The school busses I was familiar with drove fairly long routes, but it was many years ago, and the elementary school and high school were no more than 5 minutes apart. No drivers kept their busses at home. However, there was one bus route in Texas that I know of in which the driver did keep the bus at home.
I've heard rumors that troublesome kids are last-on-first-off, but I have no actual first hand knowledge of that. I'd think that if a kid is that much trouble, they would not be allowed to ride any bus. I guess it just depends on the driver's tolerance level.