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character, and “is qualified physically and otherwise for this position.”
The ESC governing board or the superintendent of any district shall
provide for an annual physical examination, which may be performed by
a person licensed in Ohio to practice medicine or surgery or osteopathic
medicine and surgery, a physician’s assistant, an Ohio certified nurse
practitioner, or an Ohio certified nurse midwife. (The superintendent of
the educational service center may perform this function for any of the
school districts with which the ESC has contracts pursuant to ORC
sections 3313.843 or 3313.845.) Any such physical exam must meet the
requirements of rules adopted by the state board of education.
The 10th District Court of Appeals has ruled that a school district could
terminate a bus driver’s contract if a DUI conviction resulted in: 1)
suspension of the bus driver’s certificate; 2) notice by the insurance
carrier that it would no longer insure the driver; and 3) notice by the
insurance carrier that the driver’s exclusion was a condition for
continued insurability.
Employers of school bus drivers must require a background check
(including both FBI and BCII results) upon employment of the drivers
and every six years thereafter. The subsequent background checks will
require only the FBI results if the bus driver has maintained continuous
residence in Ohio since the last background check.)
For additional information on driver eligibility, please see
Ohio Pupil Transportation Operation and Safety Rules an
2 Summary of Changes – Operation and Safety Rules.
BUS REGULATIONS The Department of Education by and with the advice and consent of the
director of highway safety shall adopt and enforce regulations relating to
the construction, design, equipment (including lighting equipment), and
operation of all school buses...operated by or in any school district...in
this state. Every school district, its officers and employees, and every
person employed under contract by a school district shall be subject to
such regulations.
A copy of the Ohio Pupil Transportation Operation and Safety Rules is
located in A summary of the changes in the most recent
rules is also included as
Section 4506.09 ORC provides for the Director of Highway Safety to
enter into an agreement with the Department of Education to administer
the skills test required by the Federal Commercial Motor Vehicle Act of
1986, at the ODE’s regional bus driver training centers.
Previously, the law had used the phrase “school bus” when referring to
bus regulations. However, House Bill 73 adopted by the 124th General
Assembly used the phrase “a vehicle used for pupil transportation.” As a
result, law now provided that “no person shall operate, nor the owner
permit operation of, a vehicle used for pupil transportation” unless all
school bus regulations (including driver qualifications) were met.
Naturally, that then extended to vans used to transport small groups of
pupils.
The State Board of Education has adopted rules governing the
qualifications of the drivers of school vans. A copy of those rules
appears as
4511.76
4506.09
BUS TURN- School districts (other than a joint vocational or cooperative education 3327.12