Kentucky Administrative Regulations › Title 702 - EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT CABINET - BOARD OF EDUCATION, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION - OFFICE OF DISTRICT SUPPORT SERVICES › Chapter 5 - Pupil Transportation › Section 702 KAR 5:080 - Bus drivers' qualifications, responsibilities, and training

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 1, July 1, 2024
RELATES TO:
				KRS
				156.160,
				161.011,
				189.540,
				281A.170
				- 281A.175, 49 C.F.R. Parts 380, 382 and 391
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY:
				KRS
				156.160(1) requires the
				Kentucky Board of Education to promulgate administrative regulations relating
				to the transportation of children to and from school and to medical inspections
				and other matters deemed relevant to the protection of the physical welfare and
				safety of public school children.
				KRS
				189.540 requires the board to promulgate
				administrative regulations governing the design and operation of school buses.
				This administrative regulation establishes the qualifications, training, and
				responsibilities of the school bus driver.
Section
			 1. Licensing Requirement. A school bus driver shall have a
			 current, valid Commercial Driver's License with applicable endorsements and
			 restrictions pursuant to
			 KRS
			 281A.170 to
			 281A.175.
Section 2. Medical Fitness.
(1) A local board of education shall require
			 an annual medical examination that complies with
			 KRS
			 281A.175 for each school bus
			 driver.
(2) A person shall not
			 drive a school bus unless physically and mentally able to operate a school bus
			 safely and in accordance with the requirements of this administrative
			 regulation.
(3) If there is
			 limitation of motion in joints, neck, back, arms, legs, or other body parts,
			 due to injury or disease that may limit the driver's ability to safely perform
			 the task of driving a school bus or performing other driver responsibilities,
			 the person shall not be employed as a school bus driver.
(4) A temporarily-injured or ill school bus
			 driver may be assigned duties other than driving until the employee regains the
			 ability to safely perform school bus driver duties.
(5) An otherwise medically and physically
			 eligible school bus driver with diabetes mellitus, may be employed as a school
			 bus driver, if the driver possesses a valid federal Medical Examiner's
			 Certificate as required under
			 49 C.F.R. Part
			 391.41.
(6) A school bus driver taking medication
			 either by prescription or without prescription shall report the medication to
			 the immediate supervisor and shall not drive if that medication may affect the
			 driver's ability to safely drive a school bus or perform other driver
			 responsibilities.
(7)
(a) To ensure student safety, a district may
			 require a school bus driver to pass a medical examination or a special type
			 medical examination more often than annually at the district's
			 expense.
(b) The medical
			 examination shall include risk assessment and appropriate follow-through, as
			 established in
			 702 KAR
			 1:160, Section 1, for tuberculosis upon initial
			 employment.
(c) The medical
			 examination shall be documented on the same form required by the Kentucky
			 Department of Transportation to obtain a commercial driver's license and
			 retained by the district.