WV temporarily reduces bus driver applicant requirements; another Fayette school will close

West Virginia has temporarily reduced requirements for school bus driver applicants, if they have work experience here or outside the state.

The state Board of Education voted Wednesday to permit the exemptions. Its meeting agenda indicates the following will be allowed this school year.

• When out-of-state bus drivers apply in West Virginia, they now don’t have to take the minimum 40 hours of nondriving instruction with a state-certified trainer.
• These applicants also may be exempted from the minimum 12 hours of training behind the wheel, which include a state-certified trainer as a passenger.
• The applicant must provide proof of their experience to the county school system they apply to.
• Also, former school bus drivers, plus those who haven’t renewed their certification for two consecutive terms, now don’t have to complete all the certification requirements of a new applicant. Such drivers will still have to complete a minimum six-hour, behind-the-wheel refresher course with a state-certified trainer.

“What we’ve been faced with is folks leaving to go to other employment, such as the oil and gas and things of that nature,” said David Baber, the education department’s school transportation manager. “Now, they want to come back after three or four years and, by policy, it states that they have to be considered a new applicant.”

Baber said drivers were balking at taking the 40-plus hours of instruction. Even with the exemptions, he said applicants will still have to go through background checks.

Read more: https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/education/wv-temporarily-reduces-bus-driver-applicant-requirements-another-fayette-school-will-close/article_c2ee7fd4-d167-5407-a8b4-00545d4e19a7.html