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District News
Pursuant to requirements of Chapter 670 of the Laws of 2007
enacted section 3637 of Education Law, this serves as
notification to school employees of the provisions of this law.
Copies of the requirements are available in the Jim Lather's
office (Director of Transportation).
View a plain language PowerPoint presentation (as a PDF file)
explaining the requirements.
The law requires that all school districts ensure that every
driver of a school bus or other school vehicle turn off the
engine of the vehicle while waiting for passengers to load or
off load. The law requires the Commissioner of Education to
promulgate regulations requiring school districts to minimize,
to the extent practicable, the idling of school vehicles. It
provides for certain exceptions when necessary for heating,
mechanical or emergency circumstances. It also requires school
districts to annually provide to school personnel a notice of
the provisions of the law and regulations. This memorandum will
give an overview of the statute and regulations and the
materials which have been developed for school districts to use
as the annual notice to school employees.
General Provisions of Section 156.3 (h)
Applies to all public school districts and covers all employees,
not just school bus drivers, when they are driving …
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Vehicles which are school district owned or
leased, not just school buses.
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Includes contractor owned and operated
school buses under contract with the district.
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Requires the driver to turn off the engine
while parked on school grounds, in front of a school, or
adjacent to a school while loading or off loading passengers
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Encourages districts to adopt a policy
requiring prompt loading and off loading of individual
school buses rather than await the arrival of all buses
Exceptions – Limited idling may be permitted
when it is necessary for the following reasons:
Requirements of School Bus Drivers
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Instruct pupils on the necessity to board
the bus promptly to reduce loading time
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Park the school bus diagonally in loading
areas to minimize the amount of exhaust from adjacent buses
that may enter the school bus and school buildings
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Turn off the engine during sporting or other
events
Additional School District Responsibilities
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Annually provide their school personnel with
a notice of the provisions of Education Law section 3637 and
Commissioner’s Regulation section 156.3 (h)
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Notice shall be provided no later than 5
days after the start of school
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Format and materials for the notice will be
supplied by the Commissioner
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Monitor the compliance of drivers with the
requirements
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Prepare a written report describing the
actions taken to review compliance and the degree of
adherence found.
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Copies of the report to be maintained by the
district for six years and provided to SED only upon
request.
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Include a provision in all pupil
transportation contracts entered into on or after July 1,
2008 that requires the vendor’s compliance with the
provisions of reducing idling
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