At North American Central School Bus in St. Louis, when reviewing an applicant’s motor vehicle record, officials look for such unacceptable behavior as speeding or reckless endangerment, according to Director of Safety and Training Frank Ciccarella.
“In addition, we look for DWI convictions that are within the last 10 years,” he says.
Contractors differ from school districts, however, in that many times, third party administrators oversee the background and motor vehicle record checks and applicant qualifications. This is the case for North American Central School Bus and for Cincinnati-based First Student Inc.
Maureen Richmond, director of media relations for First Student, says that the company follows the Fair Credit Reporting Act, so if officials find something on a prospective employee’s record that they would deem inappropriate, they share that with the candidate and then the candidate has an opportunity to file an appeal if he or she feels that more explanation is needed.
Because First Student operates buses at terminals around the nation, the specifics of applicants’ background checks vary based on each state’s regulations.
“It will vary based on how far back you can go. In some states, you can go back to day No. 1; in other states, you can only go back five years, seven years, etc.,” Richmond explains.
A background check is performed initially before the applicant transports any students, and then a check is performed again every couple of years.
“Some student transportation contracts specify and require that it’s checked on an annual basis or even more frequently,” Richmond says. “Your motor vehicle record is pulled at least annually, but depending on the terms of a contract, it may be pulled every six months, every 90 days, etc.”
Should there be more uniformity nationwide?
Just as states have different regulations on how far back employers can go for a background check, they also have different standards and processes for background checks, and different specifications on what will disqualify a school bus driver applicant from obtaining the position.
Because of this disparity, officials run the risk of potentially hiring someone who could endanger students if that person has moved from state to state.
Many pupil transportation officials feel that having more uniformity among states for the background check process and bus driver applicant restrictions could help to prevent this.
Quigley, for instance, believes there should be uniformity in all aspects of transporting students in a school bus within the U.S., and Schmutz believes it would be helpful in eliminating instances where an applicant may question why he or she was hired at a previous operation but was not accepted for the current position.
“I like the idea of being uniform since a CDL is essentially a national license,” Segal says. “However, I think the uniformity should only be in the requirement to do a background check. Felonies should certainly be considered, but I think states and school districts should have some flexibility. For instance, some districts may be OK with hiring a driver with one or two points on his or her license.”
Jones says he’s content with the process for school bus driver background checks in Washington state.
“The thing I’m nervous about in terms of any kind of national standards or national regulations is that they’re not likely to have some kind of national standards without having some kind of report verifying that you’ve met those standards, and they wouldn’t give us any money to put toward the effort,” he explains.
Providing protection when bus drivers move between states
While Hollander feels that having more uniformity among states would make bus driver disqualifications clearer and the background check process more streamlined, she says it would be very difficult to achieve.
She believes that a national clearinghouse that lists information about school bus drivers – specifically, any authoritative action that was taken against them, such as being suspended or terminated – would help to prevent undesirable candidates from obtaining jobs at operations in various states.
“It would involve having a website
where you could log in to find out if the driver was ever terminated and why,” says Hollander, who oversaw criminal background checks for teacher licensing applicants in Nevada for 15 years.
