The State Board of Education is authorized, empowered and directed to promulgate rules and regulations for providing operation procedures for public school buses to insure safety of pupils. § 37‑41‑1(g)
AUTHORIZED USE
It shall be a misdemeanor for any person to use a publicly owned school bus for any purpose other than one in connection with the school, and upon conviction thereof such person shall be fined not less than Fifty Dollars ($50.00). When any publicly owned school bus is being operated on the public roads or highways at a time other than the usual and customary time for the transportation of children to and from the public schools, members of the Highway Safety Patrol, sheriffs, constables and other peace officers shall have the power and authority to stop such bus for the purpose of ascertaining whether the trip then being made is authorized by law. If it be found that such trip is unauthorized, such highway patrolman, sheriff, constable or other peace or police officer shall forthwith report the same to the Board of Trustees owning such bus and to the State Department of Education. § 37‑41‑45
SPEEDING PROHIBITED
It shall be unlawful for a driver of any school bus, whether a public or a contract bus, to drive said bus at a speed greater than forty‑five (45) miles per hour while transporting children to and from school on regular routes. However, any such driver, while operating a school bus on other authorized trips, shall not drive said school bus at a speed greater than fifty (50) miles per hour. Any person who shall violate the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than twenty‑five dollars ($25.00) nor more than one hundred dollars ($100.00) for each offense. In addition thereto, upon such conviction, such driver may be discharged from further employment as a school bus driver or carrier and his contract as such may be terminated. § 37‑41‑47
VEHICLE INSPECTION AND SAFETY
Each Board of Trustees, person, firm or corporation transporting public school children on the public roads, streets and highways of the state with motor vehicles shall have said motor vehicles inspected according to the laws of the state and according to the regulations of the State Board of Education. Each motor vehicle shall be inspected by a competent mechanic to be safe for transporting pupils on the roads, streets and highways of the state before it is released for such purpose. If such motor vehicle is found to be unsafe for transporting pupils, then it shall be properly repaired or adjusted as necessary before being used to transport pupils. The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to vehicles owned by individuals and under private contract to the school district and used exclusively for transporting members of their immediate families.
The State Department of Education may, at its discretion, inspect any school bus used for transporting pupils to and from the public schools or for activity purposes to determine the safety of such motor vehicle for operation on the roads, streets and highways of this state. In the event a vehicle is inspected and is found to be unsafe for transporting pupils, a report shall be filed with the appropriate school official indicating its deficiencies with recommendations for correcting such deficiencies.
If it is determined that any buses are in such defective condition as to constitute an emergency safety hazard, those buses may be condemned and removed from service and shall not be returned to service until adequate repairs are completed and such buses are re-inspected by the State Department of Education. Any school official who approves the operation of any school bus that has been removed from service under the conditions listed above, prior to being re-inspected by the State Department of Education, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for a period not to exceed sixty (60) days, or a fine of not less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) nor more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court.
§ 37-41-53 (1992)
REQUIREMENTS FOR CONTRACT
The State Board of Education shall adopt and enforce regulations not inconsistent with the traffic laws and regulations of this state to govern the design and operation of all school buses used for the transportation of school children when owned and operated by any Board of Trustees or privately owned and operated under contract with any Board of Trustees in this state. Such regulations shall by reference be made a part of any such contract with a Board of Trustees. Every Board of Trustees, its officers and employees, and every person employed under contract by a Board of Trustees shall be subject to said regulations.
Any officer or employee of this Board of Trustees who violates any of said regulations or fails to include the obligation to comply with said regulations in any contract executed by them on behalf of a Board of Trustees shall be guilty of misconduct and subject to removal from office or employment. Any person operating a school bus under a contract with a Board of Trustees who fails to comply with any of said regulations shall be guilty of breach of contract and such contract shall be canceled after notice and hearing by the responsible officers of such Board of Trustees.
§ 37‑41‑57 (1987)
LEGAL REF.: MS CODE as cited
Mississippi Public School Accountability Standards (2003)
CROSS REF.: Policies EBBA C School Safety Plan
JCDAD C Bus Conduct