A bill that would allow bus drivers to temporarily kick students off their bus for disciplinary problems cleared its first hurdle on Tuesday in Frankfort.House Bill 446 was filed by Rep. Emily Callaway, R-Louisville, who said she was inspired by last fall's sickout of more than 100 JCPS bus drivers."We want to make sure our environment is safe and what we're hearing is, it's currently not," Callaway said during Tuesday's House Education Committee hearing. "So we want to empower our drivers and encourage our administrators to listen to the drivers and handle things in an expedient fashion."Among other things, HB 446 would:Require students and parents to sign a school bus rider code of conduct at the beginning of each school yearRequire school districts to create a process for bus drivers to file discipline referrals and for the district to investigate and respond to those complaintsAllow bus drivers to refuse transportation to students accused of violation "that places the student or others at risk of physical harm or otherwise makes it unsafe for the driver to continue driving students" until a referral has a final determination"The purpose of this bill is to make sure our bus drivers are heard, protected and respected and that our children are transported in a safe environment," Callaway said. While the bill passed out of committee, three Democrats passed on their vote, citing concerns. "It's really important our bus drivers are safe in their workplace, that's the most important thing," said Rep. Lisa Willner, D-Louisville. "I'm not sure this bill gets us there."Willner and Rep. Tina Bojanowski, D-Louisville, said they are worried that students who are refused school bus transportation may not have safe or reliable alternatives to get to and from school."If this contributes to student absences, then it's going to impact their student achievement and their ability to be successful in school," Bojanowski said. "I think we have to be very careful about not allowing a student to have transportation to school."