School BUSRide spoke with Stephanie Clark, Transportation Supervisor at City Schools of Decatur in Georgia. She discussed her recent certifications, and the role they have played in her professional development.
Please tell us about your history in pupil transportation.
My name is Stephanie Clark, and I am currently employed with the City Schools of Decatur. I entered the field of pupil transportation almost 11 years ago after leaving corporate America. I initially made the career change for my family, and I started as a bus driver. I even drove my own kids; I had their route, and they rode my bus for all five years of elementary school.
I loved it and I loved my students. But after my children moved on to separate magnet schools, I decided to explore an opportunity on the administrative side. I had an extensive background in administration but had stepped back from it for my kids’ sake. I started dispatching and did that for two years. Then I became an assistant supervisor, and now I’m the supervisor in my current district.
What are the biggest transportation challenges you’ve observed in your district?
Everyone’s talking about shortages: driver shortages, mechanic shortages. I can see that coming for me as well, but my situation is a bit different. I have what I call “the last of the Mohicans”—that is, long-time, dedicated staff who are all retirement eligible. So, I’m looking at a potential mass exodus. If they decide to retire this year or next, I’ll be facing the same driver shortage crisis.
For me, it’s about staying ahead of that curve, figuring out how to recruit and be ready for the next generation of bus drivers.
Why did you originally pursue your NAPT certification?
I came from a larger district where all the rules and regulations were already in place. But when I moved to a smaller district, things weren’t as clearly defined. I didn’t always know what questions to ask (or who to ask) since, besides my director, I’m the only salaried member of the management team.
So I turned to NAPT and GAPT for professional development. I started taking classes to help guide me in the right direction and to better understand what I should be asking. What started with one class quickly turned into something much bigger. I touch almost every aspect of our operation: fleet, routing, community engagement, HR, you name it.
That journey turned into two and a half years of education, and it was well worth it. It helped guide my career and gave me the tools to address safety and compliance issues. Most importantly, it helped me ask the right questions of both my director and my district.
What advice would you give to other NAPT members looking to increase the breadth of their professional development?
For someone who is newer to the field, I would encourage them to use NAPT as a platform to gain clarity, understanding, and a solid foundation in the trade. The information is incredibly valuable. I can’t express that enough.
What can NAPT as an organization do to best support you going forward?
One thing I’d really like to see is for NAPT to serve as a vehicle for data sharing. For example, when it comes to fleet issues—let’s say I’m having a problem with certain buses and a bloat issue—I should be able to reach out to NAPT and ask how many other districts are experiencing the same thing.
Because NAPT has access to districts nationwide, there’s a real opportunity for us to tap into that collective knowledge. We should be able to pour into NAPT, and NAPT should be able to pour back into us.