Page 108 - School Bus Operators and Attendants Handbook

FLORIDA ADMINISTRATIVE CODE

1. Responsibilities of the director or supervisor of transportation:
a. To counsel with school bus drivers regarding safety and efficiency of service to schools and to make
recommendations to them for improvement in service.
b. To confer with the superintendent or the superintendent’s designee regarding bus drivers and to recommend
such personnel for employment.
c. To instruct school bus drivers in procedures to be followed in conducting school bus emergency evacuation
drills and to confer with each school principal regarding scheduling, conducting and documenting school bus
evacuation drills. These procedures shall include a requirement that all drivers of school buses transporting students,
teachers, or chaperones on field and activity trips instruct all passengers in the locations and proper use of school bus
emergency exits prior to each such trip.
d. To counsel with bus drivers regarding driver responsibility and authority.
2. Responsibilities of the school principal or other designated school staff:
a. To assume responsibility under the direction of the superintendent for all student disciplinary cases which arise
in connection with transportation.
b. To plan the program of the school so that transported students who arrive early or remain late will be under
school supervision at all times.
c. To plan and assign places for students to get on and off school buses at the school, and to ensure the safety of
the loading/unloading zone and to provide supervision of students.
d. To direct school bus emergency evacuation drills on each bus serving the school during the first six (6) weeks
of each semester, and to maintain documentation for all students.
e. To provide instruction for all transported students in safe practices on and off the bus during the first six (6)
weeks of the first semester of the school year.
f. To request authority in writing for transportation of students on field trips and activity trips, or other special
trips, and to plan such trips in accordance with policies approved by the school board.
3. Responsibilities of the school bus driver:
a. To pass all required physical examinations and meet such requirements as may be prescribed by law or rules.
b. To be clean and neat in appearance, and to refrain from wearing shoes which are not securely held on the foot.
c. To refrain from use of tobacco while operating the bus, and to use no profane language in the presence of the
students. Operators shall not use or be under the influence of alcohol, illicit drugs, or any substance which may impair
the driver’s alertness or performance while on duty.
d. To prescribe, in cooperation with the principals, the seating arrangements of students on all buses.
e. To report needed changes in school bus transportation to the director or supervisor of transportation including
bus loads, bus deficiencies, road hazards, routes and schedules.
f. To study and observe all laws and rules of the State Board of Education and the school board relating to the
service of transportation.
g. To attend and participate in conferences and training classes for school bus drivers and to be prepared at any
time to pass successfully a reasonable examination concerning traffic laws, state and local transportation rules and
driving skills.
h. To ascertain and ensure that transported students observe all rules prescribed by law and by the state and
local board.
i. To maintain order and discipline, under the direction of the school principal, on the part of every passenger.
j. To permit a student to leave the bus only at their assigned stop, except upon written authorization of the school
principal or other district designee.
k. To observe all procedures incorporated in the Florida Department of Education Basic School Bus Driver’s
Curriculum, as incorporated by reference in paragraph 6A-3.0141(4)(b), F.A.C.
l. To instruct transported students in safe riding practices.
m. To require all passengers to remain seated and to keep aisles and exits clear.
n. To participate in emergency evacuation drills at least once each school semester under the direction of the
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