(Radio Iowa) – A policy that goes into effect January 1st gives Iowa school districts more authority to choose what qualifications school bus drivers in each district must have. Commercial Drivers Licenses will STILL be required, plus a C-D-L endorsement to drive a school bus and any vehicle with more than 14 passengers. However, the Iowa Department of Education’s 14-hour course for school bus drivers will be optional and schools may require completion of the federal government’s far shorter entry level course instead.

Republican Representative Thomas Moore of Griswold says the policy is meant to address the shortage of school bus drivers. “For many of us during the summertime as we’re driving around and going through communities, we see those yellow school buses with signs of ‘Drivers Wanted’ on the sides of them,” Moore says.

Representative Monica Kurth, a Democrat from Davenport, says the new policy is like Swiss cheese, with no consistent standard for all school districts. “The safety of those children in school buses should be considered a statewide issue,” Kurth said. Representative Austin Baeth, a Democrat from Des Moines, says reducing safety training isn’t the way to address shortages in Iowa’s workforce.

“When we have a shortage of brain surgeons, are we going to say, ‘No more med school?’ Bus drivers are carrying our state’s most precious cargo — our children,” Baeth says. “This is not a place to cut corners.” Moore says the policy lets school officials make local decisions about school bus safety.  “I believe that the school districts are going to continue with the Department of Education programming,” Moore said. “But if a school district decides that they are the most qualified to decide over the Department of Education, I believe that is highly responsible.”

Governor Reynolds signed a bill last week that outlines the new options for school bus driver training. Federal data indicates that when U-S schools started last fall, there were about 12 percent fewer bus drivers than there were in 2019.