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 5:030 - Pupil transportation

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 1, July 1, 2024
RELATES TO:
				KRS
				156.160,
				189.540,
				281.605,
				49
				C.F.R. 382.101-382.605
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY:
				KRS
				156.160 and
				189.540
				require the Kentucky Board of Education to promulgate administrative
				regulations relating to the safety of public school children, the
				transportation of children to and from school, and the operation of school
				buses. This administrative regulation provides the local board, the district
				superintendent, and principal with standards necessary to assist in
				administering the district's pupil transportation programs and to assure the
				safe operation of school buses and discipline.
Section 1. A school district superintendent
			 shall be responsible for the safe operation and general supervision of the
			 district's pupil transportation program. The superintendent may designate
			 another employee or other employees of the board to assist in carrying out this
			 responsibility.
Section 2. The
			 superintendent shall require that a safety inspection be made on each school
			 bus owned and operated by the board or contracted to the board at least once
			 each month that the district's schools are in session. This inspection shall be
			 made by a state approved inspector. If, upon inspection, a school bus is found
			 to be in unsafe operating condition, the superintendent shall withhold the bus
			 from operation until the required repairs are made. The superintendent shall
			 keep the records of the bus safety inspections on file.
Section 3. The superintendent shall make
			 reports annually to the Department of Education on all school bus accidents
			 that occurred during the year. Accidents involving serious student injury or
			 fatality or failure of safety equipment shall be reported to KDE immediately.
			 KDE shall then distribute this information to all districts.
Section 4. The superintendent shall provide
			 the required school bus driver training before a school bus driver shall begin
			 the duties of transporting pupils to and from school or events related to
			 schools. This training shall at least include the school bus driver course
			 prescribed by the Kentucky Board of Education, in accordance with
			 702
			 KAR 5:080, Sections 7 and 8 and shall be conducted by
			 a state approved instructor. Evidence that the driver has received this
			 training shall be submitted to the Division of Pupil Transportation and a copy
			 shall be retained by the district.
Section
			 5. The superintendent shall be responsible for providing the
			 required in-service school bus driver training which each school bus driver
			 shall complete annually for approval renewal, in accordance with
			 702
			 KAR 5:080, Section 8. The in-service training shall
			 include at least eight (8) hours of required instruction relevant to the core
			 curriculum conducted by an approved instructor. Evidence that each driver has
			 received this training shall be submitted to the Division of Pupil
			 Transportation and a copy shall be retained by the district.
Section 6. A superintendent shall require all
			 drivers of school buses equipped with a crossing control arm to utilize the arm
			 when loading or unloading students. The superintendent or design-ee, in
			 consultation with the certified driver training instructor, shall have full
			 authority as to the use of crossing control arms on school grounds.
Section 7. District school bus inspectors
			 shall complete an annual four (4) hour update conducted by a state approved
			 school bus inspector and instructor.
Section
			 8. The training required to be designated as a state approved
			 inspector is provided in the "Pupil Transportation Management Manual", Chapter
			 6, as revised April 1998.
Section
			 9. A superintendent shall implement a controlled substance and
			 alcohol use and testing program in accordance with Federal Motor Carrier
			 Regulations 382, Section 101 through 605.
Section 10. A district shall provide the
			 owner of any school bus or special type vehicle that is contracted to the board
			 for the transportation of the district's pupils with a written contract each
			 school year in which the responsibilities of the contractor are clearly
			 established.
Section 11. A district
			 shall require the owner of any school bus or special type vehicle contracted to
			 the board to provide a performance bond each school year in the amount that the
			 district deems necessary.
Section
			 12. In route planning and purchasing or contracting for school
			 buses, a district shall work toward providing a sufficient number of school
			 buses to allow each student a seated position that affords the occupant
			 protected compartmentalization and complies with
			 702
			 KAR 5:080, Section 11.
Section 13. Before a district transfers title
			 to a school bus to another party other than a Kentucky school district, the
			 district shall:
(1) Remove all district
			 identification from a board-owned school bus before transferring the title to
			 the school bus to another party. A contract issued by the board to a school bus
			 contractor shall contain a clause requiring the school bus contractor to remove
			 all district identification lettering from the school bus when it is no longer
			 under contract to the district; and
(2) Make the stop signal arm and the red
			 flashing warning lights, strobe lights and crossing control arms inoperable by
			 disconnection or removal.