News & Events

Schenectady, NY – March 23, 2020 – The National Association for Pupil Transportation and Transfinder Corp. are launching a weekly “Best Practices” webinar series for all school districts, a new initiative designed to assist districts as schools continue to take on new roles to serve their communities during the COVID-19 crisis.

The multi-part series, titled “Best Practices: COVID – Navigating Uncharted Territory,” kicks off this Tuesday, March 24 at 1pm ET. To register for the free webinar: https://tinyurl.com/BestPracticesPart1

“We are seeing districts across the country truly rise to the occasion during this crisis and I couldn’t be prouder to be working for an industry that cares so much for our communities,” said Mike Martin, NAPT’s executive director. “I believe this weekly series will be helpful to all school districts in North America as they continue to seek new ways to help their families. We are pleased to work in tandem with Transfinder on this endeavor.”

The first webinar will focus on three core areas: Goal setting, Communication and Taking Inventory of Your Technology.

“We are all doing our part to help each other get through this unprecedented crisis,” said Antonio Civitella, president and CEO of Transfinder. “We are honored to partner with NAPT on this extremely meaningful and timely webinar series. We look forward to gathering more Best Practices tips to pass on to all districts throughout North America. We are honored to work so closely with and for this caring industry.”

During this session, presenters will highlight some of the unique approaches that innovative school districts have taken to help their districts during this crisis. Attendees will be encouraged to share their own stories and approaches to add to the Best Practices tip sheet, found here: https://tinyurl.com/COVID19BestPractices. There will also be a time for questions.

Topics covered in this first webinar include:

• Goal setting: At the very start of this first webinar series we want to help provide you with questions that you can share with district leaders about setting goals in this new era and identifying new ways to leverage your current infrastructure. Is your focus on making sure free meals are available? Is your priority to keep your staff working, especially those hard-to-find drivers?  Are there other projects that could be tackled now that may be put off because of the “tyranny of the urgent?” If you don’t have a clear destination, how will you know when you get there?
  
  
• Communication:  Having a plan but not communicating it properly can create even bigger problems. What are the best ways to keep your most important asset, your people, engaged, and how to keep your community in the loop on your district’s efforts to meet their needs? During times of crisis like this, you cannot overcommunicate, as long as you have new, relevant and accurate information. Is Facebook and Twitter and other social media the BEST approach to this or are there other tools that will give you more control? Or is a secure communication tool like Stopfinder more advisable?

• Taking Inventory of Your Technology: When was the last time you took stock of all the tools your district currently has? Are there solutions your school already owns that you have not been utilizing that could help you during this time? We will provide you with a way to build that inventory to determine what you have and what you may be missing
  

The series continues Tuesday, March 31 at 1pm ET. Stay tuned for more details.

About Transfinder
Founded in 1988 and headquartered in Schenectady, New York, Transfinder is a national leader in intelligent transportation systems, providing transportation management systems and services to municipalities, school districts and adult care facilities. Transfinder, an Inc. magazine “fastest-growing company” for 11 consecutive years, has offices in Austin, Texas, and Shanghai, China. The software company, named a Best Place to Work and Top Workplace, develops and supports routing and scheduling solutions for optimal transportation logistics. For more information, visit www.transfinder.com.

About NAPT
The National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT) is a diverse community of people that share a passion for safe and efficient student transportation. We are a non-profit organization authorized by §501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code to help our members engage in and influence policy making that will enhance operational safety and administrative efficiency.  In concert with the NAPT Foundation Inc., our §501(c)(3) nonprofit educational affiliate, and NAPT Business Intelligence, LLC, our data analytics and consulting subsidiary, we offer school districts and their transportation and transportation-related service providers a variety of communication, leadership, education, advocacy and research services.