The State Board of Education shall prescribe rules and regulations:

(1) Requiring all local boards of education which provide transportation services for pupils going to and from public elementary and secondary schools of Alabama or in school-related activities, and the presidents of all state community, junior and technical colleges and directors of all state technical institutes and trade schools which provide transportation services for pupils going to and from said technical institutes and trade schools or community, junior and technical colleges to employ a competent supervisor or manager of such transportation services, whether such transportation services are provided in publicly owned or privately owned buses;

(2) Requiring periodic safety inspection of all vehicles used for transporting pupils, whether such vehicles are publicly or privately owned;

(3) Requiring and providing for special training and licensing of drivers of all vehicles used to transport pupils to and from school and in all school-related activities, whether such vehicles are publicly owned and operated or operated under contract with a private owner.

(a) A student attending a state community, junior and technical college, technical institute or trade school shall be entitled to receive transportation on a public school bus; provided, that no community, junior and technical college, technical institute and trade school bus service is available to such student, such student lives along a route usually served by a public school bus and there is space available in such public school bus for the safe transportation of additional students.

(b) The county boards of education whose school buses are being used shall adopt such rules and regulations necessary to carry out the provisions and intent of this section.

(a) Safety inspections provided for in the rules hereinabove mentioned shall be made by authorized, qualified State Department of Education employees and shall be made at least once each year and more often when, in the judgment of the State Superintendent of Education, such inspections should be made. The state Director of Public Safety shall advise and consult with the State Department of Education relative to the type and manner of inspections to be made and the scheduling thereof. When a safety check by a state school bus inspector indicates that a bus does not meet the safety standards set up by the State Board of Education, the inspector shall immediately report this fact to the local board of education using such bus. The report shall define the deficiency and prescribe the immediate status of the bus regarding its use; and any bus found by the inspector to be unsafe for operation shall not be used to transport pupils until appropriate repairs have been made. Any restrictions placed on a school bus by an official inspector can be lifted only:

(1) When a follow-up inspection reveals that the deficiency has been removed; or

(2) When the local superintendent of education certifies to the State Department of Education that the prescribed repairs or corrections have been made.

(b) Records and reports relative to such inspections and corrections shall be made on forms prescribed by the State Board of Education. Such records and reports shall be maintained on file by the local board of education for a minimum period of one year.

Regulations made pursuant to an order of the board of education requiring and providing for special training and licensing of drivers of vehicles used to transport pupils to and from school shall require an applicant for a school bus driver's license to be the holder of a currently valid regular driver's license and to complete a minimum of 12 clock-hours of approved instruction in school bus driving and to pass satisfactorily a written examination and also a driving performance test. The written examination shall be designed by the State Superintendent of Education with the cooperation of the state Director of Public Safety and may be given to the applicant either by an employee of the State Department of Education or a state trooper or other representative of the State Department of Public Safety as the State Superintendent of Education and the Director of Public Safety agree; but the driving performance test shall be given by a state trooper or other representative of the state Department of Public Safety. The plan for the performance test shall, however, be submitted to and approved by the State Superintendent of Education before the performance test is given. If the applicant for a school bus driver's license satisfactorily passes the test, the testing officer shall report this fact to the State Superintendent of Education and shall send a copy of such report to the local superintendent of education of the county or city where the applicant desires a job as a school bus driver.

Upon receipt of the testing officer's report of an applicant having satisfactorily passed the examinations, the State Superintendent of Education shall issue a special school bus driver's license. Such license shall be valid for one year from the date of its issuance and may be renewed annually for an additional year if the applicant attends a four clock-hour training session for school bus drivers conducted in such manner as the State Superintendent of Education prescribes. Such rules may also provide for the issuance of temporary permits or licenses for school bus drivers who have had a minimum of four clock-hours of instruction conducted by representatives of a local board of education. Holders of such temporary licenses shall only be employed for the purpose of filling vacancies which develop between scheduled training periods, and such temporary licenses shall be valid for a maximum of six months only.

All local boards of education, all presidents of state community, junior and technical colleges and all directors of state technical institutes and trade schools which provide transportation services for pupils or students going to and from public elementary and secondary schools, community, junior and technical colleges or technical institutes and trade schools, and in school or college related activities shall have safety inspections made of all vehicles used for such transportation at least once each month, whether such vehicles are publicly owned and operated or privately owned and operated under contract between the board of education, board of trustees or other governing body of a community, junior and technical college and the owner of vehicle. All safety inspections made hereunder shall be made by qualified mechanics in accordance with standards and rules established by the State Board of Education.

(a) No school bus shall be operated on a public street, highway or elsewhere unless it shall be equipped with a seat belt for the driver.

(b) The driver of a school bus while transporting pupils on a public street or highway or elsewhere shall wear a properly fastened seat belt when the bus is in motion. Failure of a bus driver to comply with this requirement shall be prima facie evidence of nonfeasance of duty, and any driver who fails to comply with this requirement shall be subject to dismissal.

(c) Every contract between a board of education and a school bus contract operator shall contain a clause requiring the driver of a school bus to wear a properly fastened seat belt when the bus is being used for the transporting of pupils on a public street or highway or elsewhere. Failure of any driver to comply with this requirement shall constitute a breach of contract on the part of the contract operator.

(a) The State Board of Education, each governing board of Alabama's public senior universities and each city and county board of education shall provide vehicle liability insurance for bus drivers or any other employee who is required to transport pupils. Said vehicle liability insurance shall cover personal liabilities for bus drivers or any other employee who is required to transport pupils. Said liability insurance shall be applicable to moving vehicular accidents only.

(b) School boards and other agencies covered by this section shall be deemed to be in compliance with the requirements of this section by either purchasing a liability insurance policy naming drivers as insureds, or if the employing board elects not to purchase a policy, by reimbursing individual employees for amounts necessary to add "drive other car broad form liability" riders to their individual vehicle liability insurance policies, to the limits specified by the employing board or agency.

(c) The provisions of this section shall also apply to the Alabama Department of Youth Services and the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind.

(a) No new school bus registered in this state and purchased after August 1, 2000, to transport public and nonpublic school students shall be operated or used as a school bus within this state unless the bus is equipped with a crossing control arm on the front of the bus that conforms to equipment and installation standards promulgated by the State Board of Education pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act, Chapter 22 of Title 41, commencing with Section 41-22-1.

(b) Priority in the use of any new school bus equipped with a crossing arm shall be given to the transportation of elementary school students.

(c) A crossing arm meeting the standards promulgated by the board shall be designed to swing out at least seventy inches from the front of a school bus each time the bus stops and opens its doors for school children to enter or exit the bus.