About IPTA
Woody Harden, Vice President
Woody Harden, Transportation Director
Washington Community Schools
I have been a member of the IPTA since 1996. I have served on the board of directors since July 2002. I have held the positions of IPTA Vice President, and IPTA President, and I am currently the Parliamentarian for the IPTA Board. I have also served as the Board President for the Washington County Mini-Bus Board of Directors since 2014. I am also a New Driver S.T.O.P. Course and 3-Hour Annual Renewal Instructor for Kirkwood Community College.
I had no intention of being in school transportation for this long! I started driving a school bus on January 9, 1991, in Muscatine at the age of 19 as a part-time gig until I found something else. That something else never came, and I moved into the assistant mechanic position at Muscatine in 1995. I then made a district move to Louisa-Muscatine CSD in 2000 to be the mechanic, eventually evolving into a mechanic/director position. I then made one last district move in 2004 to the Washington CSD to their Transportation Director position that eventually became a shared position with several different area districts over the years and my position is currently shared with WACO Community Schools.
My wife Tarra and I have two children, Rebecca, and Spencer, who spent most of their early years here at the conference each summer. Rebecca just married in September of 2023, and Spencer will be getting married in August 2024. In my spare time, I like to go camping with friends, have our family, friends, in-laws, outlaws, or anyone else who wants, to come to our house for family game nights, and go motorcycle riding with my son when I can.
My longevity in school transportation and the IPTA has helped to move the IPTA through many changes over the years while keeping the organization stable as well. I have participated in everything from IPTA organizational leadership, NCST Participation as an Iowa Delegate in 2010, and attendance at several NAPT Conferences over the years. I have seen the formation of Kayden's Law, the results of our 2019 IPTA bus crash demonstration and 3-point seat restraints, to an unprecedented global pandemic that no one could have imagined. I hope to be able to continue to be an active and dynamic participant on the IPTA board and I thank you for the confidence you have afforded me in my previous terms on the IPTA Board of Directors.