Rep. Jim Struzzi, R-Indiana, is pictured on a 2024 tour of a state Department of Environmental Protection lab facility. Struzzi recently introduced legislation to allow school districts to use larger vans to take students to and from school and after-school activities.

A state lawmaker wants to allow school districts to use larger vans to transport students to school and after-school activities.

Currently, state law allows a maximum of 10-passenger vans to transport students. Rep. Jim Struzzi, R-Indiana, is circulating a co-sponsorship memorandum to allow larger vans to be used for student transportation – something that could affect the Warren County School District. The use of vans is one way the district hopes to decrease bus times for students affected by the closure of Youngsville and Sheffield.

Federal law and some states allow the use of 12-passenger vans, and some manufacturers are no longer making 10-passenger vans.

“Schools are left with the choice of purchasing a minivan which holds seven passengers or purchasing a 12-passenger van and changing the seat configuration by removing seats to re-certify the van as a 10-passenger van,” Struzzi wrote in his co-sponsorship memorandum. “The increased costs and limited space associated with what schools must currently do to meet the arbitrary requirements in Pennsylvania for school van use are unnecessary, especially when we are facing a school bus driver shortage. Allowing schools the opportunity to use 12-passenger vans to transport school children would provide significant savings to school districts, provide additional opportunities for students, and help to alleviate the current school bus driver shortage.”

Struzzi’s bill would exempt the driver of an 11- to 15-passenger van from the requirement to obtain a school bus endorsement, while also exempting the operator from the requirement to obtain a CDL. Struzzi also plans to require that 11 to 15 passenger vans must be used to transport students to and from schools or to school-related activities.

“Providing these exemptions for drivers of 11 to 15 passenger vans would greatly assist student transportation to and from school and to school-related activities,” Struzzi wrote. “As far as safety measures are concerned, these vans simply do not carry the rollover risk that has been associated with them in the past. It is my belief that this legislation will provide flexibility and cost-effective measures to both rural, urban, and suburban school districts to transport their students safely and effectively.”

Virginia lawmakers are currently debating a similar bill. Virginia House Bill 2720 would allow some school districts to use alternative transportation, like passenger vans, as a way to ease the crunch created by a shortage of CDL-certified school bus drivers. The bill passed the House in early February and will be debated by state senators.

According to the Virginia Mercury, school boards would have to hold a public hearing before beginning to use vans and submit an annual report detailing ridership, costs, and bus routes to the Virginia Department of Education. There has been opposition from the Virginia Education Association that includes drivers who aren’t trained to handle students, unsafe vans in Detroit’s private bus fleet and worker disputes when Boston tried the idea.