{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-189.540","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 189.540","heading":"Regulations for school buses -- Operator required to have commercial","body":"driver's license with school bus endorsement.\n(1) (a) The Kentucky Board of Education shall promulgate administrative regulations\nto govern the design and operation of all Kentucky school buses and to govern\nthe operation of passenger vehicles owned, leased, or privately contracted by\nthe district that transport students under KRS 156.153(3).\n(b) The board shall, with the advice and aid of the Department of Kentucky State\nPolice and the Transportation Cabinet, enforce the administrative regulations\ngoverning the operation of all school buses, whether owned by a school\ndistrict or privately contracted, and all passenger vehicles owned, leased, or\nprivately contracted by the distr ict that transport students under KRS\n156.153(3).\n(c) The administrative regulations covering the operation shall by reference be\nmade a part of any contract with a school district. Every school district and\nprivate contractor referred to under this subsec tion shall be subject to those\nregulations.\n(2) (a) The administrative regulations promulgated by the Kentucky Board of\nEducation under subsection (1) of this section or under KRS 156.160 may\ninclude requirements for regular instruction of pupils in school bus safety.\n(b) A school district shall be exempt from the pupil instruction requirements\nauthorized in paragraph (a) of this subsection if:\n1. The school district had a gross average daily attendance of transported\npupils under KRS 157.370 for the previo us school year of forty -eight\n(48) pupils or fewer without any additional factors included;\n2. The school district's local board of education adopts a policy for\ninstructing pupils on school bus safety prior to the pupil's use of a\ndistrict-owned or privately contracted school bus; and\n3. The local board of education submits a copy of the district's policy to the\nKentucky Department of Education.\n(c) A school district's failure to implement an instruction policy adopted under\nparagraph (b) of this subsection shall be grounds for the Kentucky Board of\nEducation to revoke the school district's pupil instruction exemption until the\nschool district implements the policy.\n(3) Any employee of any school district who violates any of the administrative\nregulations in any contract executed on behalf of a school district shall be subject to\nremoval from office. Any person operating a school bus or passenger vehic le to\ntransport students under contract with a school district who fails to comply with any\nof the administrative regulations shall be guilty of breach of contract and the\ncontract shall be canceled after proper notice and a hearing by the responsible\nofficers of such school district.\n(4) (a) Any person who operates a school bus shall be required to possess a\ncommercial driver's license issued pursuant to KRS 281A.170 with a school\nbus endorsement as described in KRS 281A.175.\n(b) Any person who operates a passenger vehicle that is owned, leased, or\nprivately contracted by the district to transport students shall be required to\npossess a valid Class D operator's license in accordance with KRS\n156.153(3)(c).","path":["KRS Chapter 189"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=56077","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:51:43Z","sha256":"9055831a26bdbf77c1ffc14ffa67f6ddf318c2ff3f3553862a53c4ccddd9943f","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-189.530","next":"us-ky/krs-189.550"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}