Pubdate: Sat, 27 Jan 2007
Source: Times Recorder (Zanesville, OH)
Copyright: 2007 Times Recorder
Contact: 
http://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=CUSTOMERSERVICE20
Website: http://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2740
Author: GI Smith, Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test)

LOCAL DISTRICTS STICK TO STATE REGULATIONS WITH BUS DRIVERS

Just about every school district is feeling a sharp  financial pinch 
and is finding ways to tighten its  already skin-tight budget.

Local school districts know - as the Columbus Public  Schools 
District is finding out - shaving large sums of  the student 
transportation budget isn't a good idea.

What's at stake when red lines go through the  transportation budget 
is safety. The Columbus City  School District canceled classes 
Thursday after a  contractor responsible for some school bus routes 
discovered it had not checked drivers for criminal backgrounds.

The decision by First Student Inc. to ground its fleet  came two days 
after one of the company's drivers was  arrested by Columbus police 
on a charge of cocaine  possession. The driver also had three 
previous convictions for driving under the influence. 
Criminal  charges may be filed against the bus contractor.

Scott Limburg, transportation and food service  supervisor at River 
View Local School District, said  the biggest difference between the 
school bus systems  in Columbus and Coshocton County is what drives 
the  people in charge.

"When you contract out the work, you're dealing with  people who 
aren't local. We live here, our kids go  here, we work here, our 
friends are here. We know we're  responsible for the safety of our 
children and of our  friends' children. When you cut corners, safety 
is at  stake," Limburg said.

His district buses about 1,600 students daily.

Darrell Lear, transportation supervisor with Zanesville  City 
Schools, said hiring a contract bus company  removes a great deal of 
control over the busing system  from the school district and places 
those decisions  into the hands of business people living outside 
the  community.

"They decide where the stops will be, how many students  per bus and 
the quality of the buses," Lear said.

He said school districts can be tempted into entering  into an 
agreement with outside bus companies because  the companies promise 
to provide busing service cheaper  than in-house busing. But as 
school officials are  finding out in Columbus, some busing companies 
are lax when it comes to hiring safe, qualified drivers to  transport 
children to and from school.

Local school districts comply with state standards when  it comes to 
hiring and maintaining qualified school bus  drivers, Limburg said.

Jennifer Orand, mother of a third-grader at West  Lafayette 
Elementary School, said her daughter enjoys  riding the bus.

"My daughter has an awesome bus driver," Orand said.

Orand, who lives in the northeast portion of Coshocton  County, said 
she was very nervous when her daughter  first began riding the bus.

"Time kind of takes care of those worries," she said.  "Her driver 
(was a bus driver in the district) when I  was a kid."

Becoming a qualified bus driver During the initial  phase of the 
school bus driver hiring process, employee  candidates must complete 
a written and a physical  examination.

Zanesville City Schools District transportation  supervisor Darrell 
Lear said candidates must be at  least 18 years old, have a high 
school diploma or  General Equivalency Diploma, pass written and 
physical  examinations and pass a drug test as well as a criminal 
background check in order to be looked at as a  potential employee.

"They have to have a Class B CDL and you have to go  through the Ohio 
Pre-Service School Bus Training  program offered by the state," said 
Scott Limburg, of  River View Local School District.

In addition to that 12 hour training period, potential  drivers must 
also complete a specified amount of  on-board training with a 
certified instructor. All of  this is to obtain a school bus 
passenger certificate  endorsement.

"You are not allowed to drive bus in this district  unless you've met 
all those requirements," said  Tri-Valley School District 
Transportation Supervisor  Rod Ashcraft. "And you've got to keep all 
of it up to  keep driving here."

Lear said Zanesville has its own bus mechanics who keep  the vehicle 
fleet in excellent working condition so the  more than 2,200 students 
being transported to and from  school are safe. The fleet gets an 
annual inspection by  the state.

Each bus driver is required to perform a visual  inspection on his or 
her assigned bus before taking off  in the morning. If the driver is 
unsatisfied with the  safety of the bus, they contact one of the 
garage  mechanics and is provided a substitute bus until their 
vehicle is checked out.

"Also, when a driver is coming from another district  and applying 
for work in ours, it's common for (the  other district) to send us a 
reference sheet on that  driver, letting us know a little more about 
that driver  and why he's leaving his district," Lear said.

That reference sheet, Lear said, prevents one district  from 
shuffling a problematic employee from one place to  another.

Keeping your bus driver certification Once hired,  school bus drivers 
are subject to random drug  screenings.

"I've been picked," Darrell Lear of the Zanesville City  School 
District said. "I'm also a certified sub, when  we need drivers."

Lear said the district will select five drivers at a  time to take 
the drug testing - and substitute drivers  are subject to the random 
screenings.

"If they get a speeding ticket or some type of moving  violation, 
they are by law required to notify us," Lear  said.

If a drug screen comes back positive, the driver is  immediately 
removed from driving duties until the  matter is reviewed. If the 
driver overdoses on drugs or  alcohol, that calls for an automatic 
CDL forfeiture.

In addition to the drug screenings, most local  districts receive a 
driver's abstract sheet on each  driver.

"If you get a DUI and you have a CDL, you automatically  lose your 
CDL, which means you can't drive for us,"  said Rod Ashcraft, 
transportation supervisor for the  Tri-Valley School District. "If 
you've been pulled over  for something, it should show up on your 
driver's  abstract."

Bus drivers must also go through medical tests before  getting behind 
the wheel each year.

"At River View, every driver has to have a physical and  pass that 
physical before the school year starts,"  Scott Limburg of River View 
Local School District said.

In addition, every six years bus drivers must go  through the entire 
certification process again through  the Ohio Department of Education.

"The Ohio Pre-Service School Bus Training Program takes  about 12 
hours," Limburg said. "And each year we have  in-service time with 
the drivers to discuss any  problems the drivers are having and going 
through any  updates they need to know that have come through the 
state office."

Lear said the bus drivers in the Zanesville City  Schools District 
start out at about $13.56 per hour  plus benefits. He said the 
Columbus district's pay was  slightly higher.

"We have a driver here with a master's degree in  chemistry," Lear 
said. "Our drivers treat the kids like  they're their own. They watch 
over these children.  Sometimes the drivers are the first people the 
kids see  in the day. There's no way we can possibly pay them 
as  much money as they deserve and that's a shame."
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman