SUMMARY: Care for students with special needs and ensure their safety while in transit on District school buses.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following. Other duties may be assigned.
Care for passengers' needs while in transit. Assist passengers on and off the bus and crossing streets.
Load and unload passengers in wheelchairs using the lift. Maneuver chairs on ramps, curbs, and inside buildings.
Secure passengers' wheelchairs and properly fasten all protective safety devices, car seats, lap belts, and T-straps.
Collaborate with driver on passenger management. Assist driver with maintaining student control.
Manage passengers with ambulatory appliances, restraint systems, and difficult behavior.
Prepare and submit all necessary records and reports in a timely manner.
Clean inside of bus, mirrors, and windows.
Maintain emergency card book for passengers, and maintain confidentiality of information.
Assist driver with following route folder.
Report accidents and implement breakdown procedures when required.
Safely stop and secure vehicle and evacuate school bus if driver becomes incapacitated.
Obtain special training related to specific disabilities and the assistant role in caring for those needs in transit.
Perform other duties as assigned.
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING: High school diploma/GED preferred.
EXPERIENCE: No experience required.
SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE, & EQUIPMENT: Ability to operate wheelchair lifts, secure wheelchair straps, and safety vests within one week after hire. Must pass District Pre-Placement physical, District written test, District skills training, and First Aid test within one week after hire.
CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, & REGISTRATIONS: CPR/First Aid certification within 90 days of hire.
SUPERVISION/TECHNICAL RESPONSIBILITY: This job has no supervisory responsibilities; however, this position is responsible for supervising student conduct and assisting substitute bus drivers with route, passenger information, and training.
CONTACTS: Daily contact with persons in work unit/building and persons outside department/building to furnish or obtain information, with students to resolve problems or negotiate matters, and with parents to negotiate controversial or confidential matters. Monthly contact with the general public to furnish information.
SAFETY TO SELF AND OTHERS: High exposure to bruises and cuts to self due to hostile passengers. Medium exposure to self to hernia due to lifting wheelchairs and passengers, disease due to handling passengers' bodily fluids, and repetitive motion or stress to wrist or shoulder due to lifting. Low exposure to self and passengers to loss of limb due to wheelchair lift, loss of sight due to hostile passengers, disfigurement due to falling in/off bus lift, and fatality due to maneuvering and assisting passengers in high traffic areas.
The physical demands, work environment factors, and mental functions described below are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl; and talk or hear. The employee frequently is required to stand, walk, sit, climb or balance, and taste or smell. The employee must regularly lift and/or move up to 10 pounds, frequently lift and/or move up to 50 pounds, and occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.
WORK ENVIRONMENT: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly exposed to moving mechanical parts. The employee is frequently exposed to high, precarious places; fumes or airborne particles; outside weather conditions; and bodily fluids. The employee is occasionally exposed to vibration. The noise level in the work environment is usually loud.
MENTAL FUNCTIONS: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to compare, communicate, use interpersonal skills, and negotiate. The employee is frequently required to analyze, coordinate, compute, evaluate, and compile. The employee is occasionally required to copy, instruct, and synthesize.
JUDGMENT AND DECISION-MAKING: Work is assigned by Supervisor, Transportation and/or Director, Transportation; however, work is typically self-directed while on the bus. Requires independent judgment to determine appropriate medical or physical care and safety for disabled and/or hostile passengers. Errors in decision making could lead to route delays and injury to self or passengers. Decision-making requires collaboration with Terminal Managers, Service Specialists, Bus Drivers, school administrators, teachers, and parents. Supervisor/Manager is occasionally involved in decision making. Work is guided by Transportation Department employee handbook, School Board policies, Negotiated Agreement, and state and federal laws.
DIVERSITY OF DUTIES: Duties require cross-training in basic school bus operation, health care related to disabled passengers, disposal of bio-medical waste, restraining devices, route procedures, PHD, and disciplinary procedures. Duties and actions impact students, parents, Bus Drivers, and school administrators.
