(a) For the purposes of this section, the term “school bus” shall mean any motor vehicle used to transport eight or more children to or from a public or private school, educational center, program for the handicapped, special education activity, school athletic event, or any other school activity, or, if the transportation is provided pursuant to an agreement with the Department of Education, then any motor vehicle used to transport one or more school children in accordance with such agreement.
(b) No person shall operate a school bus after September 1, 1980, who has not just obtained a school bus operator's license pursuant to the provisions of this section.
(c) The Director of Motor Vehicles, after consultation with the Commissioner of Education, shall promulgate rules and regulations for the training, testing, and licensing of school bus operators, which shall include the following requirements:
(1) successfully complete a school bus operator's instructional and training course as approved by the Director of Motor Vehicles in consultation with the Commissioner of Education;
(2) annually complete an instructional and training refresher course of not less than 8 hours duration as a condition for continuing to hold a valid bus operator's license;
(3) pass an annual physical examination by a licensed Virgin Islands physician, which shall include, but need not be limited to, visual acuity, hearing, blood pressure, stress, and reaction-time tests, and must be certified by such physician to be free of any physical condition which might impede such person's ability to safely operate a school bus;
(4) not have a history of moving violations or have been convicted for any crime of violence; and
(5) such other reasonable standards as may be established by the Director of Motor Vehicles after consultation with the Commissioner of Education to assure the competence of a school bus operator.
(d) The Director of Motor Vehicles may revoke the school bus operator's license of any person who fails to continue to meet the standards required by this section.
(e) The Director of Motor Vehicles may issue temporary school bus operator's licenses upon terms he deems appropriate, provided that no temporary license shall be valid for longer than six months from the date of issue, shall not be renewable, and no person may receive more than one such temporary license in any two year period.
(f) The Department of Education shall bear the cost of the annual physical examination required by subsection (c)(3) of this section, as well as the cost of obtaining and renewing the class B school bus operator's license for each school bus operator employed by the Department of Education for the provision of school transportation.
(g) The Director of Motor Vehicles shall immediately temporarily revoke the school bus operator's license of any person whenever the Director is presented with a preponderance of evidence, including testimony of a reliable eye witness, that such person, while operating a school bus or within eight hours immediately preceding the operation of any school bus, was or is believed to have been:
(1) consuming alcoholic beverages; or
(2) unlawfully using, possessing, or distributing a controlled substance as defined in Title 19, chapter 29, of this code; or
(3) physically behaving in such a manner, by weaving, staggering, slurred speech, or similar demonstrated uncoordinated actions, that a reasonable man would doubt the ability of such person to safely operate a school bus.
(h) The Director of Motor Vehicles shall, as soon as practicable but not later than sixty days from the time of revocation, grant an informal hearing to any person whose school bus operator's license has been temporarily revoked under subsection (f) of this section. Prior to the hearing, an operator shall be advised of the evidence made known to the Director which caused the Director to temporarily revoke his license. Such evidence may be refuted by the operator, or his representative, at the hearing. After consideration of the evidence and rebuttal presented at the hearing, the Director of Motor Vehicles may reinstate the school bus operator's license or permanently revoke such license. No person formally charged under the criminal laws of the Virgin Islands with operating any vehicle while intoxicated or for any violation under section 604 or section 608 of Title 19, chapter 29 of this code (controlled substances) may operate a school bus during the pending of such charges or after conviction of such offense. Any action taken by the Director of Motor Vehicles under this subsection may be appealed to any court of appropriate jurisdiction.