Senate Study Bill 1161 - Introduced SENATE FILE _____ BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION BILL BY CHAIRPERSON ZUMBACH) A BILL FOR An Act relating to department of education school bus driver 1 authorization and approved courses of instruction. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 2554XC (3) 91 th/ns
S.F. _____ Section 1. Section 321.376, subsections 1 and 3, Code 2025, 1 are amended to read as follows: 2 1. a. The driver of a school bus shall hold a drivers 3 license issued by the department of transportation valid 4 for the operation of the school bus and a certificate of 5 qualification for operation of a commercial motor vehicle 6 issued by a physician or osteopathic physician licensed 7 pursuant to chapter 148 , physician assistant, advanced 8 registered nurse practitioner, or chiropractor or any other 9 person identified by federal and state law as authorized to 10 perform physical examinations , and . 11 b. If required by the school district employing the driver, 12 the driver shall successfully complete an approved course of 13 instruction in accordance with subsection 3 . 14 c. A person holding a temporary restricted license issued 15 under chapter 321J shall be prohibited from operating a school 16 bus. 17 3. a. A person applying for employment or employed as 18 a school bus driver shall not be required to successfully 19 complete a department of education approved course of 20 instruction for school bus drivers unless the school district 21 hiring or employing the person requires successful completion 22 of such course. 23 b. If a school district requires successful completion of an 24 approved course, the person hired as a school bus driver shall 25 complete the course before or within the first six months of 26 employment and at least every twenty-four months thereafter. 27 If an employee is required to complete a course and fails to 28 provide an employer with a certificate of completion of the 29 required school bus drivers course, the drivers employer 30 shall report the failure to the department of education and 31 the employees authorization to operate a school bus shall be 32 revoked. The department of education shall send notice of the 33 revocation to both the employee and the employer. A person 34 whose school bus authorization has been revoked under this 35 -1- LSB 2554XC (3) 91 th/ns 1/ 2
S.F. _____ section subsection shall not be issued another authorization 1 until certification of the completion of an approved school bus 2 drivers course is received by the department of education , or 3 until the person is employed by a school district that does not 4 require successful completion of an approved course and the 5 person is otherwise in compliance with this section . 6 EXPLANATION 7 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 8 the explanations substance by the members of the general assembly. 9 Under current law, a person applying for employment or 10 employed as a school bus driver is required to successfully 11 complete a course of instruction for school bus drivers 12 approved by the department of education (DE) before or within 13 the first 6 months of employment and at least every 24 months 14 thereafter. If a school bus driver fails to provide an 15 employer with a certificate of completion of the course, 16 the drivers employer must report the failure to DE and the 17 employees authorization to operate a school bus must be 18 revoked. A person whose school bus authorization has been 19 revoked is prohibited from being issued another authorization 20 until certification of the completion of a course is received 21 by DE. 22 This bill exempts school bus drivers from being required 23 to complete a course unless the school district employing the 24 driver requires it. A school bus driver whose authorization 25 is revoked may receive authorization without completion of 26 a course if the driver is subsequently employed by a school 27 district that does not require successful completion of 28 a course, so long as the driver is otherwise eligible for 29 authorization. 30 If a school bus drivers school district requires successful 31 completion of a course, the driver must comply with the course 32 requirements under current law. 33 -2- LSB 2554XC (3) 91 th/ns 2/ 2