Pupil safety aim of school bus bill

School bus drivers who fail to complete a post-route check for stray student riders could face legal ramifications under a bill approved Tuesday by a House transportation committee.

Brian Reu, Department of Public Safety Pupil Transportation Safety director, testifies during a meeting of the House Transportation Policy Committee March 11, on Rep. Yvonne Selcer’s bill HF2481, which would require school bus drivers to conduct post-trip inspections. Photo by Paul Battaglia

The bill would require drivers to check for students remaining on the bus following each route. If a check is not properly completed and a child is found left on the bus, local prosecutors could charge the driver with a gross misdemeanor.

The measure is part of the Department of Public Safety’s proposed school bus safety bill sponsored by Rep. Yvonne Selcer (DFL-Minnetonka). It would also require smaller buses or school transportation vehicles to carry seat belt cutters.

 “You just have to make sure (no students are left on the bus). It’s not rocket science,” Selcer said. She called it “a very serious issue in those rare instances it occurs.”

In 2013, a bus driver in northeastern Minnesota was charged with child endangerment after leaving a 3-year-old boy on a bus for hours in the cold after other students were dropped off at a Fon du Lac tribal Head Start program.

In addition to criminal charges and possible jail time laid out under the proposal, guilty drivers would also lose their school bus certification for one year.

Approved by the House Transportation Policy Committee, the bill, HF2481, now moves to the House Judiciary Finance and Policy Committee. Last week, the Senate Transportation and Public Safety Division approved a companion, SF2252, sponsored by Sen. Susan Kent (DFL-Woodbury). It now awaits action by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Tom Kelliher, a lobbyist for the Minnesota School Bus Operators Association, questioned the severity of the proposed penalties, saying many companies fire drivers on the spot if they don’t check for students following completion of a bus route. Bus companies, however, want discretion in dealing with their drivers, he said.

Instances of children being left on buses are “statistically almost immeasurable,” Kelliher said. He objected to the length of time a bus driver would lose their certification for a violation under the bill, saying a one-year revocation amounted to an outright firing.

“We think that’s a really long time,” he said, recommending a 30-, 60-, or 90-day suspension.

But attaching legal heft to post-route checks could better help drivers and bus companies avoid the rare-but-dangerous situations, said Brian Reu, the director of pupil transportation with the Department of Public Safety.

“We just want to eliminate these situations,” Reu said.