1997 Minnesota Statutes

     123.805 School district bus safety responsibilities. 

    Subdivision 1.    Comprehensive policy.  Each school 
 district shall develop and implement a comprehensive, written 
 policy governing pupil transportation safety, including 
 transportation of nonpublic school students, when applicable.  
 The policy shall, at minimum, contain: 

    (1) provisions for appropriate student bus safety training 
 under section 123.7991; 

    (2) rules governing student conduct on school buses and in 
 school bus loading and unloading areas; 

    (3) a statement of parent or guardian responsibilities 
 relating to school bus safety; 

    (4) provisions for notifying students and parents or 
 guardians of their responsibilities and the rules; 

    (5) an intradistrict system for reporting school bus 
 accidents or misconduct, a system for dealing with local law 
 enforcement officials in cases of criminal conduct on a school 
 bus, and a system for reporting accidents, crimes, incidents of 
 misconduct, and bus driver dismissals to the department of 
 public safety under section 169.452; 

    (6) a discipline policy to address violations of school bus 
 safety rules, including procedures for revoking a student's bus 
 riding privileges in cases of serious or repeated misconduct; 

    (7) a system for integrating school bus misconduct records 
 with other discipline records; 

    (8) a statement of bus driver duties; 

    (9) planned expenditures for safety activities under 
 section 123.799 and, where applicable, provisions governing bus 
 monitor qualifications, training, and duties; 

    (10) rules governing the use and maintenance of type III 
 vehicles, drivers of type III vehicles, qualifications to drive 
 a type III vehicle, qualifications for a type III vehicle and 
 the circumstances under which a student may be transported in a 
 type III vehicle; 

    (11) operating rules and procedures; 

    (12) provisions for annual bus driver in-service training 
 and evaluation; 

    (13) emergency procedures; 

    (14) a system for maintaining and inspecting equipment; 

    (15) requirements of the school district, if any, that 
 exceed state law minimum requirements for school bus operations; 
 and 

    (16) requirements for basic first aid training, which shall 
 include the Heimlich maneuver and procedures for dealing with 
 obstructed airways, shock, bleeding, and seizures. 

    School districts are encouraged to use the model policy 
 developed by the Minnesota school boards association, the 
 department of public safety, and the department of children, 
 families, and learning, as well as the current edition of the 
 "National Standards for School Buses and Operations" published 
 by the National Safety Council, in developing safety policies.  
 Each district shall submit a copy of its policy under this 
 subdivision to the school bus safety advisory committee no later 
 than August 1, 1994.  Each district shall review its policy 
 annually and make appropriate amendments, which must be 
 submitted to the school bus safety advisory committee within one 
 month of approval by the school board. 

    Subd. 2.    School transportation safety director.  Each 
 school board shall designate a school transportation safety 
 director to oversee and implement pupil transportation safety 
 policies.  The director shall have day-to-day responsibility for 
 pupil transportation safety within the district, including 
 transportation of nonpublic school children when provided by the 
 district. 

    HIST: 1994 c 647 art 12 s 14; 1Sp1995 c 3 art 2 s 8,9; art 16 
 s 13