8600A - BUS DRIVER AND BUS MONITOR QUALIFICATIONS AND QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE OPERATOR OF A SPECIAL PURPOSE BUS AND APPROPRIATE VEHICLE

School Bus Driver and Monitor

The School Corporation will not employ a person to drive a school bus for the transportation of school children or be employed as a school bus monitor unless s/he satisfies the following requirements:

1. is of good moral character

2. does not use intoxicating liquor during school hours or while on duty

3. does not use intoxicating liquor to excess at any time

4. is not addicted to any narcotic drug

5. is at least:

   1. twenty-one (21) years of age for driving a school bus

   2. eighteen (18) years of age for employment as a school bus monitor

6. holds a valid public passenger chauffeur's license or commercial driver's license issued by the State of Indiana or any other State (This requirement does not apply to the employment of a school bus monitor.)

7. possesses the following required physical characteristics:

   1. sufficient physical ability to be a school bus driver as determined by the State school bus committee (575 IAC 1-8)

   2. possession and full normal use of both hands, both arms, both feet, both legs, both eyes, and both ears

   3. freedom from any communicable disease that:

      1. may be transmitted through airborne or droplet means

      2. requires isolation of the infected person under 410 IAC 1-2.1

   4. freedom from any mental, nervous, organic, or functional disease which might impair his/her ability to operate a school bus properly

   5. visual acuity, with or without corrective lenses, equal to the vision requirements under 49 C.F.R. 391.41 and a field of vision with a 150-degree minimum and with depth perception of at least eighty percent (80%)

The Corporation may not employ an individual who is less than twenty-one (21) years of age as a school bus monitor unless the Corporation does not receive a sufficient number of qualified applicants for employment as school bus monitors who are at least twenty-one (21) years of age. The Corporation will maintain a record of applicants, their ages, and their qualifications if school bus monitors less than twenty-one (21) years of age are employed.

Operator of a Special Purpose Bus or Appropriate Vehicle

The operator of a special purpose bus or an appropriate vehicle must:

1. be at least twenty-one (21) years of age;
2. authorized by the School Corporation;
3. pass an expanded criminal history check and child protection index check; and
4. hold a valid operator's, chauffeur's, public passenger chauffeur's, or commercial driver's license (except in the cases that the special purpose bus: has a capacity of more than fifteen (15) passengers or is used to transport pre-school or developmentally disabled children, then the operator must meet the same requirements as a school bus driver).

© Neola 2022