of efforts. Ted explained that this was not intended to be a duplication, but rather an effort to get ideas and suggestions from the field that could then be considered along with the sub-committee’s recommendations when the new Pre-service is developed. It was also noted that it was included because it was one of the strongest topics from the annual MI meeting in July that the MI’s attending placed the highest priority on ( the desire to discuss it with all the State’s SBDI at the PDS).
2006/2007 Status of $400,00 Funding
Marion reviewed that status of funding and reviewed the distributed spread sheet with committee (attached). She also asked for input on how to spend the remaining budgeted dollars over both the short and long term. The following were suggestions of the committee:
- Evaluation, observation and monitoring of PDS around the state
- Updating the Basic, Advanced and the Pre-Service manuals
- Upgrading the Pre-Service Curriculum is high priority
- Re-do the Basic Manual over a five year period
- Update training to include new technologies
- Expand SBDI curriculum to include Power Point
- Student management techniques
The committee set top priority for updating the Basic Course and developing an new Pre-Service Curriculum and manual.
Marion requested that committee members give some further thought for
additional priorities for the next few years to be discussed at our December
2007.
New Rules & Regulations
- Chapter 670 Laws of 2007: Anti Idling Law: Brief discussion ensued.
- Chapter 181 Laws of 2007: PJ’s Law: Training needs to be in place for new drivers by 1-1-09 and for veteran drivers by 7-1-09
- State Comprehensive School Bus Driver Safety Training Council: Needs to get up and running before we can move forward with implementation of PJ’s Law
- Universal Pre-K: Commissioner’s findings that pre-k transportation is not authorized unless it is a State Education Department approved Universal Pre-K program.
Next meeting Thursday, December 6, 2007 at the State Education Department Building from 1:00-5:00 P.M in room 217 EB.
Meeting adjourned 4:45 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Linda Gaffney