Transportation Services

Bus Driver Training Agency

Kent ISD operates a Transportation Training Agency certified by the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) to provide state mandated bus driver certification classes for public and private schools operating within the Kent ISD and the Ionia County Intermediate School Districts (ICISD).

Bus Driver Safety Education Classes

BEGINNING SCHOOL BUS DRIVER (BSBD) TRAINING

The Beginner class is comprised of 18 hours of instruction. Typically, Beginner classes are offered in the evenings over 5 nights or during the daytime over 5 days (Tues, Wed & Thurs the first week and Tues & Thursday the following week unless otherwise indicated). Training begins promptly at 6:00 PM for evening dates and at 9:30 AM for the day trainings. The summer Beginner classes (early June) are held during the daytime and run for three days (Tues, Wed & Thurs) beginning promptly at 8:00 AM. All classes are held at Kent ISD in the ESC (Educational Service Center) building. Beginning School Bus Driver classes for the 2024/25 school years are listed below.

Receipt of Enrollment Cards

Once enrolled in a Beginning School Bus Driver Course, a qualified enrollee may be issued a temporary certificate (white card) to drive a school bus. We cannot guarantee that enrollment cards will be processed on a same-day basis. Please allow up to 3 business days to receive enrollment letters and cards in the mail. Please remember that although districts may enroll drivers in any of these classes, enrollment cards cannot be submitted until 90 days prior to the enrolled class date. This temporary driving certificate (white card) is valid for up to 10 days following completion of the beginning bus driver class. Please remind your driver that only ONE white card will be issued. If they do NOT attend these classes or even miss one class, FOR ANY REASON, they will NOT be issued another white card and will not be able to drive after the expiration date on the white card they originally received from Kent ISD.

BEGINNER ENROLLMENT FORM HERE please download, complete fully and send to lynettealtman@kentisd.org/. Please return the completed form as an attachment.

BSBD 2024-2025 CLASSES

November 5, 6, 7, 12, 14 2024 (9:30 am - 1:06 pm) - enrolling now - @ ESC

December 2, 3, 4, 9, 12 2024 (9:30 am - 1:06 pm) - enrolling now - @ LCC

January 7, 8, 9, 13, 14 2025 (9:30 am - 1:06 pm) - enrolling October 18, 2024 via ZOOM

March 4, 5, 6, 11, 13 2025 (6:00 - 9:36 pm) - enrolling December 13, 2024 - @ KCC

April 21, 22, 24, 29, 30 2025 (9:30 am - 1:06 pm) - enrolling January 24, 2025 - @ LCC

June 3, 4, 5 2025 (8:00 am - 2:30 pm) - enrolling March 14, 2025 - @ KCC

ESC (Education Service Center) ~ 2930 Knapp St NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49525 ~ Parking Lot #11

KCC (Kent ISD Conference Center) ~ 1633 E Beltline Ave NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49525 ~ Parking lot #3A

LCC (Kent ISD Collaboration Center at Lincoln Campus) ~ 864 Crahen Ave NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49525

CONTINUING SCHOOL BUS DRIVER TRAINING CLASSES

Closed until Fall/Winter 2024! All current Continuing (green) cards will expire on 9/30/25.

**TRANSPORTATION SUPERVISORS **

All current Supervisor (salmon) cards will expire on 9/30/24.

The self-paced six hour course online class is now available! Kent, Ionia and Montcalm supervisors, please see the email sent to you on 7/17/2024 with instructions and the special enrollment key/code that is specific to our county/training agency. To access the course go to https://moodle.resa.net/taam/.

If you are a brand new supervisor or will become a brand new supervisor, please contact Mark Higgins at the email below for new supervisor training information.