Job Description

4.1 School districts, charter schools, and service providers shall outline job responsibilities and develop job qualification standards for each school transportation vehicle operator and school transportation paraprofessionals, annual inspector, and school transportation entry level driver instructor, consistent with federal and state regulations. A copy of these requirements shall be provided to each school transportation vehicle operator, annual inspector, school transportation entry level driver instructor, and paraprofessional upon employment. A signed copy shall also be maintained in the applicable qualification file.


Files and Training Documentation

4.2 School districts, charter schools, and service providers shall maintain separate files for each school transportation vehicle operator, school transportation paraprofessional, school transportation entry level driver instructor, and school transportation annual inspector with written documentation evidencing all listed requirements indicated in Rule 5.00, Rule 6.00, and Rule 7.00, as applicable. Training documentation shall include the trainer’s name, date of the training, description of the training, duration of each topic covered, and the signature of all attendees.

Work for more than one District/Charter Service Provider

4.02(a) If a school transportation vehicle operator, school transportation paraprofessional, or school transportation annual inspector works for more than one school district, charter school, service provider, or operator of an inspection site, each employer shall maintain a file with documentation in accordance with this rule.

Removing an Operator from Service

4.4 School districts, charter schools and service providers shall not permit a school transportation vehicle operator to transport students, while the operator's ability or alertness is so impaired, through fatigue, illness or any other cause, as to make it unsafe for the operator to transport students.

Written Emergency Procedures

4.5 School districts, charter schools and service providers shall have written emergency procedures and/or contingency plans to be followed in the event of a traffic accident, vehicle breakdown, unexpected school closing, unforeseen route change, or relocation of a student stop in an emergency. 

Unattended Students Left on Vehicles

9.4 School districts, charter schools, and service providers shall have a procedure in place to verify that students are not left on an unattended school transportation vehicle.

Maintenance and Repair

12.1 School districts, charter schools, and service providers must ensure all school transportation vehicles are systematically inspected, maintained, and repaired by a qualified mechanic to ensure that school transportation vehicles are in safe and proper operating condition.

12.2 School districts, charter schools, and service providers shall have a system to document preventative maintenance, reported defects, and repairs made to school transportation vehicles.

12.3 School districts, charter schools, and service providers shall maintain separate files for each school transportation vehicle with documentation of all annual inspections, all preventative maintenance, and all reported damage, defects, or deficiencies and the corresponding repair and maintenance performed.

12.4 Any identified damage, defect, or deficiency of a school transportation vehicle must be reported to the school district, charter schools, or service provider if it:
12.04(a) Could affect the safety of operation of the school transportation vehicle;
12.04(b) Could result in a mechanical breakdown of the school transportation vehicle;
12.04(c) Results in noncompliance with Colorado Minimum Standards Governing School Transportation Vehicles (1 CCR 301-25) and/or manufacturer’s specifications.

12.5 Documentation for reported defects must include all the following:
12.05(a) The name of the school district, charter school, or service provider;
12.05(b) Date and time the report was submitted;
12.05(c) All damage, defects, or deficiencies of the school transportation vehicle;
12.05(d) The name of the individual who prepared the report.

12.6 Following a reported damage, defect, or deficiency of a school transportation vehicle, school districts, charter schools, and service providers or a representative agent must repair the reported damage, defects, or deficiencies, or document that no repair is necessary, ensuring that the vehicle is in safe and proper operating condition prior to transporting students.

12.7 School districts, charter schools, and service providers shall not transport students in a school transportation vehicle which is not in safe and proper operating condition. A school transportation vehicle shall be designated as “out-of-service” by a school district, charter schools or service provider, a school transportation annual inspector, or the CDE School Transportation Unit.
12.07(a) Any school transportation vehicle discovered to be in an unsafe condition while being operated on the highway, roadway, or private road may be continued in operation only to the nearest place where repairs can safely be affected. Such operation shall be conducted only if it is less hazardous to the public than to permit the vehicle to remain on the highway, roadway, or private road.

12.8 Following a school transportation vehicle being placed “out-of-service”, a school district, charter school, service provider, or a representative agent must make required repairs, ensuring that the vehicle is in safe and proper operating condition prior to transporting students. In the event of being placed “out-of-service” during an annual inspection, the school transportation vehicle must successfully pass a CDE annual inspection prior to transporting students.

Authorized Passengers

14.1Only school district, charter school, or service provider personnel; students enrolled in a school district or charter school; law enforcement officials; or individuals that have received prior authorization from the school district, charter schools, or service provider may be passengers on any school transportation vehicle.

14.2 The number of passengers transported on any school transportation vehicle shall not exceed the maximum seating capacity of the vehicle. Small vehicle capacity shall not exceed the number of safety belts as designed by the vehicle manufacturer.

14.3 Passengers shall not be permitted to stand in any school transportation vehicle while the vehicle is in motion. This does not preclude authorized persons (such as school transportation paraprofessionals) from completing their duties as required. 

14.4 School districts, charter schools, and service providers shall consider the size of the passengers when determining the number of passengers that can safely occupy a school transportation vehicle seat.

Route Planning

Student Loading and Discharge
18.2 The location of student stops shall consider factors including:
18.02(a) Ages of the students;
18.02(b) Visibility;
18.02(c) Lateral clearance;
18.02(d) Student access; and
18.02(e) Control of other motorists.
18.02(e)(1) Student stops for Type A Multifunction Buses with 15 or fewer passenger capacity (counting the driver) and school transportation small capacity vehicles should be located off of the roadway whenever possible.
18.4 The school transportation vehicle operator shall stop as far to the right of the roadway, highway, or private road as possible before discharging or loading passengers - allowing sufficient area to the right and front of the vehicle but close enough to the right to prevent traffic from passing on the right - so that students may clear the vehicle safely while in sight of the operator.
18.04(a) Exception: The school transportation vehicle operator may block the lane of traffic when passengers being received or discharged are required to cross the roadway.

18.5 Student stops shall not be located on the side of any major thoroughfare whenever access to the passenger's destination is possible by a road or street adjacent to the major thoroughfare.

18.6 School districts, charter schools, and service providers shall ensure that if students are required to cross a roadway, highway, or private road on which a student stop is being performed, they are prohibited from crossing a roadway, highway or private road constructed or designed to permit three or more separate lanes of vehicular traffic in either direction or with a median separating multiple lanes of traffic.

18.7 Four-way hazard lamps shall be used on private property such as parking lots.

18.8 Alternating flashing red warning signal lamps shall not be activated within 200 feet of an intersection if the intersection is controlled by a traffic control signal. 

18.9 Routes shall be planned as to:
18.09(a) Eliminate, when practical, railroad crossings; and
18.09(b) Have stops be a minimum of 200 feet apart (since alternating flashing amber warning signal lamps must be activated a minimum of 200 feet in advance of the stop on the roadway on which the bus stop will be performed).
18.09(b)(1) Exception: In areas where wildlife may create a high risk of threat to students’ safety while they are waiting and/or walking to a student stop, designated stops may be less than 200 feet apart upon detailed written approval by the school district board of education or governing body of a charter school (or the board’s designee). A copy of the written approval shall be kept in the school transportation office and route operators shall be given written notice of the exception and have it indicated on route sheets.

18.10 In determining the length of routes, school districts, charter schools, and service providers must make an effort to minimize student ride times while considering student educational needs, geographic boundaries, terrain, traffic congestion, and financial resources within the district. A local board of education, or the governing body of a charter school, may establish a maximum student ride time.

18.11 Pursuant to Section 42-4-1903(2), C.R.S., school transportation vehicle operators are not required to actuate the alternating flashing red warning signal lamps on a school bus (1) when the student stop is at a location where the local traffic regulatory authority has by prior written designation declared such actuation unnecessary and (2) when discharging or loading passengers who require the assistance of a lift device and no passenger is required to cross the roadway. Further, Type A Multifunction Buses and school transportation small capacity vehicles do not have the functionality to control traffic. In these instances, the school transportation vehicle operator shall stop as far to the right off the roadway as possible to reduce obstruction to traffic, activate the four-way hazard warning lamps a minimum of 200 feet prior to the student stop, continue to display the four-way hazard warning lamps until the process of discharging or loading passengers has been completed, and deactivate the four-way hazard lamps before resuming motion. Students are prohibited from crossing any lanes of traffic to access the student stop or after disembarking.

18.12 School transportation vehicle operators shall not relocate a student stop without approval of the school district, charter school, or service provider.

18.13 Pursuant to 42-4-707 C.R.S., School transportation vehicle operators of School Buses, Multifunction Buses, and Motor Coach Buses, whether transporting students or not, shall apply the following procedures during the process of approaching, stopping, and crossing railroad tracks:
18.13(a) Activate the four-way hazard lamps not less than 200 feet from the 24 railroad crossing to alert other motorists of the pending stop for the crossing;
18.13(b) Stop the bus within 50 feet but not less than 15 feet from the nearest rail;
18.13(c) When stopped, the bus shall be as far to the right of the roadway as possible and shall not form two lanes of traffic unless the highway is marked for four or more lanes of traffic; and
18.13(d) Use a prearranged signal to alert students to the need for quiet aboard the bus when approaching railroad tracks. Turn off all noise making equipment (fans, heater, radio, etc.)

18.14 After quietness aboard the stopped bus has been achieved, bus operators shall open the service door and operator window. The bus operator shall listen and look in both directions along the track(s) for any approaching train(s) and for signals indicating the approach of a train.
18.14(a) If the tracks are clear, the bus operator shall close the service door and may then proceed in a gear low enough to permit crossing the tracks without having to manually shift gears. The bus operator shall cancel the four-way hazard lamps after the bus has cleared the tracks. 18.14(b) When two or more tracks are to be crossed, the bus operator shall not stop a second time unless the bus is completely clear of the first crossing, with at least 15 feet clearance in the front and at least 15 feet clearance to the rear.
18.14(c) Before crossing the tracks, the bus operator shall verify that there is enough space after the tracks for the bus plus 15 feet if it is necessary to stop after crossing the tracks. 18.5 School transportation vehicle operators of School Buses, Multifunction Buses, and Motor Coach Buses are not required to stop at crossings controlled only by a red, amber, green traffic control signal when it is in the green position, or when the crossing is controlled by a police officer or human flag person, or when the crossing is marked with an official “exempt” sign placed on the railroad crossing light post or cross bucks post.

Emergency Evacuations

19.1 Emergency evacuation drills shall be conducted with students by all school transportation vehicle route operators, excluding small capacity vehicle operators as defined in 301-25, Rule 7.15, and school transportation paraprofessionals at least twice during each school year. 
19.01(a) One drill shall be conducted in the fall and the second drill conducted in the spring.
19.01(b) Substitute and Multifunction operators shall be trained how to conduct emergency evacuation drills.

19.2 Students on school related events shall receive emergency evacuation instruction prior to every initial departure. 19.3 School districts, charter schools, and service providers shall maintain records documenting that the required evacuation drills were conducted and/or evacuation instruction was given.

Last modified: Sunday, 7 May 2023, 3:49 PM