CNA (TSBVI) – TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT: STUDENT TRANSPORTATION

DEFINITIONS

For purposes of this policy:

  1. "Bus" means a motor vehicle used to transport persons and designed to accommodate more than ten persons, including the driver.
  2. "Passenger car" refers to a motor vehicle, other than a motorcycle, used to transport persons and designed to accommodate ten or fewer passengers.
  3. “Passenger van" means a motor vehicle, other than a motorcycle or passenger car, used to transport persons and designed to transport 15 or fewer passengers, including the driver.
  4. “School activity bus" means a bus designed to accommodate more than 15 passengers, including the operator, that is owned, operated, rented, or leased by a district and is used to transport public school students on a school-related activity trip, other than on routes to and from school.  The term does not include a chartered bus, a bus operated by a mass transit authority, or a school bus.
  5. “School bus" means a motor vehicle that was manufactured in compliance with the federal motor vehicle safety standards for school buses in effect on the date of manufacture and that is used to transport preprimary, primary, or secondary students to and from school.  The tern does not include a school-chartered bus or a bus operated by a mass transit authority.
  6. “Motor bus" means a vehicle designed to transport more than 15 passengers, including the driver.

Education Code 34.003; Transportation Code 541.201

AUTHORITY

The School may establish and operate an economical public transportation system. For that part of the system that the School operates directly, it shall employ bus drivers certified by the Department of Public Safety. Education Code 34.007

Bus Operation

A person may not operate a school bus if:

  1. The door of the school bus is open; or
  2. The number of passengers on the bus is greater than the manufacturer’s design capacity for the bus. 

Transportation Code 545.426

TRANSPORTING STUDENTS TO SCHOOL

School buses shall be used for the transportation of students to and from schools on bus routes having ten or more students. Passenger cars may be used on routes having fewer than ten students. Education Code 34.003(a)

School Activities

When transporting students in connection with school activities other than on routes to and from school:

  1. Only school buses or motor buses may be used to transport 15 or more students; and
  2. Passenger cars or passenger vans may be used to transport fewer than 15 students.

Education Code 34.003(b)(1), (2)

The operator of a passenger car or passenger van used to transport students to school or to a school activity shall ensure that the number of passengers does not exceed the designed capacity of the vehicle and that each passenger is secured by a safety belt.

Education Code 34.003(c)

WIRELESS COMMUNICATION DEVICES

A person operating any TSBVI vehicle may not use a wireless communication device while the vehicle is in motion. 

See Transportation Code 545.425

STUDENT SAFETY

The School may not require, or allow, a child to stand on a moving bus or passenger van.
Education Code 34.004

An operator of a school bus, while operating the bus, shall prohibit a passenger from:

  1. Standing in the bus; or
  2. Sitting:
    1. On the floor of the bus, or
    2. In any location on the bus that is not designed as a seat.

Transportation Code 545.426

SCHOOL BUS EMERGENCY EVACUATION TRAINING

Pursuant to the safety standards established by the Department of Public Safety under Transportation Code 34.002, TSBVI shall conduct a training session for students, teachers and other educational,  residential and support staff, including all TSBVI vehicle drivers, who accompany students on TSBVI vehicles concerning procedures for evacuating a school bus during an emergency. 

TSBVI shall conduct the school bus emergency evacuation training at least twice each school year, with one training session occurring in the fall and one training session occurring in the spring.  A portion of the training session must occur on a school bus and the training session must last for at least one hour.

The training must be based on the recommendations of the most recent edition of the National School Transportation Specifications and Procedures, as adopted by the National Congress on School Transportation, or a similar school transportation safety manual.

Not later than the 30th day after the date that TSBVI completes a training session, TSBVI shall provide the Department of Public Safety with a record certifying the School’s completion of the training.

Education Code 34.0021

DISRUPTION OF TRANSPORTATION

Any person who intentionally disrupts, prevents, or interferes with the lawful transportation of students to and from school, or activities sponsored by a school on a vehicle owned and/or operated by the School, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

Education Code 37.126

If the illegal act is conducted through use or exhibition of a firearm, the person shall be guilty of a felony.

Education Code 37.125

TRANSPORTATION COMPANY OR SYSTEM

The Board may contract for all, or any part, of its public school transportation with a transit authority, or commercial transportation company, provided that the authority, or commercial transportation company:

  1. Requires its school bus drivers to have the qualifications required by and be certified in accordance with standards established by the Department of Public Safety;
  2. Transports 15 or more students only in school buses or mass transit authority buses that meet or exceed safety standards for school buses established under Education Code 34.002;
  3. Conducts all the following education programs with Board approval:
    1. A program to inform the public that public school students will be riding on the authority's or company's buses;
    2. A program to educate drivers of the buses to be used under the contract of the special needs and problems of public school students riding on the buses;
    3. A program to educate public school students on bus riding safety and any special considerations arising from the use of the authority's or company's buses.

CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD

If the School contracts with a person for transportation services, the School shall obtain criminal history record information from any law enforcement or criminal justice agency relating to a person employed by the person as a bus driver or a person the person intends to employ as a bus driver.  A person who contracts with the School to provide transportation services shall submit to the School the name and other identification data required to obtain the criminal history record information of such persons.  If the School obtains information that such a person has been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, the School shall inform the chief personnel officer of the person with whom the School has contracted, and the person may not employ that person to drive a bus on which students are transported without the permission of the Board. 

Education Code 22.084(a), (b)

Criminal history record information obtained by the School shall not be released or disclosed to any person, other than the individual who is the subject of the information, the Texas Education Agency, or the chief personnel officer of a public or commercial transportation company with which the School contracts to provide transportation services to students. 

Gov’t Code 411.097

COMMERCIAL TRANSPORTATION COMPANY

If the School contracts with a commercial transportation company for transportation services, the company may obtain all criminal history record information that relates to a person employed by the company as a bus driver, bus monitor, or bus aide, or a person the company intends to employ in one of these positions. If the company obtains criminal history record information indicating that a person it employs or intends to employ has been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, the company may not, without the permission of the Board, employ that person to drive or to serve as a bus monitor or bus aide on a bus on which students are transported. If the commercial transportation company obtains the criminal history record information, the School is not required to do the same.

Education Code 22.084 (c), (d)

Adopted:          3/26/93
Amended:        5/23/97, 1/24/02, 11/19/04, 1/25/08
Reviewed:

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