School Bus Ontario is celebrating 2022 School Bus Driver Appreciation Day, October 19, 2022 by reminding Ontario families that drivers are highly skilled professionals with one of the most important jobs in the education system – getting our children to and from school safely every day.
“Every school day starts and ends with a school bus,” said Rob Murphy, President of School Bus Ontario. “People tend to forget that driving a school bus with 72 children is not easy and is a very important responsibility. School bus drivers have the highest class of licence and must pass more qualification courses than any other bus driver in the province” said Murphy, of Murphy Bus Lines, based in the London area.
“The school bus driver shortage has plagued the industry for a long time but today is an important day to thank a driver for ensuring over 833,000 kids get to and from school safely each day,” said Nancy Daigneault, School Bus Ontario’s Executive Director.
School Bus drivers Must:
- Complete a vision test, written knowledge test, and road test for the class of licence desired (class B or E).
- Upon completion of the road/written tests, the driver has 6-months to complete the School Bus Driver Information Course (SBDIC)
- First Aid and CPR Training
- First Rider Programs
- Smart Driver Training
- Student Management Training
- Non-Violent Crisis Intervention Training
- Bullying Training
- Accessibilities for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) Training
- Collision Procedure Training
- Epi-Pen Training
- Human Rights Training
- School Bus Evacuation Training
- Local School Bus Protocol and Issues Management Training
School buses in Ontario travel 1.8 million kilometers each day – equivalent to 40 times around the world every day!