How to Become a School Bus Driver in Indiana
School bus drivers transport children to and from school, take them on field trips and drive them to other school-related events. Most drivers follow the same route each day, allowing them to become familiar with children and their neighborhoods. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median hourly wage for a bus driver in 2008 was $12.79, and the requirements for driving a school bus consist mostly of employer-related training.
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Instructions
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Accept a school bus driver job offer from an Indiana school. Training must be initiated by the employer, so accepting the job must come first. Once you have done so, you may begin training at the request of your new employer.
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Obtain your commercial driver's license permit. All school bus drivers must hold a commercial driver's license, and in order to obtain one you must first have your CDL permit. To receive your CDL permit, you must have a valid Indiana operator's license and a Social Security card, pass a Department of Transportation physical exam, and pass a three-part knowledge test at your local Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles License Branch. The knowledge test consists of a general knowledge test, a passenger transport test, and a school bus test. Study materials are available at the Motor Carrier Services web site.
After obtaining the CDL permit, you must pass a skills test, which covers pre-trip vehicle inspection, basic vehicle control, and an on-road test. The skills tests must be completed in a school bus, and as such will need to be arranged in partnership with your new employer. Once these requirements have been met, you will be awarded your Commercial Driver's License. (See Reference 4)
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Attend pre-service classroom training. This training is 20 hours long and is delivered throughout Indiana on a quarterly basis by the Division of School Traffic Safety and Emergency Planning. Your employer must register you for this course, and will inform you of where and when you are to attend.
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Obtain a Certificate of Enrollment. This is a temporary training certificate that allows you to transport passengers during the training cycle. You will obtain this at your pre-service training unless otherwise requested by your employer. If your employer wishes to initiate your training prior to the pre-service class, it may request the Certificate of Enrollment before the class by mail, fax or email. The certificate, as well as your commercial driver's license, must be kept with you during training.
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Complete observation and supervision. To become a school bus driver in Indiana, you must observe a certified driver on the bus for four hours, and must transport passengers under the supervision of a certified bus driver for eight hours. These training session will be coordinated by your employer. The observation and supervision must be properly documented and returned to the Division of School Traffic Safety and Emergency Planning by your employer within one year of your attending the pre-service class. You will then receive the standard certificate, which indicates completion of training requirements and the ability to transport children.
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Attend an annual safety meeting. The standard certificate is valid for only one year. To be recertified each year, you must attend an annual training meeting. This meeting can be completed online and information regarding the meeting can be found at the Indiana Department of Education Office of School Transportation and Emergency Planning web site. Your employer can give you more information about the annual safety meeting if you do not have access to a computer or the Internet. It is possible to reinstate your certificate if you miss an occasional meeting. However, if you miss an annual training meeting three years in a row, you will need to redo all requirements of becoming a school bus driver.
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References
- Photo Credit school bus image by alwayspp from Fotolia.com
