November 4:
Transportation Director’s Executive Forum: Leading Up
The final day of NAPT ACTS featured the highly anticipated “Transportation Director’s Executive Forum: Leading Up,” an exclusive program tailored for directors’ school transportation. Designed to empower leaders who often feel unheard or undervalued within their districts, the forum provided practical strategies for elevating the visibility and impact of transportation departments.
Facilitated by NAPT CEO and Executive Director Molly McGee Hewitt, PhD, CAE, along with invited experts, the session focused on two critical pillars of leadership: managing up within the school system and strengthening internal operations and teams. Participants explored methods for building positive relationships with supervisors, superintendents, and school boards, emphasizing the importance of effective communication protocols, crisis management, and compelling board reports. Attendees were encouraged to leverage district events as opportunities to showcase the value transportation brings to the educational mission, reinforcing their unit as a key resource rather than a background service.
Equally important, the forum addressed internal operations, providing directors with tools for successful hiring and onboarding, fostering transparent communication, and developing problem-solving processes that empower teams. Strategies for team building, professional development, and navigating parent concerns were highlighted, offering leaders actionable steps to strengthen cohesion and morale within their departments.
What set this session apart was its interactive design. Attendees participated in
“Leading Up” left participants inspired and equipped to tackle the unique challenges faced by transportation leaders. By combining insights on influencing district leadership with strategies for internal team excellence, the session provided an invaluable roadmap for those looking to create lasting impact in their districts. Directors left with renewed confidence, practical skills, and a clearer vision for elevating their departments, proving that transportation leadership is both essential and influential within the broader educational system.
NAPT thanks all of its sponsors for NAPT ACTS:
IC Bus
Thomas Built Buses
Blue Bird
Transfinder
RIDE
First Light Safety Products
Pro-Vision
Zūm
AMF-Bruns of America
BusPlanner
Busology
HopSkipDrive
Tyler Technologies
Q’STRAINT
School Bus Safety Company