Transporting Students
Effective July 1, 2025, all school districts must adhere to the requirements of SB88 when transporting students. To understand the requirements for a specific trip, review the resources below.
- Student Transportation Driving Requirements Flowchart
- Student Transportation Driving Requirements Breakdown
When transporting students in vehicles owned by a private party, the insurance for that vehicle is responsible for any liability claims or medical payments that may occur resulting from an accident involving the private vehicle. RESIG recommends that districts enforce non-school drivers to carry the following limits on their vehicle insurance policies, conduct a visual inspection on the vehicle, as well as verify that the driver is licensed and follows volunteer requirements.
Bodily Injury: $500,000 combined single limit
Property Damage: $100,000
Med-Pay: $10,000
Things to check during a visual inspection:
- Confirm exterior lights are operational (turn signals)
- Confirm there are no fluid leaks
- Complete a check on the operability of the breaks
- Confirm appropriate tread on tires
- Appropriate working seatbelts
If any vehicle transporting students while under the care of the district is involved in a vehicle accident, please promptly report the incident using our Vehicle Accident Report (link to that document in P&L forms).
Please note that to drive a vehicle designed to carry more than 10 individuals, including the driver, the driver must have a passenger “P” endorsement on their CDL.
A passenger transportation vehicle includes, but is not limited to, a bus, farm labor vehicle, or general public paratransit vehicle when the vehicle is designed, used, or maintained to carry more than 10 passengers, including the driver, for hire or for profit, or by any nonprofit organization or group.
Read more about the DMV requirements for transporting large numbers of passengers HERE.