A. No person shall operate any school bus on a highway in the Commonwealth unless he has had a reasonable amount of experience in operating motor vehicles and has passed a special examination pertaining to his ability to operate a school bus with safety to its passengers and to other persons using the highways. Such person shall obtain a commercial driver’s license with the applicable classifications and endorsements, issued pursuant to the Virginia Commercial Driver’s License Act (§ 46.2-341.1 et seq.), if the school bus he operates is a commercial motor vehicle as defined in the Virginia Commercial Driver’s License Act. For the purpose of preparing for the examination required by this section, any person holding a valid commercial driver’s license or instruction permit issued under the provisions of the Virginia Commercial Driver’s License Act may operate, under the direct supervision of a person holding a valid commercial driver’s license with a school bus endorsement, a school bus that is a commercial motor vehicle as defined in the Virginia Commercial Driver’s License Act and that contains no pupil passengers.
B. The Department may adopt regulations necessary to provide for the examination of persons desiring to qualify to operate school buses in the Commonwealth and for the granting of permits to qualified applicants.
C. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, no person shall operate any school bus on a highway in the Commonwealth during any period in which he is a person for whom registration with the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry is required pursuant to Chapter 9 (§ 9.1-900 et seq.) of Title 9.1.