First Student enters the new school year with strong safety, technology, and operational performance. Aug 07, 2026, 08:00 ET Entering the new school year with the scale, technology and operational excellence to help every school district and division begin the year with confidence. CINCINNATI, Aug. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - As North America's largest student transportation services provider, First Student enters the new school year with strong safety, technology, and operational performance. As millions of students prepare to head back to school, the company today announced key safety, technology, and operational milestones from the 2025-26 school year, highlighting measurable improvements that reinforce its commitment to providing the safest, most reliable transportation experience while helping students arrive ready to learn and achieve their full potential. Throughout the 2025-26 school year, First Student continued investing in its drivers, technology, and operations to further strengthen safety across its network of more than 48,000 vehicles operating from 530+ locations. These investments, combined with the continued expansion of the company's proprietary HALO(TM) platform and AI-powered technology, delivered meaningful improvements in driver performance, operational visibility, and the overall student transportation experience. "Every great school year begins with a ride. Our mission is to provide the safest, most reliable, and most efficient ride to school, so every student arrives ready to learn and achieve their full potential," said John Kenning, CEO and President of First Student. "That mission guides every decision we make and is brought to life through our Values, especially our commitment to Care for Our Students and Set the Highest Standards. Every investment we make, from developing our people to advancing our proprietary HALO platform, reflects those commitments. The results we're sharing today demonstrate what's possible when you combine an unwavering focus on safety with a culture of continuous improvement and a determination to deliver the very best transportation experience for every student, every day." At the center of these investments is First Student's proprietary HALO technology platform, which brings together advanced safety technology, enterprise applications, fleet health and preventative maintenance, driver tools and compliance, and communication channels, into one integrated transportation ecosystem. By allowing systems to interact with each other and providing a repository for data sharing across applications, HALO gives school districts and divisions greater visibility, improves operational performance and creates a safer, more connected transportation experience for students and families. Working alongside Samsara (NYSE: IOT), First Student leveraged AI-powered safety deployments to achieve a 49% reduction in rolling stops and 45% decrease in inattentive driving[1]. First Student's commitment to advancing safety through technology has also earned industry recognition, with David Perez, Vice President of Safety at First Student, named Technology Leader of the Year in Samsara's 2026 Connected Operations Awards. "Receiving Samsara's Technology Leader of the Year award is an incredible honor, but it truly reflects the work of our entire First Student team," said David Perez, Vice President of Safety at First Student. "Our mission is to provide the safest, most reliable ride to school, and technology helps us deliver on that promise every day. By pairing innovation with our deep commitment to safety and care for our students, we are setting a higher standard for student transportation and creating safer experiences for the communities we serve." The company's commitment to student well-being is demonstrated through its proprietary First Serves behavioral support program, which bridges the gap between the classroom and the school bus by connecting experienced transportation professionals, educational and behavioral experts, school district leaders, and families. Designed specifically for the student transportation environment, First Serves empowers drivers with the skills and support to effectively manage student behavior and create a safer, more positive transportation experience for students, drivers, and the districts they serve. "Before First Serves, I often felt frustrated and overwhelmed trying to manage challenging behaviors," said Kathy Sands, First Student van driver for Berkshire Local School District. "This training gave me the tools to understand why behaviors happen and how to respond with empathy and confidence. The difference has been life-changing for my students and for me. My van is now calmer, my students are happier, and I truly love coming to work each day." First Student is setting the standard for electric student transportation and operates a large electric school bus fleet. During the 2025-26 school year, the company operated approximately 490 electric school buses, with more than 550 additional vehicles on order. Having logged more than 11.2 million electric miles, First Student continues to demonstrate how transportation at scale can accelerate innovation while delivering proven operational performance for school districts and divisions. As students head back to school, families want confidence that their child's ride will be safe, reliable and on time. First Student's First View(R) parent tracking app now connects more than 300,000 parents through real-time bus and alternative vehicle tracking, estimated arrival times, and transportation updates. With a 4.8-star rating on the iOS Store and multilingual capabilities, First View helps strengthen communication between school districts and families while creating a more connected transportation experience. These continued investments have earned recognition across both the transportation and technology industries. During the 2025-2026 school year, First Student was named to the TIME100 Most Influential Companies 2026 list and received recognition from TIME Best Inventions, Fast Company Next Big Things in Tech, and the Edison Awards for the innovation and impact of its HALO technology platform. Together, these achievements reflect First Student's continued commitment to helping school districts, families, and students start every school year with confidence. About First Student First Student, the leading student transportation provider in North America, safely transports millions of students across the U.S. and Canada each day. With a fleet of more than 48,000 vehicles and a workforce of highly trained drivers, the company partners with school districts, divisions, and boards to deliver safe, reliable, and efficient transportation solutions that families can depend on. Named to the TIME100 Most Influential Companies 2026 list, First Student provides a range of transportation services, including special-needs transportation, routing and fleet management, vehicle electrification, maintenance services, and charter transportation. Through its proprietary HALO transportation technology platform, First Student integrates safety, operations, maintenance, workforce management and customer communications into one intelligent transportation ecosystem that is helping shape the future of student transportation. [1] Data collected was among six locations in a four-week pilot program. SOURCE First Student, Inc.

West Middlesex school board approves school bus contract. By David L. Dye, The Herald, Sharon, Pa. The Tribune Content Agency July 30, 2026 8:27 PM Gift Article WEST MIDDLESEX - One of the last school districts in Mercer County to operate its own bus fleet will be switching to a provider this coming school year. The members of the West Middlesex school board approved a contract with First Student Inc., pending the contract's review by school Solicitor Michael Bonner, during the board's monthly meeting Monday evening. The contract was approved 5-3, with board President Dr. Andrew Erb and members Scott Bartholomew and Jeffrey Simmons casting the "no" votes. Board member Sara Kaufman was absent. In a separate motion, the board voted to terminate the position of transportation Director Matt Bronson. Under the seven-year contract, First Student would operate the West Middlesex Area School District's buses, while school staff would continue operating the district's four vans. First Student will also offer employment opportunities to the district's current bus drivers and Bronson. The contested decision to approve the contract came following an hour-long executive session and two hours of discussion among board members, Bronson and multiple bus drivers who attended the meeting. A few representatives from First Student were present for the meeting, including Business Development Manager Shawn Albright and Manager Steve Hessler, while Director of Business Development Ryan Stanley participated remotely. West Middlesex Superintendent Raymond Omer said school administrators and Bronson have worked for years to address the district's "inadequate" driver pool, which has been an ongoing issue. Previous efforts have included advertising with local and regional media outlets, coordinating with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, offering in-house training and offering flexible schedules to school employees. Those efforts proved unsuccessful in attracting new drivers to the district. School officials looked at cooperating with local transportation companies, but no one was interested. School officials contacted PennDOT about having certain students walk to school, but that would only apply to a small group of students and would require the training of crossing guards. Hiring an assistant for Bronson also proved unfruitful, Omer said. This led school officials to look into outsourcing, which eventually led them to First Student. First Student will employ a location manager, dispatcher and mechanic - all of whom will work out of the school district's existing facilities. The district's drivers and Bronson will be offered employment with First Student "without question," Albright said. If hired, they will receive multiple benefits such as higher pay, nine paid holidays and nine sick days. Driver seniority and seniority routes would also be respected. Omer said district officials expected to save about $72,000 by keeping the district's four vans. While the contract will be an additional expense of about $93,000 this coming school year, the cost for the district to offer the same benefits would be an increase of about $200,000. School officials also have a 15-year rotation for replacing the buses, which continue to become more expensive. Two buses recently ordered cost about $285,000, with construction and delivery taking up to a year or two, Omer said. First Student will provide other features not currently offered by the district's buses, such as driver routing tablets, which would be helpful for drivers learning new routes or stops. Parents will also have access to a real-time bus tracker, which will come in the form of a free, downloadable app. Parents will register their child with the system and only have access to the bus their child rides, Albright said. Since First Student has a larger pool of drivers available, it will be much easier to get a bus driver for an emergency or a last-minute activity by pulling from outside resources. However, the district's regular drivers will always get "first crack" when an unexpected need arises, and will only be sent outside the district voluntarily, Albright said. "Our first and foremost responsibility is to the district," he said. Albright added that "outside" drivers would still come from nearby areas such as New Castle and would be relatively familiar with the area. The company will also look to hire local drivers when bringing on new staff. Bronson said the battle for years has been getting drivers, and that "everyone" supported him over all that time despite the many difficulties faced. "I babied it for 10 years to get it where it is," Bronson said of the district's bus service. "It feels weird. I have a lot of feelings, but I want what's best for the district." When asked by board Vice President Ashley Buzard what the first day of school would look like if the board members decided to keep transportation in-house, Bronson answered: "Not good." Aside from the driver shortages, Bronson himself would struggle to answer phones and organize routes for all the kids, and he has not even had a chance to see where the new kids live and incorporate them into the routes. Bronson added he has worked 14- to 15-hour days in some cases. "I don't know how it looks to start, because I don't know how we would start," Bronson said. Bartholomew said he only recently learned about First Student's proposal and did not feel comfortable making a decision Tuesday. "I'm just asking for more time, but I understand time is limited," Bartholomew said. Simmons also said he had some financial concerns regarding the increased costs to the district, not just for the 2026-27 school year but also down the road. Board member John Cone said he understood those concerns but also said First Student could provide more consistency for students and parents. "I've had multiple changes for my child, and had different drivers and different routes because of shortages," Cone said. "I'm looking for consistency and for the drivers getting taken care of." When board member Rachelle Newton asked what the deadline would be for the board to make a decision, Albright and Hessler said around the end of July. "We'll stay and answer questions, we'll organize a meet-and-greet for our staff and the drivers to get to know each other, and then we'll start the onboarding process, helping the drivers with applications and such," Albright said. The company is expected to bring on three new buses for the 2027-28 school year. The combination of newer buses and the district contracting out its transportation service would bring a higher reimbursement rate of state funds to the district, Omer said. "Everybody has good questions. This is a good dialogue," Omer said. Ultimately, the board voted to approve the contract with First Student pending the contract's review by Bonner. The various board members said afterward they appreciated the input of the drivers, Bronson and First Student, Inc., as well as the civility of the board members' discussions and disagreements. "I want to thank everyone who participated. You were the most valuable parts of the evening," Erb said. Also at the meeting, the board congratulated Bronson and the transportation team for a 100% pass rate during their latest vehicle inspection.