Sponsored by:
Senator LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Senator NICHOLAS J. SACCO
District 32 (Bergen and Hudson)
SYNOPSIS
Requires training program for school bus drivers and aides on interacting with students with special needs.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning training of school bus drivers and aides and supplementing chapter 39 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Commissioner of Education shall develop a training program for school bus drivers and school bus aides on proper procedures for interacting with students with special needs. The training program shall include, but need not be limited to, the following:
a. appropriate behavior management;
b. effective communication;
c. use and operation of adaptive equipment; and
d. understanding behaviors that may be related to specific disabilities.
The commissioner shall make the training program available to boards of education and school bus contractors providing pupil transportation services under contract with boards of education no later than one year following the effective date of this act.
2. a. An employer shall administer the training program developed pursuant to section 1 of this act to all school bus drivers and school bus aides that it employs. In the case of an individual who is employed prior to the development and availability of the training program, the employer shall administer the training program to the individual no later than 180 days after the training program is made available by the commissioner. In the case of an individual who is employed after the development and availability of the training program, the employer shall administer the training program to the individual prior to that individual operating a school bus or serving as an aide on a school bus.
b. As used in this section, “employer” means a board of education or a contractor that provides pupil transportation services under contract with a board of education.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires that the Commissioner of Education develop a training program for school bus drivers and school bus aides on interacting with students with special needs. The training program would include appropriate behavior management, effective communication, the use and operation of adaptive equipment, and understanding behavior that may be related to specific disabilities. Once the training program is made available, boards of education and school bus contractors that provide student transportation services under contract with boards of education would be required to administer the training program to all school bus drivers and school bus aides that they employ.