2000 Minnesota Statutes

     123B.90 School bus safety training. 

    Subdivision 1.    School bus safety week.  The third 
 week of school is designated as school bus safety week. 

    Subd. 2.    Student training.  (a) Each district must 
 provide public school pupils enrolled in grades kindergarten 
 through 10 with age-appropriate school bus safety training.  The 
 training must be results-oriented and shall consist of both 
 classroom instruction and practical training using a school 
 bus.  Upon completing the training, a student shall be able to 
 demonstrate knowledge and understanding of at least the 
 following competencies and concepts: 

    (1) transportation by school bus is a privilege and not a 
 right; 

    (2) district policies for student conduct and school bus 
 safety; 

    (3) appropriate conduct while on the school bus; 

    (4) the danger zones surrounding a school bus; 

    (5) procedures for safely boarding and leaving a school 
 bus; 

    (6) procedures for safe street or road crossing; 

    (7) school bus evacuation and other emergency procedures; 
 and 

    (8) appropriate training on the use of lap belts or lap and 
 shoulder belts, if the district uses buses equipped with lap 
 belts or lap and shoulder belts. 

    (b) Each nonpublic school located within the district must 
 provide all nonpublic school pupils enrolled in grades 
 kindergarten through 10 who are transported by school bus at 
 public expense and attend school within the district's 
 boundaries with training as required in paragraph (a).  The 
 school district shall make a bus available for the practical 
 training if the district transports the nonpublic students.  
 Each nonpublic school shall provide the instruction. 

    (c) All students enrolled in grades kindergarten through 3 
 who are transported by school bus and are enrolled during the 
 first or second week of school must demonstrate achievement of 
 the school bus safety training competencies by the end of the 
 third week of school.  All students enrolled in grades 4 through 
 10 who are transported by school bus and are enrolled during the 
 first or second week of school must demonstrate achievement of 
 the competencies by the end of the sixth week of school.  
 Students enrolled in grades kindergarten through 10 who enroll 
 in a school after the second week of school and are transported 
 by school bus shall undergo school bus safety training and 
 demonstrate achievement of the school bus safety competencies 
 within four weeks of the first day of attendance.  The school 
 transportation safety director in each district must certify to 
 the commissioner annually that all students transported by 
 school bus within the district have satisfactorily demonstrated 
 knowledge and understanding of the school bus safety 
 competencies according to this section or provide an explanation 
 for a student's failure to demonstrate the competencies.  The 
 principal or other chief administrator of each nonpublic school 
 must certify annually to the school transportation safety 
 director of the district in which the school is located that all 
 of the school's students transported by school bus at public 
 expense have received training.  A district may deny 
 transportation to a student who fails to demonstrate the 
 competencies, unless the student is unable to achieve the 
 competencies due to a disability, or to a student who attends a 
 nonpublic school that fails to provide training as required by 
 this subdivision. 

    (d) A district and a nonpublic school with students 
 transported by school bus at public expense must, to the extent 
 possible, provide kindergarten pupils with bus safety training 
 before the first day of school. 

    (e) A district and a nonpublic school with students 
 transported by school bus at public expense must also provide 
 student safety education for bicycling and pedestrian safety, 
 for students enrolled in grades kindergarten through 5. 

    (f) A district and a nonpublic school with students 
 transported by school bus at public expense must make reasonable 
 accommodations for the school bus, bicycle, and pedestrian 
 safety training of pupils known to speak English as a second 
 language and pupils with disabilities. 

    Subd. 3.    Model training program.  The commissioner 
 shall develop a comprehensive model school bus safety training 
 program for pupils who ride the bus that includes bus safety 
 curriculum for both classroom and practical instruction, methods 
 for assessing attainment of school bus safety competencies, and 
 age-appropriate instructional materials.  The model training 
 program for students riding buses with lap belts or lap and 
 shoulder belts must include information on the appropriate use 
 of lap belts or lap and shoulder belts.  The program must be 
 adaptable for use by students with disabilities. 

    HIST: 1994 c 647 art 12 s 4; 1Sp1995 c 3 art 2 s 6,7; art 16 s 
 13; 1996 c 412 art 2 s 7; 1Sp1997 c 4 art 12 s 3,4; 1998 c 397 
 art 7 s 6,7,164; 1999 c 241 art 9 s 22,23; 2000 c 489 art 6 s 
 13,14