The Southeastern States Pupil Transportation Conference (SESPTC) is a Virginia non-profit corporation created more than 56 years ago to host an annual conference focused on educating student transportation professionals working in the southeast. The member southeastern states are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. The conference has been held annually since 1951. Each state is allowed to nominate 25 delegates to attend the annual conference.
Over the last few years, with the support of industry vendors, the SESPTC has accumulated funds which the SESPTC Board of Directors has decided to disburse in the form of student education scholarships. This year the SESPTC Board has approved the award of two $1,000 scholarships to deserving students in each of the 14 southeastern states. The scholarship funds must be used to cover education expenses at a postsecondary educational institution and will be paid to the institution in support of a student’s 2010-2011 school year expenses.
The attached application includes additional information about the scholarship, including parent and student qualifications, required supporting documentation, and the selection process to determine deserving students.
To qualify, a parent/guardian family must have a gross taxable income less than $75,000 for each of the past five tax years. A parent/guardian of the student must have been actively employed in public school transportation for the past five years. A student qualifies by graduating from a public high school and then attending a postsecondary educational institution in 2010. The $1,000 scholarship can be used for any part of the student’s 2010-2011 school year tuition, books or fees.
To ensure that all eligible students have an opportunity to apply for this scholarship, please help distribute this information to the transportation staff and high school counselors. Eligible applicants include the dependent children of any of the following transportation staff: bus drivers, bus aides/monitors, bus mechanics, directors of student transportation services, bus supervisors, bus driver trainers, bus safety inspectors, and many other positions either employed by a school district, school contractor, a state school, or the Arkansas Department of Education.
Applications must be postmarked no later than April 30, 2010. The awards will be announced prior to May 30, 2010.
Applications should be addressed to:
SESPTC Scholarship Committee
Attn: Mike Simmons, Sr. Transportation Manager
Arkansas Division of Public School Academic
Facilities and Transportation
501 Woodlane, Suite 600
Little Rock, AR 72201