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Shortage of school bus drivers felt by many districts in Minnesota

Deb Carlson, driver exam program manager for the Driver and Vehicle Services Division at the Public Safety Department, shares her concerns March 3 about HF1164. Photo by Paul Battaglia
Deb Carlson, driver exam program manager for the Driver and Vehicle Services Division at the Public Safety Department, shares her concerns March 3 about HF1164. Photo by Paul Battaglia

When classes were canceled in the Onamia School District one day last fall, it wasn’t due to the weather. The district didn’t have enough bus drivers to transport students to and from school.

Representatives from the Minnesota School Bus Operators Association highlighted the incident in testimony before the House Education Innovation Policy Committee Tuesday as a way to support proposed changes to the administrative licensing process for school bus driver applicants that they say would allow qualified candidates to climb into the driver’s seat in a more timely fashion. 

The relatively lengthy process — at least 60 days — it takes to get applicants endorsed to drive a school bus has exacerbated a recent shortage in bus drivers felt by many school districts across the state, particularly in rural areas, said Tom Keliher, a lobbyist for the organization.

Sponsored by Rep. Nick Zerwas (R-Elk River), HF1163 and HF1164 include a number of provisions that would mitigate the administrative backlog in processing school bus driver applications by:

  • expanding the number of third-party testing programs certified to administer skills and road tests;
  • expanding the ability for applicants to obtain temporary endorsement in lieu of a complete background search; and
  • allowing third-party testers to use certified private companies to conduct background checks on applicants. Currently school districts are only allowed to use the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

“We are trying to ease some of the restrictions to help with significant backlog and shortage of school bus drivers around our state,” Zerwas said.

The committee voted to refer the HF1164 to the House Transportation Policy and Finance Committee and was to reconvene Tuesday night to vote on HF1163. The respective companion bills SF1046 and SF1047, both sponsored by Sen. Jim Carlson (DFL-Eagan), await action by the Senate Transportation and Public Safety Committee.

In addition to the Department of Public Safety Driver and Vehicle Services Division, only bus companies and school district bus services of 50 employees or more are now allowed to provide third-party skills and road testing to bus applicants, who first must obtain a commercial driver’s license.

HF1164 would allow smaller organizations to administer skills and road tests to applicants who seek official endorsement to drive a school bus, which would alleviate the backlog at testing sites, Keliher said.

States like Wisconsin and South Dakota only use third-party testers to administer road and skills tests for commercial driver’s license applicants, Zerwas said.

Officials from the Driver and Vehicle Services Division expressed concern over provisions that would allow third-party testers to charge a fee for administering the skills and road tests to school bus driver applicants. The department partners with more than three dozen school districts in training and administering the tests at no cost to the applicant, said Deb Carlson, DVS driver exam program manager.

Rep. Eric Lucero (R-Dayton), a former school bus driver, praised the proposed legislation.

“It is a tough enough job as it is, so anything that can be done to streamline the process is something I am in favor of,” Lucero said.


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