The National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT) Annual Awards Program honors people at every level of the profession who help make school transportation a safe and effective way for children to reach school. This year’s five recipients represent different roles and career paths. One protected students during a fast-moving emergency. Another built a career through continuous learning. A special needs coordinator helps students become confident riders, while a nationally respected consultant has spent decades connecting transportation practice with research. A safety training officer prepares drivers for the pressures they will face after the classroom work is complete.
Together, their stories show how professional excellence takes shape in work:
NAPT Distinguished Service Award
Susan Shutrump, Susan Shutrump Consulting LLC
Susan Shutrump’s national service began with a parent’s phone call in 1991. The caller’s son used a wheelchair on the school bus. His wheelchair provider, who was also an occupational therapist, had attended a conference where researchers presented findings on wheelchair securement and occupant protection. The information made clear that transporting students side-facing in their wheelchairs was unsafe.
Shutrump, an occupational therapist herself, began studying the research. She discovered that school transportation professionals across the country were trying to protect students with little federal guidance. Equipment providers and researchers held important pieces of the safety picture, while special education staff understood individual students. Too often, that knowledge did not reach the people responsible for transportation.
At Trumbull County Educational Service Center, Shutrump helped turn emerging knowledge into practice. Buses were retrofitted for forward-facing wheelchair tiedown and occupant restraint systems. The organization also created a process for individualized transportation plans developed jointly by transportation and special education personnel.
The local results raised a national question for Shutrump. What happened in districts that lacked the same administrative support or channels for collaboration? That concern drew her into committee work, curriculum development and conference presentations. Her aim was to help research reach the professionals who could apply it for students.
“A student’s safety on the bus should never depend on whether the people responsible for it are talking to each other, or on whether the people doing that work every day are treated as the safety experts they truly are,” Shutrump said.
She retired in 2024 as supervisor of occupational and physical therapy services for Trumbull County ESC after more than 40 years of therapy experience. Her service to student transportation continues through Susan Shutrump Consulting LLC and an extensive record of national involvement.
Shutrump served on the original writing committee for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s “Child Passenger Safety Restraint Systems on School Buses” curriculum and every revision that followed. She was a national subject matter expert for the 2023 revision. The work is especially important to her because the curriculum trains people who secure children aboard buses every day.
She also co-chaired the Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers Operations Committee for three consecutive National Congresses on School Transportation. With many state occupant protection laws exempting school vehicles or providing limited direction for young passengers, national guidance becomes a vital safety resource.
During the return to school after COVID, Shutrump served as a special adviser to the Students Transportation Aligned for Return to School Task Force. She valued its deliberate attention to students with disabilities and complex medical needs during an unprecedented operational challenge.
Her NAPT record includes service as past chair and current co-chair of the Special Needs Committee. She served on the association’s Special Needs Advisory Board from 2017 through 2019 and was appointed to the Special Needs and Professional Development Series committees for 2023 through 2025. She holds the NAPT Special Needs Transportation endorsement and received the association’s Special Needs Transportation Award in 2007.
Shutrump has been tenured faculty and a National Advisory Board member for the Transporting Students with Disabilities and Special Needs Conference since 1994. She is a certified child passenger safety technician and has presented across the country. Her writing includes a chapter on safe transportation practices in both editions of an American Occupational Therapy Association textbook for school-based practitioners. That contribution allows new occupational therapists to encounter transportation safety during their education instead of discovering critical gaps after a problem occurs.
She believes today’s leaders must respect frontline knowledge and build collaboration across disciplines. Rapid changes in equipment and vehicle technology have raised the stakes, while workforce shortages place added pressure on drivers and attendants. Students may also travel with increasingly complex medical or physical needs.
Her advice to future leaders begins with curiosity. They should compare current practices with current research before a crisis forces the issue. Relationships across departments should be built early, and experienced professionals should mentor those who will follow them.
“Never lose sight of the fact that every policy, every committee meeting, and every piece of equipment on that bus ultimately comes down to one thing: getting a child to school safely,” Shutrump said
NAPT Heroism Award, sponsored by Blue Bird
Jeff Hall, Dickson County School District, Tennessee
Jeff Hall had been a school bus driver for less than four months when students aboard Bus No. 5 alerted him that something was wrong. He was driving in Charlotte, Tennessee, nearly 12 miles from the school and about 20 miles from the Dickson County School District transportation office. The surrounding area was served by a volunteer fire department, which meant Hall could not count on immediate assistance.
He stopped the bus and quickly recognized that smoke and fire were developing. Hall evacuated every student, moved the group a safe distance away and brought them inside a nearby store. Within minutes, the fire intensified and the bus was lost.
The outcome rested on what Hall did before the situation could overwhelm him. He stayed calm and moved directly into the procedures he had been trained to follow. There was no time for extended deliberation. A bus full of children depended on him, and he responded with maturity that belied his short tenure behind the wheel.
Those who worked with Hall said his actions reflected how seriously he accepted the responsibility of driving a school bus. Once students stepped aboard, he understood that their safety had been entrusted to him. The fire revealed his character under the hardest possible conditions.
“Anybody can do the job when everything is going right,” a district representative said. “When something goes wrong, that’s when you find out what somebody is made of. Jeff stayed calm, followed his training, and made sure every student got off that bus safely.”
Hall did not seek attention after the evacuation. Colleagues said he viewed his response as part of the job and remained focused on caring for the children. That humility deepened the meaning of his actions for the district community.
His recognition carries added weight because Hall died unexpectedly less than two months after the bus fire. He had called the district after lunch one day to say that he was feeling unwell and planned to see a doctor. About an hour later, colleagues learned that he had passed away. His loss came without warning, cutting short a life and a student transportation career that had already made an enduring impression.
Hall was recognized by the Dickson County School System, the Tennessee Highway Patrol and the Tennessee Association for Pupil Transportation. The national honor from NAPT extends that recognition across the profession. It also keeps the focus on the students whose lives were protected because their driver acted without hesitation.
“I hope that’s what people remember, not just that his bus caught fire or that he received these honors, but that there were children counting on him, and he made sure every one of them got to safety,” the district representative said.
Hall grew up in the Dickson County school system and later returned to serve its students. His time as a driver was brief, yet his legacy carries a clear lesson for transportation professionals. Training matters because an emergency leaves no room to begin preparing. Character matters because procedures still require a person who can act. When Hall’s moment came, he put his students first.
NAPT Continuing Education Award, sponsored by Thomas Built Buses®
Angela Renz, CSPT, Metro Nashville Public Schools, Tennessee
Angela Renz began her career with Metro Nashville Public Schools as a school bus driver in 1998. More than 25 years later, she serves as a transportation manager overseeing school bus operations and staff in the northeast and southeast quadrants of the district. Between those roles, she worked as a dispatcher and transportation supervisor, gaining experience across Nashville and throughout the department.
Her career illustrates the value of learning from each position while continuing to pursue formal professional development. Renz earned the Certified Supervisor of Pupil Transportation designation in 2023, a milestone that expanded her understanding of operational leadership and established practices in safety.
“Continuing education and professional development have played a critical role in my growth as a student transportation professional,” Renz said. “Throughout my career, I have learned that student transportation is constantly evolving and requires us to stay informed and adaptable.”
Local and national training programs have helped Renz develop knowledge she can apply to service for students and families. Conferences and leadership programs have also connected her with peers whose experiences offer practical insight. For Renz, those exchanges are especially important because professionals can share what has worked in their districts while speaking candidly about approaches that have fallen short.
Certification strengthened her technical abilities, but its effect went further. Renz said professional development has helped her become a more effective mentor and advocate. The knowledge she gains becomes a resource for employees and schools, linking her personal growth to the reliability of the district’s transportation service.
Her next goals center on leadership and strategic planning. As transportation operations adopt emerging technology and confront workforce pressures, Renz wants to deepen her understanding of organizational leadership and change management. She is particularly interested in employee engagement as well as recruitment and retention.
That focus reflects her belief that employees form the foundation of a successful transportation operation. Drivers, bus monitors and supervisors need leaders who can support their development and foster a positive workplace culture. An engaged workforce can deliver safer service and a better experience for Nashville families.
Renz also wants to help develop future leaders within the department. She sees continuing education as an obligation that lasts throughout a career because regulations and operational practices keep changing. The same principle applies to a new driver and an experienced manager. Both must remain open to new information if they are to serve students well.
“By investing in our own learning, we become better equipped to support our teams, improve transportation operations in our district, and ensure the highest level of service for the students and families we serve,” she said.
The Continuing Education Award recognizes what Renz has achieved while pointing toward work that continues. Her goal is to make Metro Nashville Public Schools’ commitment to safe and reliable student transportation unmistakable. She believes stronger skills and better staff development will move the district closer to that standard each day.
NAPT Special Needs Transportation Award, sponsored by Q’STRAINT / Sure-Lok
Pamela Kelley, Spartanburg School District Six, South Carolina
Pamela Kelley understands special needs transportation from the driver’s seat and the operations office. She began as a school bus driver in Spartanburg School District Six and has served the district for 12 years. After earning a position on the office staff as a dispatcher, she helped coordinate the daily work of transporting more than 5,000 students. Her role later developed into operations and special needs coordinator, placing her at the center of transportation accommodations for students who require individualized support.
Kelley measures success through safe access and growing independence. A child may initially need a child safety restraint system to ride comfortably. Over time, careful planning and support can help that student use fewer restraints while continuing to travel safely. Hearing that a student no longer needs the system is deeply meaningful to her because it represents confidence and progress.
The path to that progress may begin well before a regular route. Some students with special needs have never ridden a school bus. Others have tried and found the experience difficult. A large vehicle, unfamiliar adults and an established loading routine can make the first step intimidating.
Kelley’s team gives students time to become familiar with the bus without the pressure of a normal school-day schedule. Drivers may visit a student’s home during the day and invite the child to ride around the block with a parent. The parent’s presence offers reassurance and allows the student to experience the bus in a controlled setting.
The team also brings buses to schools so students can board at their own pace. They can ride for a few minutes, practice expectations and unload without feeling rushed by other passengers. This patient introduction helps staff teach safety rules while observing how each child responds to the environment.
“Our team of drivers is willing to go above and beyond to help students feel more confident getting on a bus,” Kelley said.
Her work requires attention to the way individual needs interact within a shared space. One student may call out or tap the side of the bus, a behavior that staff can often manage without difficulty. The same sound could trigger distress for another student. Drivers and monitors must understand each rider while considering the combined environment aboard the vehicle.
That responsibility extends far beyond operating the bus. CDL instruction provides an essential base, but transporting students with disabilities calls for knowledge of behavior and communication. Staff members must recognize how different personalities and disabilities can coexist while maintaining comfort and safety for everyone.
Kelley’s career gives her an unusually broad view of that challenge. Her background as a driver grounds her decisions in the realities of the route. Dispatch experience taught her how daily changes affect a system serving thousands of students. In her current role, she connects those operational demands with accommodations shaped around individual riders.
The award recognizes that special needs transportation succeeds through relationships and time. A planned practice ride may seem small compared with a districtwide operation, but it can change a child’s access to school. For Kelley, each student who boards with greater confidence is evidence that patience has produced a practical result.
NAPT School Bus Driver Training & Safety Award, sponsored by IC Corporation
Dennis Murphy, Greenville County Schools, South Carolina
Dennis Murphy approaches training with a clear purpose: drivers should leave prepared for the real challenges of transporting students, rather than merely prepared to pass a test. As a safety training officer with Greenville County Schools, he draws on his own background transporting students to teach drivers how to respond safely when classroom principles meet traffic, stress and student behavior.
Murphy believes an exceptional program goes beyond state and federal standards through extensive classroom instruction and hands-on training. Realistic scenarios help drivers understand why a safety procedure matters and which dangers require their attention. Weekly safety messages reinforce that learning after initial training ends.
Availability also matters. A driver’s need for guidance does not stop after qualification, so Murphy wants drivers to know that additional instruction remains accessible throughout their careers. That continuing relationship allows a training program to respond to experience on the road instead of treating learning as a one-time requirement.
“Training more real-life scenarios and not just helping drivers pass a test helps the drivers to understand the importance of being safe and the dangers to look out for,” Murphy said.
High-stress driving simulations form a central part of his approach. Drivers must manage activity inside the bus while responding to other road users, changing conditions and the pressure of keeping a schedule. Student management simulations add another layer of practice, allowing drivers to build responses before a difficult situation occurs with children aboard.
Murphy’s goal is to make safety the driver’s natural reaction under pressure. When stress rises, he wants the first question to be what action best protects the students and the public, along with the driver. Repeated practice can make that decision-making process more immediate when circumstances leave little time.
The training must evolve because the job is changing. Population growth and heavier traffic place drivers in increasingly complex roadway environments. Student management strategies must keep pace with the needs drivers encounter. New technology aboard buses can support safe operation, but drivers need preparation to use those systems effectively and understand their role.
Murphy describes himself as someone who loves teaching school bus drivers about the challenges of their work and how to meet them. The award recognizes the effect of that commitment across an operation. Each driver he prepares carries the lessons onto a route, where sound judgment protects a new group of students every day.