A. All school bus operators in the public schools of the state of Louisiana driving buses fourteen feet or longer in length shall receive minimum salaries on a nine-month basis of six thousand nine hundred sixty-five dollars and sixty cents.
B. Operators of school buses having a length of less than fourteen feet and drivers of station wagons or carryalls, which are used to transport sixteen or more special education students, shall receive minimum salaries on a nine-month basis of five thousand eight hundred fifty-three dollars and eighty-six cents.
C. The salaries of operators of vehicles used solely on feeder routes shall not be governed by the provisions of this Subpart but shall be fixed by the various school boards and the provisions of R.S. 17:497 shall not be applicable to such operations.
D. These minimum rates shall not apply to salaries paid student operators in those systems which in 1955-1956 or thereafter employed student operators. Any such systems shall receive actual expenses as reimbursement, provided the base pay does not exceed the rates stipulated herein. The term "student operator" means an operator of a school bus who is attending a public school in the state of Louisiana, other than colleges, trade schools, and universities.
E. For the purpose of receiving state reimbursement for actual expenses under the provisions of this Section, all buses which have a capacity to transport sixteen or more students under the provisions of R.S. 17:1941 et seq. and which meet federal and state requirements, shall be considered as buses fourteen feet or longer in length.
F. The minimum salaries established in this Section shall be paid separately from any reimbursement for the minimum rate of operation provided in R.S. 17:497.