School BUSRide April 2025 | Page 8

DISPATCH

Notes on tariffs

By Peter Mannella, NAPT Public Policy Liaison

As we scan or listen to the news each day, we hear lots of reporting about and speculating on the impact of newly imposed tariffs on nations around the globe. The imposition of tariffs is a key part of the Trump administration’ s efforts to bring jobs back to America and to leverage payments from foreign nations believed to be treating American companies unfairly. There are voices on all sides of the tariff issue, and it remains to be seen how they will play out over the midterm and the longer term. For our purposes as an industry, the potential impacts will relate to whether the tariffs will affect the raw materials and components used to manufacture and assemble our iconic yellow school buses. Manufacturers must acquire sufficient steel, glass, aluminum, plastics, fabrics, wiring, rubber, paint and other materials that go into making each bus. For instance, if the steel that forms the frame of a school bus is sourced from Canada or the wiring harnesses are sourced from Mexico or another nation, what happens to the price of those materials and components is important to our work. And then there is the potential for tariffs to apply to affect software programs and applications that we use in our operations. To be clear, we do not know how the price of those materials or pre-assembled parts might be affected by the tariffs, but any increase will surely affect the cost of a school bus to school districts and private contractors. Beyond the simple question of costs, we cannot be certain that manufacturers will be able to source the materials or parts if the market constricts due to demand or due to the inability of foreign-based sources to do business with America successfully. The answers to those very serious kinds of questions are being explored by our manufacturing partners and others who might be affected by the tariffs. That information is proprietary to each company and subject to change as each company assesses the impact and the potential responses over time. NAPT will remain in communication with our partners to better understand this new environment and to help us be good partners with them individually and collectively. We urge our members to stay abreast of these emerging issues and to explore locally and at your state association meetings how they are affecting you as a profession. Our yellow buses are affected by so many external factors and it’ s important for us as professionals to be aware and to be engaged.

Our 2025 conference website is live

By Angela Kelly, NAPT Director of Marketing and Events

Drumroll, please! Our new conference website has officially launched! Visit online at https:// cvent. me / DeG8DZ. Dive into the site to uncover everything we have in store to make ACTS 25 the best one yet! The website highlights the advantages of attending, pricing details, and a wealth of additional information. Stay tuned for updates and important announcements as we prepare for a conference to remember! Please note that conference and exhibitor registration will open next week.

Historic actions at the U. S. Department of Education

By Peter Mannella, NAPT Public Policy Liaison

On March 20, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order instructing Linda McMahon, the Secretary of Education, to take all necessary steps to, in the words of the order:“… to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law, take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the States and local communities while ensuring the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.” Technically, a president cannot simply close a federal agency that was created by an act of Congress( 1979). Such an action would require action by the Congress. But the President can take many actions that limit the involvement and viability of the Department and set the stage for further action. We note that there are many in the Congress who are supportive of such action; but it’ s unclear how widespread that support is. This has been an issue among conservative legislators and advocates for many years. The Department serves several roles and purposes, but in recent years, it has drawn the ire of many of the‘ right’ for engaging in social diversity activities and tying receipt of federal funds to compliance with those activities. This includes enforcing protections for LGBTQ students and protecting minority rights across the nation. Debates over‘ trans’ athletes and so-called‘ critical race theory’ brought further focus on the Department and the notion of eliminating it all together. Another policy focus in the order builds on the President’ s longheld belief that education policy should reside with the states, and ultimately, with parents who should control their children’ s education. Part of the order suggests that funding for some programs may be re-directed to the states and / or local schools in block grant formats. Again, it is unclear how or when this will play out and what the dynamics will be. We also want to acknowledge the team of professionals that we worked with in the Office of Special Education Programs who were helpful to us in shaping some of our efforts in enhancing transportation for students with disabilities and special needs. Schools and states do not receive funding from the Department specifically for transportation services. Nor does the department issue governing regulations for school transportation; those are almost exclusively the domain of the Transportation Department, particularly through FMCSA and NHTSA. However, school transportation services for students with disabilities and for students who are homeless are regulated through the department. These services are also eligible for reimbursement aid under IDEA and Title I, respectively. We have advocated for several years for‘ full funding’ of IDEA; that advocacy will continue in this new environment.

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