House Study Bill 107 - Introduced HOUSE FILE _____ BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION BILL BY CHAIRPERSON WHEELER) A BILL FOR An Act relating to approved courses of instruction for school 1 bus drivers. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 1597YC (2) 91 th/ns
H.F. _____ Section 1. Section 321.376, subsection 3, Code 2025, is 1 amended to read as follows: 2 3. a. (1) A person applying for employment or employed as 3 a school bus driver shall successfully complete a department of 4 education approved course of instruction for school bus drivers 5 before or within the first six months of employment and . 6 (2) The department of education shall accept proof that a 7 person successfully completed entry-level driver training in 8 accordance with section 321.188, subsection 1, paragraph c , 9 if such training meets the requirements of 49 C.F.R. pt. 380, 10 Appendix C, and 49 C.F.R. pt. 380, Appendix D, as completion of 11 an approved course of instruction for school bus drivers. 12 (3) The department of education may adopt rules pursuant 13 to chapter 17A to establish requirements for providers of 14 entry-level driver training to comply with this paragraph. 15 b. A person employed as a school bus driver shall 16 successfully complete a department of education approved 17 course of instruction for school bus drivers at least every 18 twenty-four months thereafter. 19 c. If an employee fails to provide an employer with a 20 certificate of completion of the required school bus drivers 21 course authorized under paragraph a , the drivers employer 22 shall report the failure to the department of education and 23 the employees authorization to operate a school bus shall 24 be revoked. The department of education shall send notice 25 of the revocation to both the employee and the employer. A 26 person whose school bus authorization has been revoked under 27 this section shall not be issued another authorization until 28 certification of the completion of an approved school bus 29 drivers course in accordance with paragraph a is received by 30 the department of education. 31 EXPLANATION 32 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 33 the explanations substance by the members of the general assembly. 34 Under current law, a person applying for employment or 35 -1- LSB 1597YC (2) 91 th/ns 1/ 2
H.F. _____ employed as a school bus driver must successfully complete a 1 course of instruction for school bus drivers approved by the 2 department of education (DOE). The DOE establishes rules and 3 requirements for such instruction courses. The course must be 4 completed before or within the first six months of the persons 5 employment and at least every 24 months thereafter. 6 Beginning February 7, 2022, the federal motor carrier safety 7 administration requires persons seeking a commercial drivers 8 license (CDL) for the first time, persons seeking to upgrade 9 certain existing CDLs, and persons seeking to obtain a school 10 bus, passenger, or hazardous materials endorsement to complete 11 entry-level driver training (ELDT). 12 This bill requires DOE to accept proof that a person 13 successfully completed ELDT as completion of an approved course 14 of instruction for school bus drivers so long as that ELDT 15 contains passenger endorsement training curriculum and school 16 bus endorsement training curriculum. 17 The bill does not change the requirement for a person 18 employed as a school bus driver to successfully complete a DOE 19 approved course of instruction for school bus drivers at least 20 every 24 months. 21 The bill makes corresponding and organizational changes to 22 Code section 321.276(3). 23 -2- LSB 1597YC (2) 91 th/ns 2/ 2