Section 16-27-4

Licensing of drivers.

Regulations made pursuant to an order of the board of education requiring and providing for special training and licensing of drivers of vehicles used to transport pupils to and from school shall require an applicant for a school bus driver's license to be the holder of a currently valid regular driver's license and to complete a minimum of 12 clock-hours of approved instruction in school bus driving and to pass satisfactorily a written examination and also a driving performance test. The written examination shall be designed by the State Superintendent of Education with the cooperation of the state Director of Public Safety and may be given to the applicant either by an employee of the State Department of Education or a state trooper or other representative of the State Department of Public Safety as the State Superintendent of Education and the Director of Public Safety agree; but the driving performance test shall be given by a state trooper or other representative of the state Department of Public Safety. The plan for the performance test shall, however, be submitted to and approved by the State Superintendent of Education before the performance test is given. If the applicant for a school bus driver's license satisfactorily passes the test, the testing officer shall report this fact to the State Superintendent of Education and shall send a copy of such report to the local superintendent of education of the county or city where the applicant desires a job as a school bus driver.

Upon receipt of the testing officer's report of an applicant having satisfactorily passed the examinations, the State Superintendent of Education shall issue a special school bus driver's license. Such license shall be valid for one year from the date of its issuance and may be renewed annually for an additional year if the applicant attends a four clock-hour training session for school bus drivers conducted in such manner as the State Superintendent of Education prescribes. Such rules may also provide for the issuance of temporary permits or licenses for school bus drivers who have had a minimum of four clock-hours of instruction conducted by representatives of a local board of education. Holders of such temporary licenses shall only be employed for the purpose of filling vacancies which develop between scheduled training periods, and such temporary licenses shall be valid for a maximum of six months only.

(Acts 1969, No. 281, p. 614, §3; Acts 1971, No. 970, p. 1727, § 1; Acts 1982, No. 82-618, p. 1170, §1.)