Official Site of The State of New Jersey
Training for Interacting with Students with Special Needs
All school bus drivers and school bus aides employed by a board of education or a contractor that provides student transportation services under a contract with a board of education are requied to complete the training.
The training program covers the following areas as they relate to students with disabilities:
- Appropriate behavior management
- Effective communication
- Understanding behaviors that may be related to specific disabilities
- Use and operation of adaptive equipment
Employer Responsibilities
An "employer" is a board of education or a contractor that provides student transportation services under contract with a board of education.
An employer must administer the training program to all school bus drivers and school bus aides that it employs. If a person was employed prior to release of the training, the training must be administered no later than 180 days after the Commissioner of Education makes the training program available.
If a person is employed after the release of the training, the employer must administer the training to the driver or aide prior to the person operating a school bus or servicing as an aide on a school bus.
The employer must require that a school bus driver or school bus aide file a certification with the employer that the person has completed the training within five business days of its completion. The employer must keep a copy of the certification for the duration of the person's employment, and must forward a copy to the New Jersey Department of Education through the local county office of education. The Department of Education developed a sample certificate for employers to use.
Instructions
The employer should forward a copy of the School Bus Driver and Aide Training Certificate to the County Office of Education in which their business is located with the annual school bus driver certification information. Please note, this requirement applies to all such employees that are newly hired during the course of the school year. The Driver and Aide Certification Roster can be found on the School Bus Drivers and Aides Annual Certification webpage.
Student Information Card for Students with Special Needs
The student information card includes information that should be readily available to a school bus driver and school bus aide for the purpose of promoting proper interaction with a student with special needs.
The parent or guardian of a student with an individualized education program (IEP) will complete the student information card when the IEP is developed or amended for a student who receives transportation services. Upon receiving consent from a student's parent or guardian, the school district must provide a copy of the completed student information card to the school bus driver or school bus aide for each student on the bus route to which the school bus driver or school bus aide is assigned and for whom a student information card has been completed by the parent or guardian.
The card should be kept in a location that is readily available to a school bus driver and school bus aide.