UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 1349
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AN ACT relating to school bus safety training. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
ď˘Section 1. KRS 189.540 is amended to read as follows: 3
(1) (a) The Kentucky Board of Education shall promulgate administrative regulations 4
to govern the design and operation of all Kentucky school buses and to govern 5
the operation of district-owned passenger vehicles transporting students under 6
KRS 156.153(2). 7
(b) The board shall, with the advice and aid of the Department of Kentucky State 8
Police and the Transportation Cabinet, enforce the administrative regulations 9
governing the operation of all school buses, whether owned by a school 10
district or privately contracted, and all district-owned passenger vehicles 11
transporting students under KRS 156.153(2). 12
(c) The administrative regulations covering the operation shall by reference be 13
made a part of any contract with a school district. Every school district and 14
private contractor referred to under this subsection shall be subject to those 15
regulations. 16
(2) (a) The administrative regulations promulgated by the Kentucky Board of 17
Education under subsection (1) of this section or under KRS 156.160 may 18
include requirements for regular instruction of pupils in school bus safety. 19
(b) A school district may request, and the Kentucky Board of Education shall 20
grant, an exemption from the pupil instruction requirements authorized in 21
paragraph (a) of this subsection if: 22
1. The school district had a gross average daily attendance of transported 23
pupils under KRS 157.370 for the previous school year of forty-eight 24
(48) pupils or fewer without any additional factors included; 25
2. The school district's local board of education adopts a policy for 26
instructing pupils on school bus safety prior to the pupil's use of a 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 1349
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privately contracted school bus; and 1
3. The local board of education submits a copy of the district's policy to 2
the Kentucky Department of Education. 3
(c) A school district's failure to implement an instruction policy adopted under 4
paragraph (b) of this subsection may be grounds for the Kentucky Board of 5
Education to revoke the school district's pupil instruction exemption. 6
(3) Any employee of any school district who violates any of the administrative 7
regulations in any contract executed on behalf of a school district shall be subject to 8
removal from office. Any person operating a school bus under contract with a 9
school district who fails to comply with any of the administrative regulations shall 10
be guilty of breach of contract and the contract shall be canceled after proper notice 11
and a hearing by the responsible officers of such school district. 12
(4)[(3)] Any person who operates a school bus shall be required to possess a 13
commercial driver's license issued pursuant to KRS 281A.170 with a school bus 14
endorsement as described in KRS 281A.175. 15