Bus Drivers

Bus Driver

Drives a school bus to transport students to and from school over defined routes and within structured schedules while adhering to traffic ordinances and safety policies; insures that students adhere to school bus rules and communicates with students to monitor behavior.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities:

• Drives a school bus to transport students to and from school over defined routes while adhering to structured schedules, safety policies and traffic ordinances.
• Performs pre-trip inspections of the bus on a daily basis and prior to each scheduled bus run to insure compliance with Department of Transportation regulations.
• Conducts proper and legal stopping of school busses, counts students as they board, monitors student off-boarding and road crossing, and insures adherence to danger zones and railroad crossings.
• Develops specific knowledge of special needs procedures with regard to the proper operation of a wheel chair lift and properly securing a wheel chair.
• Performs appropriate passenger management and behavior control according to school policies and procedures.
• Insures that emergency evacuation practices, procedures and policies are implemented correctly and according to school policies and procedures.
• Completes and submits work-orders, pre-trip forms, incident reports and accident reports.
• Operates the two-way radio in order to maintain communication with the central bus garage and school offices.
• May train new Bus Drivers on proper and safe driving methods and techniques and pre-trip inspections, monitors and evaluates their progress, and provides appropriate feedback and instruction.
• Maintain and keeps current driver's directions.
• Performs other related duties as directed by supervisor.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by a person in this position. They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all duties that may be performed by such a person.

Education, Experiences, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

(To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.)

Education:

This position requires a high school diploma or general education degree (G.E.D.).

Certificates, Licenses, or Registrations:

• Possession of a valid State of Michigan driver's license for at least five (5) years, required; Possession of a Valid Michigan Commercial Drivers License with the appropriate B-P-S endorsements preferred.
• No driving 'points', preferred.

Experience:

• Three (3) years of related experience driving a school bus or other passenger bus and/or experience in training school bus drivers, preferred.

Knowledge:

• Knowledge of principals and methods for moving people by road, preferred.
• Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, and district security operation to protect people, preferred.
• Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar, required.
• Basic knowledge of State of Michigan vehicle codes and traffic laws, required.

Abilities:

• Ability to read and interpret district policies, guidelines, handbook, and government regulations, required.
• Ability to read and comprehend safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals, required.
• Ability to write simple correspondence and routine reports, required.
• Ability to communicate effectively using the English language with students and school administrators and staff, required.
• Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form, required.
• Ability to solve practical problems involving several concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists, required.
• Ability to effectively use basic computer software applications, required.
• Ability to successfully complete State of Michigan required driving license tests, required.
• Ability to successfully complete State of Michigan Beginning and Continuing Education classes, required.
• Ability to successfully complete physical demands tests and drug tests, required.
• Ability to maintain their CDL license, required.

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to climb, push/pull, lift, bend, walk, stand, sit, twist, turn, stoop, kneel, crouch, crawl, reach, use hands to finger, handle, or feel; talk and hear. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds of equipment and be able to move/lift students up to 60lbs. Specific vision and hearing abilities as required by DOT for this job include vision, and ability to adjust focus, especially due to concentration when driving the bus.

Work Environment:

The noise level in the work environment is usually loud.

The qualifications listed above are guidelines for selection purposes; alternative qualifications may be substituted if sufficient to perform the duties of the job.

Reports to: Transportation Director

Updated: April 2022