Department of Education

 

GDForum ID: 2759

Description of Proposed Guidance Document Changes

During the 2025 legislative session, the General Assembly passed, and the Governor subsequently signed HB1993 revising Code of Virginia § 22.1-177. School buses; regulations; decals, posters, and stickers; type; sale and transfer., permitting any local school board, notwithstanding any regulation to the contrary, to display decals, posters, and stickers on the sides and rear of school buses advertising the hiring of school bus drivers in the local school division, provided that the local school board is responsible for the cost of such decals, posters, and stickers and that no such decal, poster, or sticker obstructs the name of the school division or the number of the school bus. Attachment 1 is the complete Virginia Public School Bus Specifications document with the proposed revision included in section 49. Identification of Public School Buses. In addition, the General Assembly passed, and the Governor subsequently signed HB2720, permitting school boards that govern school divisions with a total fall membership enrollment of fewer than 4,500 students to pursue certain student transportation alternatives for the next two school years. This bill provides needed flexibility to assist rural and small school divisions that struggle with providing traditional transportation services due to budget constraints and school bus driver shortages. The bill permits the use of vehicles with a capacity of less than 10 passengers and smaller capacity school buses ranging from eleven to fifteen passengers that comply with the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) for school buses and State school bus specification requirements for student transportation services. Any vehicle designed to carry more than 10 passengers that is used to transport students to or from school or schoolrelated activities that does not meet the FMVSS school bus requirements, are not approved for student transportation services. The Virginia Public School Bus Specifications and Chapter 70. Regulations Governing Pupil Transportation provide guidance on compliant vehicles that may be used for student transportation pursuant to this bill.

 

Guidance Document(s) for this Comment Forum

Document ID	Document Title	Current Document	Proposed Document
Transportation	Virginia School Bus Specifications	Old Version Removed	Proposed Document	Posted with original changes on 10/29/2025

 

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