Bill would require de-escalation training for school bus operators after parent’s account of unsafe episode

Senate Bill 435, sponsored by Senator (file sponsor) and filed in companion to House Bill 736, would require school bus operators to receive de‑escalation training approved by the Executive Office of Education and, where employed, for that training to be paid by the employer.

Sponsor testimony described an incident involving the lawmaker's constituent’s son and urged the committee to adopt mandatory statewide training so operators and monitors can safely manage behavioral or medical events on buses and reduce unnecessary law-enforcement involvement. "Parents across the state should feel confident that the school bus they send their kids to is a safe place," the sponsor said in the hearing.

Raquel Casada, the mother whose son was cited in sponsor testimony, described gaps she observed when bus staff encountered medical events and…