State Senator Sine Kerr’s (R-Buckeye) Senate Bill (SB) 1630, which aims to alleviate the current school bus driver shortage Arizona faces, was recently signed into law by Arizona Governor Doug Ducey (R).
“Arizona is a prime example of just how grossly understaffed school districts and charter schools across the nation are when it comes to bus drivers,” Kerr said in a press release. “Drivers with a CDL [Commercial Drivers License] are in high demand, and we’re losing them to big companies like Amazon and Fed Ex. A mixture of outdated federal and state laws are only exacerbating the problem. The end result is children are experiencing big delays in their pick-ups, field trips and athletic events are being cancelled, parents are forced to drive inordinate distances to get their children to class, drivers are working sometimes 15-hour days to combat the shortage, and administrators are being forced to pick up some of the workload themselves.”
SB 1630 would allow authorized school districts, charter schools, or contracted private entities to use smaller vehicles that carry between 11 and 15 passengers. Under the bill, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) must develop safety regulations for these new vehicles. Drivers will need safety training from the DPS and an appropriate license for the vehicle in use, but a CDL is not required unless by federal law.
“Schools should be able to deploy any and every tool available to support their students. This bill recognizes that safety is of utmost importance when it comes to our children and provides DPS with complete regulatory oversight to ensure that when students load onto these vehicles, they will be protected as they make it to and from their destinations,” Kerr said.
The Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry tweeted out a response to the bill’s signing, thanking Ducey and Kerr for “modernizing K-12 student transportation to better serve Arizona students and families – regardless of where they live.”
Gov. @dougducey's signature on SB1630 will ensure Arizona continues to be a national leader in modernizing K-12 transportation to better serve students and families around the state. Our thanks to the Governor and to bill sponsor Sen. @SineKerr for their leadership on this issue! pic.twitter.com/T4apgEkpWc
— Arizona Chamber (@AZChamber) June 14, 2022
However, opponents of the bill, such as State Sen. Christine Marsh (D-Phoenix), argue this bill may put children in danger.
“There are safety concerns with doing this [SB 1630]. It goes against what the National Transportation Board suggests,” Marsh said during a Senate Floor Session. “We are now in the position of allowing student safety to be sacrificed for expediency.”
During the same floor session, Kerr rose to defend SB 1630, arguing that this bill’s flexibility should help rural areas where full-sized buses may not be unnecessary. She explained that student safety should not be a concern as the bill requires the DPS and Student Transportation Advisory Council to oversee these vehicles.
According to Arizona Public Media, the ongoing school bus driver shortage has caused some schools to take action.
Bethany Papajohn, the principal of Painted Sky Elementary School in Oro Valley, got her CDL to take students on field trips because the school was so short on bus drivers.
“And I can see why there’s a shortage because for the rate of pay bus drivers are paid, they have to do so much,” Papajohn said.
A 2021 survey conducted by three student transportation associations found that 51 percent of respondents described their shortage of bus drivers as desperate.
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Neil Jones is a reporter for The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Neil on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Sine Kerr” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 3.0. Background Photo “School Bus” by Michael Rivera. CC BY-SA 4.0.
