New Jersey Department of Education Division of Finance Chapter 27 – Student Transportation Readoption with amendments State Board of Education June 2020 Please note that this PowerPoint presentation has been modified from its original version to be more accessible.
Goals for the Proposed Amendments • School bus safety • Implement new package of school bus safety laws • Codify best practices for school districts to ensure safety of students • Reviewed for alignment with current law • Clarified and streamlined current regulations for practitioner ease of use
Student Safety Improvements Safety Concern Current Proposed Amendments Regulations/Policy • • • Seat belt safety Safety drills required Add instruction for proper use of twice per year safety belts. • • Driver qualifications Requirements set 1. Requires board policies to ensure and condition forth in school ongoing random checks for drivers’ • School bus district contracts license, vehicle registration, and pre- • registration and Districts who learn trip inspections for school buses inspections of non-compliance 2. Employers must notify drivers when • School bus condition can take action on qualification requirements are due their contracts 3. Employers must verify to Department that suspended/revoked drivers are not operating buses • • • Student identification No requirement – District board of education may during emergencies best practice to have adopt policy for student identification a list of students on in case of emergency each bus
Student Safety Continued Safety Concern Current Proposed Amendments Regulations/Policy • • • School district Department- Makes the Department-endorsed transportation endorsed training training program mandatory • supervisors program for Defines school district transportation transportation supervisors using job functions supervisors at Rutgers • Non-mandatory
Alignment with Current Law Legal Development Current Regulation Proposed Amendment • • • District responsibility can Did not account Accounts for when homeless change when a homeless for change in student is “domiciled” student is “domiciled” district responsibility • • • Mobility assistance vehicles No regulations Added two regulations: • are allowed to transport regarding this type Vehicle qualifications • students pursuant to N.J.S.A. of transportation Driver qualifications 18A:39-20.1 (2016) • • • Training program for Currently no Adopted regulations interacting with students regulations, but consistent with this program with special needs – N.J.S.A. training programs 18A:39-19.2 were in existence
Clarifying and Streamlining Current Regulation Proposed Amendment • • Restates “two and one -half miles for Defines “remote” as “two and one -half high school students and beyond two miles for high school students…” • miles for elementary school students” Replaces lengthy sentence with “remote” throughout • • Names for documents don’t match the Aligned document names in the document titles posted on the website regulations and on the website • • Definitions and terms in choice program Aligned with definitions in the law and charter/renaissance sections did not align to those in the law • • Used “board of education” or “district Revised throughout to “district board of board of education” interchangeably education” • • Contracting procedures not always listed Reviewed and moved some provisions to below the appropriate subsection the appropriate subsection so the section • Example: item listed under district when is easier to follow it is the bidder’s responsibility
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