Legal Focus

Unauthorized school bus entry is a crime in Pennsylvania. Understanding your rights will help keep your drivers, aides and students safe. This article will provide an overview of Pennsylvania’s unauthorized bus entry statute, 18 Pa.C.S. § 5571, and will provide practical guidance you can share with your drivers.

The 2013 Hours of Service Federal Regulations have been making a buzz in the school bus industry recently and have sparked some important questions and concerns. Are school bus drivers on activity runs required by state or federal laws to keep a Record of on Duty Status (RODS) log? This article will provide an overview of the Hours-of-Service Safety Regulations, the Record of on Duty Status (RODS) log requirement, who is exempted from RODS, and what you as a contractor should do.

Many bus contractors in the last several months have been receiving faxes from what looks to be the Federal Department of Transportation but ... BEWARE! These official looking documents have been identified as fraudulent by the PA Department of Transportation and the United States Department of Transportation. Outlined below are details of the recent fraud attempt and how to protect you and your business from this scam and others.

As a result of divorce or other circumstances, it is likely that a child in your School District resides in two different locations. Are you required to provide transportation to both residencies if they are within your district? The January 7, 2014 case of Watts v. ManheimTwp. Sch. Dist. 2014 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 30; 2014 WL 37878 answered that very question.

Aggressive behavior in children is both common and sometimes dangerous. Are your drivers trained in understanding aggressive behaviors and implementing best practices to calm them down? Outlined in this article are reasons why children may become aggressive, intervention tactics, and your legal rights as a bus contractor.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended prohibits employment discrimination and retaliation by employers against employees who file claims. Recently, retaliation claims have surpassed all other types of claims made by employees to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). While the EEOC guidance manual has not permitted employers to avoid claims of retaliation by the employer’s showing that there were other legitimate reasons for adverse action against an employee, the Un...

Do you know all the essential information about the students on your bus? Do the school districts you serve share IEP information about individual students? Do you know the dangers of transporting students without knowing the details of their special needs? In 2006, a substitute driver was instructed by the school district to have all students jump from the back of the bus in a mandatory bus evacuation drill. A twelve year old, who suffers from medical conditions making him more susceptible to ...