OAPSE members do important work all over the state, and we hope you have enjoyed meeting some of the more than 36,000+ who are making a difference for Ohio’s children and families.

This is the final video in our series showing our members at work and highlighting the critical roles they play in public education.

Jennifer Ennis is a paraprofessional with Alexander Local Schools and has been a proud OAPSE member for 16 years. She is vice president of Local 525 and is a member of the PEOPLE program. Jennifer is vice president of Southeast District and serves on the OAPSE Executive Board as the alternate from Southeast District.

Take a look at our short video highlighting Jennifer and the work she does for students every day. Jennifer is OAPSE. Get to know her. Get to know us.

Nelsonville-York Local Aimed to Help Those in Need in Southeast Ohio

With the holiday season upon us, many OAPSE members will give thanks for their many blessings. But this isn’t the only time of year during which OAPSE activists undertake community action projects to help those in need.

Last spring before school let out, OAPSE Local 400 members decided that instead of spending money on their annual summer picnic, they would donate to the Southeast Ohio Food Bank and Kitchen.

The plan was the idea of local member Susan Wagner, who worked with the local’s then-president Kathy Van Bibber and Local 400 member and Southeast District President Tim Warren.

“We heard from some of our members that we should do something for those less fortunate than us – people who needed it more than we did. So we decided to help people through our local food bank. But we didn’t want to just donate the $500. We wanted to actually help fill boxes and load the truck,” said Warren.

A group of Local 400 members spent two hours at the food bank filling boxes with food and later loaded a truck for delivery to those in need.

“It was a great project. We wore our OAPSE Making a Difference shirts. We enjoyed the time working together and really felt great about having an impact in our community,” Warren said.

He noted that hunger is not a partisan issue. In fact, Republican State Representative Jay Edwards, from Nelsonville, worked with the group for their two-hour shift and loaded produce on the truck.

“We all put politics aside and focused on making a real difference in our community. It was such a success for us as a local union because we were able to help and we showed our area that we care,” Warren said.

OAPSE members do important work all over the state, and we hope you have enjoyed meeting some of the more than 36,000+ who are making a difference for Ohio’s children and families.

This is another video in our series showing our members at work and highlighting the critical roles they play in public education.

Kathy Chamberlain is a long-time bus driver with Preble-Shawnee Local Schools and has been a proud OAPSE member for 21 years. She is president of Local 678 and serves as the local’s PEOPLE captain. Kathy is treasurer of Western District and serves on the OAPSE Executive Board as the board member from Western District.

Take a look at our short video highlighting Kathy and the work she does for students every day. Kathy is OAPSE. Get to know her. Get to know us.

OAPSE members do important work all over the state, and we want to introduce you to some of the more than 36,000+ who are making a difference for Ohio’s children and families.

This is the latest video in our series showing our members at work and highlighting the critical roles they play in public education.

Arnetta Banks is a long-time instructional assistant with Columbus City Schools and has been a proud OAPSE member for 35 years. She is vice president of Local 518 and serves as the local’s PEOPLE captain. Arnetta is president of Central District.

Take a look at our short video highlighting Arnetta and the work she does for students every day. Arnetta is OAPSE. Get to know her. Get to know us.

OAPSE opposes proposed changes to Ohio law that would shift the responsibility for student transportation safety on public school buses from the state to individual local districts across Ohio.

OAPSE represents more than 8,200 school bus drivers, mechanics and aides who could be affected by the changes listed below. We have submitted formal opposition to these changes in Ohio law to the Ohio Department of Education.

The state will no longer be in charge of providing safety and training programs regarding pupil transportation.

The statewide pupil management code is eliminated, so school bus rules will be up to the district.

School bus stop guidelines are eliminated, leaving the district in charge of designated stops without any safety guidelines.

“Taking away statewide guidelines regarding transportation safety and training programs, pupil transportation management (code of conduct) and school bus stop criteria makes transportation less safe. Leaving all these rules and guidelines up to individual districts takes away the uniformity parents, students and staff need to maintain the safest transportation environment possible. Also, leaving safety and training programs up to the district comes with a dollar amount some districts can’t afford,” Weston said.

He said OAPSE will continue to fight the changes and will keep members informed.

Click here for correspondence to the ODE regarding the changes to Ohio law impacting public transportation safety.