RELATES TO:
KRS
156.031,
156.152,
156.153,
156.154,
156.160
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY:
KRS
156.031 requires that administrative
regulations relating to statutes amended by the 1990 Kentucky Education Reform
Act be reviewed, amended if necessary, and resubmitted to the Legislative
Research Commission prior to December 30, 1990;
KRS
156.152 to
156.154
set forth methods and procedures for cooperative, centralized purchasing of
school buses by local boards of education through contracts established through
the Department of Education and the Finance Cabinet; and
KRS
156.160 requires the State Board for
Elementary and Secondary Education to adopt administrative regulations
pertaining to the safety and transportation of school children. This
administrative regulation implements that system and establishes procedures for
the cooperative purchase of school buses by Kentucky's school districts, and it
further prescribes vehicles designed for more than ten (10) passengers which
can be used to transport school children.
Section
1. The chief state school officer through his Division of Pupil
Transportation, Department of Education, shall prepare Kentucky minimum
specifications for school buses for approval by the State Board for Elementary
and Secondary Education and shall keep said specifications up-to-date by
revision whenever experience, model changes, manufacturing techniques, and
product improvement indicate that revision and updating is necessary.
Section 2. The State Board for Elementary and
Secondary Education shall approve appropriate Kentucky Minimum Specifications
for School Buses, Revised, as a separate document and as warranted. Copies of
this document containing the detailed specifications for the separate parts of
new school buses and the specifications that pertain to used school buses shall
be kept on file in the Division of Pupil Transportation, Department of
Education. This document shall be made available in reasonable numbers to those
persons or firms that have need for same.
Section 3. All manufacturers, their agents or
representatives that propose to sell new school bus chassis, school bus bodies,
and complete school buses to be used in the Commonwealth of Kentucky for the
transportation of pupils to and from school and for related uses shall file
detailed specifications, test results, certifications, and advertising
brochures on these chassis, bodies, and complete buses with the Division of
Pupil Transportation, Department of Education, Frankfort, Kentucky. These shall
be filed at least annually at a time and in the manner prescribed. The
manufacturers, their agents or representatives shall keep these files
up-to-date following model changes or modifications made between filing
dates.
Section 4. Any new school
bus chassis, new school bus body, or complete new school bus purchased by any
district board of education, individual, company or corporation for use in
transporting pupils to and from school and for related purposes shall meet the
Kentucky Minimum Specifications for School Buses; Revised, that were in effect
on the date of manufacture. Any such bus or component part shall not be used
for the above stated purposes until it shall have been approved by the Division
of Pupil Transportation as meeting these requirements.
Section 5. Any used school bus chassis, used
school bus body, or complete used school bus purchased by any district board of
education, individual, company or corporation for use in transporting pupils to
and from school and for related uses shall not be used for such purposes until
it shall have been approved by the Division of Pupil Transportation as meeting
the Kentucky Minimum Specifications for School Buses in effect on the date of
its original purchase, and as meeting the used school bus mandatory safety
equipment requirements in effect on the date the bus or component part was
purchased in used condition.
Section
6.
(1) No vehicle which was
designed by the manufacturer to carry more than ten (10) passengers in addition
to the driver shall be used to transport children to or from school or events
related to such schools that does not meet Kentucky Minimum Specifications for
School Buses; Revised, that were in effect on the date of manufacture, or does
not meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards applicable to manufacturers of
school buses, except as provided in subsection (2) of this section.
(2) School districts may, in their reasonable
discretion and with due regard to the safety and required supervision of the
school children to be transported, utilize appropriately certificated common
carriers, in regular or charter service, to transport school children to or
from school-related events, as long as the vehicles so utilized are not
significantly used as school buses. Such use of common carrier service, in lieu
of qualifying school buses, shall be on a case-by-case basis, and the reasons
believed by the board to justify such use shall be cited in the board
minutes.