SENATE DOCKET, NO. 481        FILED ON: 1/17/2017

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1927

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Anne M. Gobi

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to bus driver testing and requirements.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 481        FILED ON: 1/17/2017

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1927

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 2005 OF 2015-2016.]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninetieth General Court
(2017-2018)

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An Act relative to bus driver testing and requirements.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Section 8A ½ of chapter 90 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended in line 13 and 14 by inserting after the words “written test” the following words:- “including an English proficiency section,”

SECTION 2. Section 8A ½ of said chapter 90 as so appearing is further amended in line 16 by inserting after the word “registrar;” the following words:- applicants shall complete a minimum of two hours pre-service training prior to receiving a school pupil transport certificate.

SECTION 3. Section 8A ½ of said chapter 90 as so appearing is further amended by inserting after the second paragraph the following paragraph:-

Every operator transporting school pupils under the provisions of section seven D shall complete a minimum of 10 hours of in-service training in their first year of operation and a minimum of eight hours of in-service training each year following.  For each school pupil driver training course conducted the company owner or designee shall maintain a separate permanently bond book with pages consecutively number, containing (1) An initial page headed by the beginning date of training program, the company owner or designee’s name and signature, and each trainees name and address accompanied by the notation pre-service or in-service to indicate the type of training to be conducted, and (2) a successive page for each lesion showing the date, time, topic, length of time and location of each lesion, and including the signature of every trainee in attendance who shall sign the page immediately prior to the commencement of each lesson.  An individual card file or computer record shall be kept for each trainee including the trainee’s name, address, date of birth and the date, topic length of time and location of every lesson received.  Training records shall be maintained for at least three years.  Such records must be available during normal business hours for examination by authorized persons from the registry of motor vehicles or law enforcement officials.