Illinois school bus drivers need a Secretary of State School Bus Driver Permit, which requires an 8-hour initial course through your Regional Office of Education and a 2-hour annual refresher, on top of federal ELDT. ELDT365 handles the federal theory for $20 per course.
Issued by the Secretary of State. Requires the ROE course, a physical, fingerprint background check, and the S and P endorsements on the CDL.
ISBE curriculum, safety and first aid. Regional Offices of Education run them on a schedule and cancel small classes, so coordinate cohorts.
Also through the ROE. A permit expired more than 30 days sends the driver back to the initial course.
Your Regional Office of Education. Districts and contractors send drivers; ROEs teach and certify.
Federal theory for B, P and S, done before the ROE class or alongside it, filed the same day so the Secretary of State sees the record before the skills test.
ROEs want 10 or more for an initial class. Enroll the same group in ELDT theory the week before so the federal record is done when the permit paperwork goes in.
The Secretary of State School Bus Driver Permit is good for one year and needs the S and P endorsements on the CDL.
Class B, Passenger and School Bus on ELDT365. Because ROEs want 10 or more for an initial class, enroll the whole cohort at once and the federal records are done before the classroom date.
ISBE curriculum, safety and first aid, roughly $8 to $10. Bring the master roster the ROE asks for.
Filed as the federal BTW record under your registry listing. The state checks the registry before the test.
Through the ROE, tied to the permit renewal. Let a permit lapse more than 30 days and the driver repeats the 8-hour course.
Class B, Passenger and School Bus are $20 each per driver. A driver who needs all three is $60; a Class B holder adding the two endorsements is $40. Illinois fleets can put a card on file and be billed as they enroll, or prepay seats on a PO with a W-9 and a quote. No minimum and no contract. The federal explainer, pricing comparison and who-this-is-for detail are on the bus driver overview.
The Illinois school bus driver permit and ROE course satisfies Illinois. It does not satisfy FMCSA. A driver getting a Class B, Passenger or School Bus endorsement for the first time since February 7, 2022 also needs a federal ELDT record from a provider on the Training Provider Registry before the IL skills test. The two records live in two different systems: the state training with the Secretary of State and your Regional Office of Education, the ELDT with FMCSA.
Your Regional Office of Education, using the ISBE school bus driver curriculum. The Secretary of State issues the permit.
A 2-hour refresher every year through the ROE, tied to the one-year permit. ELDT has no refresher.
Most drivers finish each ELDT course in one or two sittings, but it is a separate federal curriculum with its own assessment. Plan on a few hours per course, done on their own time.
A First Student executive told Capitol News Illinois in April 2026 that the Illinois market has stabilized. Districts we talk to still onboard steadily through spring and summer. Either way, faster onboarding costs you nothing extra here.
Moves to us: the federal theory for Class B, Passenger and School Bus, and the FMCSA filing. Stays with you: the Illinois school bus driver permit and ROE course, behind-the-wheel, the physical, drug testing and background checks. Nothing about your Illinois certificate changes.
Free school account, $20 per course per driver, filed to the FMCSA registry the same day. The Illinois school bus driver permit and ROE course stays exactly where it is.
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