When a school board or board of education employs a driver to transport the pupils from their homes to the school and return and to and from other school-sponsored activities by any means, the board shall purchase a liability insurance policy in a limit of not less than fifty thousand dollars to cover the bodily injuries of one person, one hundred thousand dollars to cover bodily injuries to more than one person in the same accident, and ten thousand dollars to cover property damage, the premium on which shall be paid out of the school district treasury. Such policy shall be conditioned for the payment of any and all damages on account of bodily injury or death, or injury to or destruction of property that may accrue to any person or persons by reason of any negligence or carelessness in transporting pupils from their homes to school and return and to and from other school-sponsored activities. Such policy may, in the discretion of the board, contain a deductible provision for up to one thousand dollars of any claim, in which event the school district shall be considered a self-insurer for that amount.