School transportation officials in Tennessee and Georgia say system-level school bus driver training exceeds state requirements.
A fatal October school bus crash in Carroll County, Ga., involving a 59-year-old bus driver trainee underscores differences in training procedures.
Tennessee makes bus drivers take a four-hour class each year to maintain their commercial driver's license, and some school systems ask for extra training.
Georgia requires 12 hours of classroom training -- six hours behind the wheel without students and six with students -- under the supervision of a trainer. Individual systems may require up to 120 hours of training. Walker County, Ga., bus driver Doris Greene drove in upstate New York for a decade before moving to Georgia. She said the additional training time Walker puts into its drivers ensures they are as safe as they can be.
"Even if you come here from a different state with experience, you have to go through all the training," Greene said.
Walker County Schools Transportation Director Kevin Richardson said its school bus drivers get almost twice as much training as the state requires.
"We actually ended up expanding the class to 20 hours to make sure we got everything covered," Richardson said. "Most of the time, we're between 16 to 20 [hours of training] anyway."
Sgt. Alan Bailey, who conducts commercial driver training for the state through the Tennessee Highway Patrol's Special Programs Unit, said most Tennessee school systems require at least four hours classroom training beyond state requirements.
"Each county mandates in their policies that they have so many hours that they have to drive with a trainer," Sgt. Bailey said.
Michael Quinn is general manager of Durham School Services, which operates most of Hamilton County's school buses. He said Durham drivers get 12 to 16 hours of classroom instruction and up to 30 or 40 hours on the road before they begin hauling students.Driver performance is judged individually, and training is tailored to fill in gaps, he said.
REASON FOR CARE
Bailey said school bus drivers are among the best commercial drivers on the road.
But two fatal crashes in the region live on in residents' memories.
In 1955, a train hit a bus at a railroad crossing in Spring City, Tenn., killing 11 children.
In 2000, a school bus was hit by a train in Tennga, Ga., killing three Murray County children and injuring four.
Whitfield County Schools spokesman Eric Beavers said school transportation officials review all accidents, however minor.
"Actions may include additional training, personnel action or engineering modifications," he said. "We also discuss incidents that occur in other school districts or other parts of the country to ensure that our procedures are in keeping with the best practices."
REGION FLEETS
School buses across the region haul students thousands of miles every day.
System / Buses / Students transported daily
Catoosa / 126 / 8,500
Marion / 24 / 2,800
Hamilton / 242 / 27,000
Walker / 87 / 6,000
Whitfield / 158 / 9,500
Source: Tennessee and Georgia school officials
LICENSING
School bus drivers in Tennessee and Georgia must have a commercial driver's license with passenger and school bus endorsements. Drivers must pass a road test and be able to perform "pre-trip" inspections.