1. School Bus Driver Training
Unit A The School Bus Driver: Role, Responsibilities, and Requirements

2. Objectives
At the end of this session school bus operators will be able to:
Describe their role and responsibilities
Recognize that their appearance and behavior affect community attitudes
Demonstrate positive and supportive attitudes and habits
Know their responsibilities to their supervisor, fellow employees, and the school district
Understand the process for becoming a school bus operator in Pennsylvania

3. Introduction Competent school bus drivers are essential!
School bus drivers have specific
Roles
Responsibilities
Becoming a school bus driver has certain
Requirements
Competent school bus drivers and standard bus operation are necessary to a safe, efficient, and economical student transportation system.

4. Roles, Responsibilities, Requirements
Role as a driver
Responsibilities as a driver
What do I need to do to become a School Bus driver in PA?
This Unit is about the
Role
Responsibilities
Of school bus drivers, as well as the
Requirements
Needed to become a licensed driver or recertify as a driver.

5. Role as a Driver Attitude You are important You are responsible
You are a member of the Safety Team
Driving a school bus is difficult, requiring:
knowledge of laws and regulations
visual and mechanical skills, ability to make judgments, decisions, and accurate responses.
There are four foundational components of your role as a school bus driver:
You need the right attitude
You need to recognize that you are important
You need to be responsible
You are part of the Safety Team

6. Attitude Stay positive Recognize your moods
Be prepared to make allowances for the poor attitudes of others
Always be mentally alert
Being aware of your moods, as your moods may influence your driving. For example, carrying anger may lead to aggressive driving.
Further, your mood may influence those around you. Be positive! Greet your students with a smile.
The poor attitudes and driving of other motorists may influence you. Be mentally prepared to make allowances. Do not react emotionally. Such reactions may lead to a crash.
A good school bus driver must also be able to maintain focus. There are many distractions when driving a bus, but nothing can be allowed to distract the driver’s attention from the task at hand – to safely transport students to and from their schools.

7. You are Important Professional Part of the educational system
Representative of the school system
Influence
Professional school bus drivers have an important responsibility in the school system.
You are the first person within the educational system students see in the morning and the last they see in the afternoon. As such, you have an influence on children’s attitudes toward school.

8. You are Responsible Safely transport students You control your driving
You control your attitude
Your job is to safely transport students from one place to another.
Under your control are:
how you drive
how you feel about your students - you should enjoy being around students
how you feel about your coworkers
how you feel about your job.
Allow yourself to enjoy your job and keep a positive attitude!

9. You are a Member of the Safety Team
Safety starts with you
You are transporting students in buses on public roadways
You are a key member of the safety team that works with the students each day
The roles that affect students each day together constitute a safety team. This safety team includes:
students
their parents
teachers
school administrators
law enforcement officials
school bus drivers
In terms of directly affecting student safety, school bus drivers have as much responsibility as anyone on the team.

10. Responsibilities as a Driver
High standard of conduct
Driving technique
Passengers
Public relations
Appropriate dress
Supervisor and fellow employees
Relationship to Transportation Director

11. High Standard of Conduct
Standard of conduct is high
Your conduct cannot be open to criticism
You are a role model to students
You are a representative of the school district
A school bus driver is expected to meet standards of conduct higher than other professional drivers. Your conduct on and off duty must be such that your actions are not open to criticism.
Your students and their parents place great confidence in you. You need to be:
Dependable
Emotionally stable
Mature enough to cope with unexpected situations.
Interested in the welfare of others
Patient and understanding
Enjoy working with students
Observant of traffic laws, regulations, and rules
Neat and clean as a symbol of the entire school system
Refrain from using profane language
Well rested
Free from drug and alcohol use

12. Driving Technique Driver attitude Knowledge Skill
Your attitude toward driving, your knowledge, and your skill are all developed through an interest in safe driving.
This development includes pre-employment training and continued in-service training. Development of driving technique requires consistent re-evaluation and improvement.
A safe and defensive school bus driver must handle and maintain control of the bus at all times.

13. Passengers The conduct of passengers depends upon the driver
Express an interest in your student passengers
Show that rules are about safety
Be fair
Communication is businesslike, yet friendly
Try, as much as possible, to establish positive relationships with your student passengers. To a large extent passenger behavior will depend on your rapport with them.
A way to establish good rapport and show interest is to try to learn your passengers’ names, and greet them when they enter the bus. This can help you gain their confidence.
Also, compliment your passengers’ good behavior.
Explain the rules of the bus at the beginning of the school year, and maintain discipline according to those rules. Be fair.
Communicate with passengers – be businesslike, yet friendly.

14. Public Relations
You influence public opinion about the school district
You represent the school district to parents
Consider all enforcement officers as part of the safety team
Show pride in your work
Respect co-workers
The behavior of school bus drivers can directly influence the opinions people in the community have toward the school district. Sometimes school bus drivers are the only representatives of the district that the parents of students meet. How bus drivers interact with their children will guide the opinions of those parents.
Students and their parents have a wide variety of opinions about the school system. Treating everyone with courtesy and professionalism will do much to enhance your own reputation as well as instill confidence in your student passengers and their parents.
All safety enforcement officers are part of the same safety team as you are. These include crossing guards and school patrols. Work with them. Their cooperation with you, and yours with them, enhances the safety of students.
Good relations with the community begin with good relations with your co-workers. An organization whose employees demonstrate mutual friendliness, interest, and respect is in a position to extend good relations beyond itself.

15. Appropriate Dress
The school bus driver should be identified as a professional
Dress to instill respect
Wear appropriate shoes for driving
The school bus driver should look different than students. Clothing that is more like the clothing worn by students is inappropriate, such as jeans with holes or patches and jackets with inappropriate language limits the driver’s ability to command the necessary level of respect.
Shoes must comply with school district safety standards. Some examples of shoes that may not meet safety standards might inlcude:
Open-toed shoes
Sandals
Clogs
Wooden-soled shoes
Shoes with heels more the two inches high.
The best shoes for driving:
Have a flat sole
Cover the entire foot
Fasten securely

16. Supervisor and Fellow Employees
Your supervisor is a member of your safety team
Cooperation is essential to transportation safety
Communicate
Report
Comply
Assist
Because your supervisor and your co-workers are all members of the same safety team with you, transportation safety for your student passengers depends upon cooperation among all members of the team. Your supervisor is as concerned with the safety of your passengers as you are.
The list of ways to cooperate with your supervisor given in the School Bus Drivers’ Training Manual can be summarized with these actions:
Communicate
Report
Comply
Assist

17. Transportation Director
Your advisor
Your partner
Their typical responsibilities include:
Assigning drivers to buses
Establishing bus routes, stops, and turnarounds
Assigning passengers to buses
Ensuring buses are safe to operate
Appointing monitors/aids as needed
Understand your working relationship and cultivate it!
Consider the Transportation Director as your advisor and partner.
The Transportation Director is especially helpful to you when you are working through discipline problems on your bus.
As an instructor, be sure that you explain to drivers their working relationships to the Transportation Director.

18. What Do I Need to Do to Become a School Bus Driver in PA?
First Step - Initial requirements
Second Step - Knowledge Test Authorization and School Bus Learner’s Permit
Third Step – Training and skills testing requirements
Health and safety requirements
Driver recertification
The Federal government requires each state to establish regulations for the training and professional development of school bus drivers. The regulations in Pennsylvania were designed to ensure that school bus drivers are:
in good physical condition
of good character
skilled in the operation of their buses
To become a certified bus driver in Pennsylvania, a person must:
Meet several initial requirements
Successfully complete training and testing requirements established by the state

19. First Step – Initial Requirements
Apply for a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) Knowledge Test Authorization/Learner’s Permit
To apply for your Learner’s Permit you must:
Be 18 years of age or older
Have a School Bus Driver’s Physical Examination Form (DL-704) completed by a heath care provider or physician appointed by the local school board. If you successfully pass your physical exam, the physician will issue a Physical Examination Certificate (DL-742), good for one year.
Complete the Commercial Learner’s Permit Application (DL-31CD) and submit it to PennDOT with the completed DL-704 and the applicable fee.
If you do not meet the physical qualifications required, your application will be denied.
These materials may be submitted to any PennDOT Driver License Center or may be mailed to PennDOT’s Special Driver Programs Unit at PO Box Harrisburg, PA
The DL-31CD is available online and the DL-704 must be obtained through your employer.

20. Second Step – Knowledge Test Authorization and Learner’s Permit
If your documents are in order, and
You have no license suspensions, then
You are issued
a CDL knowledge test authorization, and
school bus learner’s permit.
Remember, only the school bus learner’s permit is valid for operating a school bus. The knowledge test authorization is not valid for driving.
Both the school bus learner’s permit and the knowledge test authorization are valid for one year. During this year you are required to complete all knowledge and skills testing.
The knowledge examination consists of:
Vision test
Knowledge tests, which may include any or all of the following:
general knowledge
passenger endorsement
school bus endorsement
removal of the air brake restriction (if you are going to be driving a bus with air brakes).

21. Third Step – Training and Skills Testing Requirements
The School Bus Driver Training Course
Skills examination: Three parts
Safety inspection
Basic skill test
On-road driving test
PA law requires certain commercial permit holders to wait at least 15 days before taking an examination to upgrade their driving privilege. Refer to Publications 117 and 52.
Check the driver eligibility date on the bottom of your learner’s permit to determine the earliest you may take your driving test.

22. The School Bus Driver Training Course
20 hours of instruction
14 hours of classroom instruction
6 hours of in-bus training
In-bus training must be one-on-one with a certified instructor
The school bus driver training course is administered by certified instructors from local school districts, contractors, or Intermediate Units, under the supervision of PennDOT.
The course is available to all public, private, and parochial school bus driver applicants.

23. The School Bus Driver Training Course
There are two ways to complete the training:
Complete the full 20 hours of instruction, then attempt to pass the skills examination
Complete 10 hours of instruction (7 classroom, 3 in-bus) and attempt to pass the skills examination
If successful, complete the remaining 10 hours of instruction within 120 days
A Certificate of Completion Card will then be issued, keep it! You will need it for your skills exam.
First Method
PennDOT recommends the first method of completing all training before attempting the skills examination.
Second Method
Check with your employer if they will be using this method. If choosing this method, the 10 hours of instruction taken before the skills examination are comprised of 7 hours of classroom instruction and 3 hours of in-bus instruction. The 10 hours of instruction taken after the skills examination are also comprised of 7 hours of classroom instruction and 3 hours of in-bus instruction. NOTE: All topics must be covered in both 10 hour courses of instruction.
All in-bus instruction MUST be ONE-ON-ONE with a certified school bus driver instructor.

24. The School Bus Driver Training Course
Documentation for skills test:
Valid driver’s license
Valid PA CDL learner’s permit
Valid Physical Examination Certificate (DL-742)
Valid Certificate of Completion Card (DL-713)
Current bus registration
Proof of financial responsibility for bus
Valid driver’s license for driver accompanying you
Check the bottom of your learner’s permit to determine your driver test eligibility date. Refer to Pubs 117 and 52
When presenting yourself for the skills examination, you must be accompanied by a commercial driver who is at least 21 years of age and licensed to operate that vehicle. In the event that you do not successfully complete all of the skills testing requirements, you will also need to be accompanied by a commercial driver who is licensed to operate that vehicle.

25. The Skills Examination Will be Administered in Three Parts
First part – safety inspection
Second part – basic skills test
Third part – on-road driving test
First Part – Safety Inspection
If driving a bus with air brakes, performing an air brake check will be part of this examination. Inability to correctly perform an air brake check will result in an automatic failure of this portion of the test.
Second Part – Basic Skills Test
This part of the test will include a selection of maneuvers from these exercises:
Simulated or actual student discharge
Simulated or actual railroad crossing
Forward stop
Straight line backing
Alley dock
Parallel park (driver’s side)
Parallel park (conventional)
Right turn
Backward serpentine
Third Part – On-road Driving Test
An automatic failure of this portion of the test will occur if you commit any traffic offense, run over a curb or sidewalk, or cause a crash. Refer to Publication 223.

26. The Skills Examination
Three attempts on a valid learner’s permit
One attempt a day
Failure of a portion requires retesting for just that portion
Three failed attempts requires a new learner’s permit and all training requirements

27. The Skills Examination
Successfully completing the skills examination:
Passing result credited to your driving record
If all minimum requirements are met, you will receive a CDL with “S” and “P” endorsements
You will receive a school bus endorsement card (valid for approximately one year)
If you successfully complete the skills examination with only 10 hours of training:
You have 120 days to complete the remaining 10 hours of training
The school bus endorsement card is reissued annually, requiring an annual physical examination.
For those passing the skills examination with half the training, the other half of the training is required within 120 days. If that second half of the training is not completed within the 120 days, the applicant’s school bus endorsement card is canceled.
When operating a school bus, the driver is required to carry three credentials:
Valid CDL with “S” and “P” endorsements
Valid school bus endorsement card
Valid physician’s certificate
Additionally, the driver should also have available proof of financial responsibility and the current registration card for the bus.

28. Health and Safety Requirements
General
Drug and alcohol testing for school bus drivers
Driving a school bus requires the driver be fit with regard to the health and safety of the students being transported.

29. Health and Safety Requirements: General
To establish fitness you must:
Comply with PA Department of Health and local regulations for communicable diseases
Clean criminal history record
Clean child abuse history record
Limited traffic violations or crashes recorded
Drug-free and Alcohol-free when driving
Local school district requirements may be more stringent than these – your employer should be able to offer guidance regarding specific requirements such as the number of traffic violations on your record that are considered excessive.
Also, remaining alcohol-free means not consuming any alcohol within 8 hours of driving a school bus.

30. Drug and Alcohol Testing for School Bus Drivers
Required by Federal government
Drug testing by urine sample for:
Marijuana
Cocaine
Opiates
Amphetamines
Phencyclidine
Alcohol testing by breath analysis
The Federal government has required drug and alcohol testing for school bus drivers since the 1990s. Companies or school districts with 50 or more employees were required to implement testing first, beginning January 1, Companies or districts with 49 or fewer employees were required to implement testing beginning January 1, 1996.

31. Drug and Alcohol Testing for School Bus Drivers
Federal government requires:
Pre-employment testing
Random testing
Post-crash testing
Reasonable suspicion testing
Local policy dictates:
Return-to-duty testing
Follow-up testing
State law requires testing after ALL Reportable crashes involving a school bus.
Pre-employment testing
All applicants must submit to testing at the time of application.
Random testing
Lottery-style selection process. After selection, the names are returned to the lottery and are eligible for subsequent testing.
Post-crash testing
Required for any crash involving a fatality, or
Bodily injury requiring immediate medical attention away from the scene and the bus driver has been issued a citation, or
Vehicle damage sufficient to require towing and the bus driver has been issued a citation.
PA requires post-accident by state law after ALL reportable crashes
Reasonable suspicion testing
Done when a trained supervisor observes specific, contemporaneous, articulable objective facts that indicate current drug or alcohol use.
Return-to-duty testing
This is only conducted if an employer has a “second chance” policy. Discuss what your local policy is regarding a positive drug or alcohol test. If a “second chance policy” is in place, return-to-duty testing is conducted ONLY after a qualified Substance Abuse Professional (SAP) has determined the person is ready.
Follow-up testing
Recommended by a substance abuse professional after an assessment following a positive result or refusal to take a test. After return-to-duty testing, follow-up testing is conducted for a period of one to five years with a minimum of six unannounced tests during the first year. This testing is in addition to regular testing.

32. Driver Recertification
Recertification Process in General
Annual physical examination
Change of information on license

33. Driver Recertification General
PA law requires recertification every 4 years
10 hours of instruction
7 hours classroom instruction
3 hours in-bus instruction
“S” endorsement skills and knowledge exam
To be completed no more than 12 months prior to expiration date of school bus endorsement card
When you successfully complete the training and testing requirements, a new school bus endorsement card will be issued 45 days before the expiration of your current “S” endorsement.
If the skills and knowledge examination is failed three times, the applicant must surrender their current school bus endorsement card to the examiner. That applicant must then apply for a new learner’s permit and redo all the training and examination requirements.
When taking the examination for recertification you will need:
Valid driver’s license
School bus recertification notice
Valid physical examination certificate
Current vehicle registration card for the bus driven during the examination
Valid proof of financial responsibility for the bus driven during the examination
You will be asked to sign a School Bus Driver’s Training Report Form (DL-714) to verify that you have met the minimum training requirements. If you have not, do not sign the form. Falsifying this form may be punishable by a fine and imprisonment.

34. Annual Physical Examination
Annual requirement
Examination by a health care provider
School bus endorsement card will not be renewed without physical exam

35. Change of Information on License
New camera card or photo license issued when:
Adding or deleting an endorsement
Removing a restriction
Upgrading class of license
When changing name or address on CDL or school bus endorsement card, submit form DL-80CD with appropriate fee

36. Key Resource…