Motor Van Driver Training

Personnel qualifications for motor van drivers may be reviewed in Ohio Administrative Codes (OAC) 3301-83-06 , 3301-83-10, Ohio Revised Codes (ORC) 3327.10,  4511.76 (G)(3), and driver physical qualifications may be reviewed in  OAC 3301-83-07, for drivers of vehicles other than school buses used for pupil transportation. Successful completion of these requirements allows school districts in Ohio to use drivers and authorized alternative vehicles to meet transportation needs in compliance with state regulations. 

The Ohio Pre-service motor van driver training manual covers all materials required by law for transporting students in alternative vehicles (vehicles other than school buses). Authorized vehicles must be approved to transport students. The vehicle must be originally designed and constructed at the factory for twelve or fewer passengers, not including the driver; it must have a rooftop sign marked "school transportation". The name of the school district, or the name of the contractor, if applicable, must be clearly marked on the side of the vehicle. The vehicle must be inspected by a qualified mechanic twice a year.

It is important to note that any authorized alternative vehicle that is being used for student transportation does not stop on any traveled portion of the roadway to load or unload passengers. The vehicle needs to be pulled off the roadway completely or into a driveway or designated pickup location. 

Van Driver Training Documents and Related Forms

The motor van driver training course has moved to an online platform as of  August 1, 2025. The instructions to register drivers for the course are included in the Motor Van Driver Qualifications Check List, and are included in the preface of the Pre-Service Motor Van Driver Training Manual above.

Driver Qualifications 

Blood Pressure Qualifications:  Rule 3301-83-07 of the Administrative Code establishes physical qualifications for pupil transportation drivers, including parameters for blood pressure.   This table summarizes the blood pressure information set forth in this rule:
Blood Pressure Outcome Required Retest Required Retest
Less than 160/90 Passes BP test n/a n/a
BP 161-180 diastolic
and/or 91-104 systolic		 Conditional pass
– follow up required		 90 day retest by T-8 physician – must be less than 160/90 or driver is disqualified 6 month (from date of T-8) check by treating physician – must be less than 160/90 or driver is
disqualified
Greater than 180/104 Fails physical n/a n/a
 

Motor Van Driver Insulin Waivers – New Rule and Submission Process

Insulin Dependent Waiver:  Rule 3301-83-07 of the Administrative Code allows drivers with diabetes who are insulin dependent to drive students if an Insulin Dependent Waiver is issued by the Department.  To receive a waiver, drivers will need to submit the Insulin Dependent Waiver Packet. 

NEW PROCESS Effective July 1, 2025:

Insulin Dependent Waiver Packet – submit through a secure link using filedrop.cloudfs.ohio.gov/

Rule 3301-83-07 effective July 1, 2025: 

  • Under the former rule, every 6 months drivers are required to have a follow-up medical evaluations (endocrinologist and ophthalmologist) and submit statements from the physicians to ODEW indicating the driver’s insulin condition is controlled.  As of July 1, 2025 there is no requirement to submit 6-month follow up evaluation statements to ODEW.  Instead, employers may request the physician statements to confirm the driver’s diabetes continues to be controlled. 
  • Under the former rule, the insulin waiver is valid for 3 years.  As of July 1, 2025, insulin waivers are valid for 6 years.   ODEW will change all drivers’ anniversary dates as of July 1 to reflect a 6-year expiration date.  For example, if a driver expires on July 30, 2025, the date will be updated to July 30, 2028. 
  • Under continuing rule, insulin waiver evaluations must be conducted by a “licensed endocrinologist”.  In the state of Ohio, only physicians are licensed as endocrinologists (not APRNs or Physician’s Assistants). Please ensure that your drivers understand this as medical statements submitted by non-endocrinologists will not be accepted. 
  • Under continuing rule, insulin waiver evaluations must also be conducted by an “ophthalmologist”.   An ophthalmologist is a licensed physician.  Statements from optometrists or other non-ophthalmologists will not be accepted. 

Questions? Please email waiverapp@education.ohio.gov

Driver Compliance

Student safety during the transportation process is paramount. Revisions to Ohio law (ORC 4511.76(H)) authorized districts to utilize alternative vehicles, which are motor vehicles originally manufactured and designed for not more than twelve passengers, not including the driver, to transport any student to and from regularly scheduled school sessions, school related activities and school-sanctioned events. With this expansion of options, it is vital that districts are properly verifying and recording pupil transportation drivers regardless of the type of vehicle being used for transportation. The information provided below will help districts ensure all their drivers are in compliance with Ohio law.

Ensuring Proper Reporting of Driver Qualifications

The Department maintains Drives, an online database that serves as a repository for school transportation driver information. Pertinent information and data documenting Driver Status (e.g., driver has a current pre-service training certificate) is centrally located in Drives, which is accessible to public school districts, community schools, and contractors that employ or utilize school bus or motor van drivers.

The goal of Drives is to verify that drivers transporting Ohio students are actively meeting all driver qualifications, including holding an active pre-service certificate of training completion. Districts and schools who utilize drivers can easily access driver records within Drives to confirm their drivers are qualified. The ability to collect and access these data is imperative as Ohio law (ORC 3327.10) prohibits employing or contracting with unqualified bus or motor van drivers.

In addition to driver information, Drives also collect information regarding  vehicles used for student transportation. Ohio law (ORC 4511.76) imposes criminal sanctions for the operation of non-conforming vehicles, so it is essential that this data be available in a centralized system. Drives ensures that address information is accessible for State compliance purposes.

To gain access to Drives, a user needs to have an OH|ID Account, Department of Education Profile and an appropriate OEDS Role. An OEDS organization is created by requesting an “IRN” - a six-digit Information Retrieval Number that uniquely identifies each organization that interacts with the Department.

Reporting Driver Information in Drives

With recent law changes, schools, districts, and contractors are interested in expanding the use of passenger vans. However, in doing so, gaps have emerged in the data entry related to individual van drivers within Drives. The flowchart below captures this issue.

In the flowchart, there are are two different scenarios for reporting drivers in Drives. In one scenarios drivers are employed by the district and in the other they are not. When drivers are employed by the district, they have a record in Drives and this is where the report will be entered. In the second scenario, there is only a proper driver record in Drives if the transportation contractor has an IRN and employee drivers. In situations where the transportation contractor does not obtain an IRN from the driver or hires contractors themselves, there is no proper record in Drives.
 


Possible Impacts for School Districts

The lack of centralized information to confirm which individual drivers the district is using through a transportation contractor poses a noncompliance risk to districts.  For example, when a district contracts with a vendor that then subcontracts with individual drivers or secondary transportation companies, districts remain responsible for ensuring all drivers or subcontracted drivers are properly qualified. Under Ohio law, should a district utilize a van driver who does not meet requirements set forth in ORC 3327.10, the district will be non-compliant with pupil transportation requirements. ORC 3327.021 provides:

(B) The department of education and workforce shall monitor whether each city, local, or exempted village school district is out of compliance. If the department determines that a district is out of compliance, the department shall notify a school district that it is out of compliance. The first time a district receives notification of noncompliance, it shall create a corrective action plan and submit that plan to the department within one week of receiving notification of the department's determination. If a district is subsequently found to be out of compliance, the department shall withhold twenty-five per cent of the district's daily payment for student transportation under Chapter 3317. of the Revised Code, as computed by the department, for each day that the district is determined to be out of compliance, beginning with the first day after the district has submitted the corrective action plan. A district may be found out of compliance two more times within the same school year, with twenty-five per cent of its daily state transportation funding withheld for each day it is determined to be out of compliance.

The following are options for Districts to consider in contracting with Transportation Contractors to help reduce the risk of noncompliance. These options are intended to ensure all drivers used by a District are captured in Drives.

  1. Consider requiring that the Transportation Contractor provide a list of all individual drivers providing services to the District (including all subcontracted drivers) and provide confirmation that each driver meets Ohio qualifications.  The District would then enter the driver’s information directly into Drives. 
  2. Consider requiring that the Transportation Contractor obtain an IRN or use its existing IRN(s) and assume the responsibly for entering all individual drivers in Drives (including all subcontracted drivers); and consider requiring that the Transportation Contractor assign a District employee as a Data Reviewer role in the Contractor’s OEDS account so the District can confirm driver status. You may also consider assigning the District employee a Transportation Coordinator role, if you wish to grant them full access to your employee demographics (editing data, access to reports, etc).
  3. Consider utilizing drivers with their own IRNs/OEDS account and requiring that the driver assign a District employee as a Coordinator role in the driver’s OEDS account so the District can confirm driver status.

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Last Modified: 1/14/2026 7:53:44 AM