FILE:  ED

Cf:  EDCA

 

STUDENT TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT

 

 

The Rapides Parish School Board shall provide to eligible students school transportation services which shall meet the objectives of safety, efficiency, adequacy, and economy.  Through the use of publicly and privately owned buses, the Board shall maintain a student transportation program that meets or exceeds minimum standards as set forth by pertinent statutes and the State Department of Education, as well as policies established by the Rapides Parish School Board.  It shall be unlawful for the School Board to permit the transport at one time a number of children on a school bus that exceeds the number of seats available on that bus.

 

All vehicles, owned by either the school district or contract bus operators, shall carry evidence of insurance and be registered, marked, and equipped according to law.

 

All buses and other vehicles used primarily for the transportation of students shall be inspected by the assigned driver and the Supervisor of Transportation on a regular basis.  All school vehicles shall be inspected a minimum of twice a year, once during June or July or August and certified as safe prior to the beginning of the school session, and once during December or January or February of each school year, by an approved Louisiana Motor Vehicle Inspection Station.

 

BUS PURCHASES

 

School buses used to transport students, including activity and backup buses, shall not be more than twenty-five (25) years old.  All replacement school buses, at the time they are acquired by the owner, shall be ten (10) or less model years old.  The number of years shall be reckoned from the date of introduction of the model year.  This shall apply to buses purchased by veteran owners/operators, by newly hired owners/operators and by the School Board, individual schools, booster clubs, etc., for the purposes of transporting children to and from school and school-related activities and for use as spare buses.  When a new bus is purchased or the ownership of a bus is transferred, the requirements contained in the applicable laws and school district regulations shall be observed.  All buses so purchased shall be required to pass all mandated inspections prior to any usage.

 

All school buses used to transport students shall at all times be driven by operators possessing a valid Commercial Driver's License (CDL) and having completed state-required pre-service certification training.  All school bus operators, including contract bus operators, shall be required to personally operate the school bus assigned or owned, except in the case of illness or emergency.  In such cases, a substitute shall be assigned by the Supervisor of Transportation.

 

BACK-UP BUSES

 

School bus operators that have a back-up bus or who plan to purchase a back-up bus shall be required to carry insurance on each bus in the amount of at least one million dollars.  Such buses shall also be required to meet all required inspections and be registered, marked and equipped according to law.

 

VIDEO EQUIPMENT ON SCHOOL BUSES

 

As a means to help ensure safety and proper conduct on School Board owned and/or contracted school buses, it shall be the policy of the Board that video surveillance equipment be allowed and/or required when such equipment is requested and approved by the Supervisor of Transportation, and operated under rules and regulations established by the Superintendent.

 

Purposes for which the video equipment may be used are:

 

  1. Monitoring behavior and conduct of students on the bus.

  2. Evaluating the conduct and performance of the operator of the bus.

  3. Providing evidence relative to adherence or non-adherence to policies of the Board.

 

Revised:  June, 2003

 

 

Ref:    La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§17:158, 17:158.1, 17:158.2, 17:158.3, 17:158.4, 17:158.5, 17:158.6, 17:158.7, 17:159, 17:159.1, 17:159.2, 17:160, 17:162, 17:163, 17:164, 17:165, 17:166, 17:492, 32:293, 32:378

Olive Morgan v. Livingston Parish School Board, First Circuit Court of Appeals, March 1991

Louisiana School Transportation Specifications and Procedures, Bulletin 119, §701, §2501, §2903, Louisiana Department of Education

Board minutes, 6-2-98, 4-1-03

 

Rapides Parish School Board