1. The state board of education shall adopt and enforce regulations not inconsistent with law to cover the design and operation of all school buses used for the transportation of school children when owned and operated by any school district or privately owned and operated under contract with any school district in this state, and such regulations shall by reference be made a part of any such contract with a school district. School districts shall have the authority to use motor vehicles other than school buses for the purpose of transporting school children. The state board of education may adopt rules and regulations governing the use of other vehicles owned by a district or operated under contract with any school district in this state and used for the purpose of transporting school children, excluding motor vehicles operating under the authority of the department of revenue under sections 387.400 to 387.440. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, the state board of education shall not require an individual who uses a motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight that is less than or equal to twelve thousand pounds for the purpose of providing student transportation services in a vehicle other than a school bus to obtain any license other than a class F license, as described in 12 CSR 10-24.200(6). Motor vehicles other than school buses used shall transport no more children than the manufacturer suggests as appropriate for such vehicle and meet any additional requirements of the school district. The state board of education may also adopt rules and regulations governing the use of authorized common carriers for the transportation of students on field trips or other special trips for educational purposes. Every school district, its officers and employees, and every person employed under contract by a school district shall be subject to such regulations. The state board of education shall cooperate with the state transportation department and the state highway patrol in placing suitable warning signs at intervals on the highways of the state.

2. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection 1 of this section, any school board in the state of Missouri in an urban district containing the greater part of the population of a city which has more than three hundred thousand inhabitants may contract with any municipality, bi-state agency, or other governmental entity for the purpose of transporting school children attending a grade or grades not lower than the ninth nor higher than the twelfth grade, provided that such contract shall be for additional transportation services, and shall not replace or fulfill any of the school district’s obligations pursuant to section 167.231. The school district may notify students of the option to use district-contracted transportation services.

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3. Any officer or employee of any school district who violates any of the regulations or fails to include obligation to comply with such regulations in any contract executed by him on behalf of a school district shall be guilty of misconduct and subject to removal from office or employment. Any person operating a school bus under contract with a school district who fails to comply with any such regulations shall be guilty of breach of contract and such contract shall be cancelled after notice and hearing by the responsible officers of such school district.

4. Any other provision of the law to the contrary notwithstanding, in any county of the first class with a charter form of government adjoining a city not within a county, school buses may bear the word “special”.