No Tenure For New Bus Drivers - Acadiana's Multi-Media News Station

No Tenure For New Bus Drivers

BATON ROUGE, La. - New Louisiana school bus drivers would no longer be able to reach the job protection status called tenure, if lawmakers agree to a proposal that received passage Monday from the House Education Committee.

The proposal (House Bill 293) by Rep. Joe Harrison, R-Napoleonville, would apply to any bus drivers hired after July 1. It wouldn't take away tenure for bus drivers who already have it.

Currently, school bus drivers have a probationary term of three years. If they are not dismissed or found unsatisfactory during that time, they reach tenure, which gives them a permanent job status and makes it harder for them to be fired. Harrison said he couldn't find evidence that bus drivers have tenure provisions in any other state.

The House committee backed the bill in a 9-3 vote, sending it to the full House for debate.