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Amended
IN
Assembly
August 15, 2022 |
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Amended
IN
Assembly
June 30, 2022 |
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Amended
IN
Senate
April 18, 2022 |
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Amended
IN
Senate
March 21, 2022 |
| Introduced by Senator Skinner (Coauthor: Senator Leyva) |
January 25, 2022 |
Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to provide for the transportation of pupils to and from school whenever, in the judgment of the board, the transportation is advisable and good reasons exist to do so. Existing law authorizes the governing board to purchase or rent and provide for the upkeep, care, and operation of vehicles, or to contract and pay for the transportation of pupils to and from school by common carrier or municipally owned transit system, or to contract with and pay responsible private parties for the transportation. Existing law permits the governing board of a school district to allow the transportation of preschool or nursery school pupils in schoolbuses owned or operated by the school district. Under existing law, a state
reimbursement may not be received by a school district for the transportation of preschool or nursery school pupils.
This bill instead would authorize the governing board or body of a school district, county office of education, entity providing services under a school transportation joint powers agreement, or regional occupational center or program to offer to transport all pupils to and from their neighborhood school, as defined. The bill instead would authorize the governing board or body of the local educational agency, as defined, to purchase or rent and provide for the upkeep, care, and operation of vehicles, or to contract and pay for the transportation of pupils to and from school by common carrier or supplementary service, as defined, by a municipally owned transit system or the purchase of bus passes for a municipally owned transit system route that provides access to the general public, or to contract with and pay responsible private parties for the transportation. The bill would authorize the governing board or body of those local educational agencies to receive a state reimbursement for transporting preschool or nursery school pupils if funding for that travel has been appropriated in the annual budget act or another
statute for this purpose.
The bill would authorize a pupil attending a public, noncharter school to be offered free transportation to and from their neighborhood school. The bill would
authorize a school district, county office of education, entity providing services under a school transportation joint powers agreement, or regional occupational center or program that does not currently offer transportation to all pupils in the local educational agency to implement a plan to ensure that pupils are offered transportation to and from school. The bill would require these plans to be developed in consultation with specified stakeholders, among other requirements. The bill would require a local educational agency, as defined, to ensure that all drivers providing home-to-school
transportation meet certain qualifications. By imposing new duties on a local educational agency, the bill would constitute a state-mandated local program.
The bill would also create the Transportation Access to Public Schools Fund in the State Treasury under the administration of the State Department of Education. The bill would require moneys in the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be allocated to the department to be allocated to certain local educational agencies providing pupil transportation services, as specified. The bill would prohibit a local educational agency from charging pupils a fee to be transported to school from their residence or to their residence from school, as provided.
The bill would make all of these provisions operative only upon an appropriation of
funds for these purposes.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
(a)The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1)According to data released by the United States Census Bureau, without a high school diploma, Americans are almost twice as likely to live in poverty.
(2)Several independent academic studies indicate a marked increase in school participation and graduation rates among children who were guaranteed transportation to and from school. In November 2020, the State Department of Education released data indicating that the lack of transportation to school was one of the most common reasons that pupils
miss school.
(3)Research shows a strong relationship between access to transportation and improved school attendance, especially among younger school children.
(4)With state law requiring school start times to more adequately accommodate the healthful sleep needs of children by the 2022–23 school year, parents who work traditional 9-to-5 hours may struggle to get their children to school without increased schoolbus service.
(5)When comparing home-to-school transportation offered to public school pupils in other states, California is an outlier with fewer pupils having access to school transportation.
(6)By providing home-to-school transportation to every
public
school pupil in California, the state could help mitigate the climate crisis. Nationally, schoolbus transportation has the capacity to eliminate 17 million cars on the road and reduce 20 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year. Transitioning the schoolbus fleet to zero-emission vehicles, and providing local educational agencies with proper training and resources to manage zero-emission bus fleets, will lead to an even greater reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and improvements in health for pupils, school employees, and the public.
(7)Fatal accidents involving teen pedestrians have increased by alarming rates, as teens are found to be increasingly distracted by cell phones, music, and other diversions. One study of pupil pedestrian behavior found that 80 percent of all pupils were observed crossing the street in an
unsafe manner and 31 percent of pupils were distracted by actively texting while walking to school. Schoolbus transportation can reduce pedestrian deaths and injuries among pupils on their way to school.
(b)Based on the findings and declarations in subdivision (a), it is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would ensure that every school district, county office of education, entity providing services under a school transportation joint powers agreement, or regional occupational center or program provide access to home-to-school transportation to every child in transitional kindergarten, kindergarten, and all of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, from near the child’s home to their neighborhood school and back home.
(a)The governing board or body of a local educational agency may offer to transport all pupils to and from their neighborhood school. The governing board or body of the local educational agency may purchase or rent and provide for the upkeep, care, and operation of vehicles, or may contract and pay for the transportation of
pupils to and from school by common carrier or supplementary service by a municipally owned transit system or the purchase of bus passes for a municipally owned transit system route that provides access to the general public, or may contract with and pay responsible private parties for the transportation. The contracts may be made with the parent or guardian of the pupil being transported. The governing board or body of the local educational agency may allow the transportation of preschool or nursery school pupils in schoolbuses owned or operated by the local educational agency and may receive a state reimbursement for this transportation if funding for that travel has been appropriated in the annual Budget Act or another statute for this purpose.
(b)Nothing in this section shall be construed to supersede federal and state requirements, including, but not limited to, the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1400 et seq.), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, to transport pupils with disabilities or homeless children and youth, as defined pursuant to the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 11301 et seq.).
(c)For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1)“Local educational agency” means a school district, county office of education, entity providing services under a school transportation joint powers agreement, or regional occupational center or program.
(2)“Neighborhood school” means the school that a pupil is designated to attend based on their grade level and residence within the school’s geographic boundary, as assigned by the local educational agency.
(d)As used in this article, the following definitions apply:
(1)“Municipally owned transit system” means a transit system owned by a city, or by a district created pursuant to Part 1 (commencing with Section 24501) of Division 10 of the Public Utilities Code.
(2)“Supplementary service” means additional service provided by a municipally owned transit system for the purpose of ensuring the regular transit service is not impacted by large loads associated with pupil passengers traveling to or from schoolsites around school bell times.
(e)The changes made to this section by Senate Bill 878 of the 2021–22 Regular Session shall be operative only upon appropriation of funds for this purpose by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or in another statute.
(a)Notwithstanding any other law, a pupil attending a public, noncharter school may be offered free transportation to and from their neighborhood school, as defined in subdivision (c) of
Section 39800.
(b)(1)A local educational agency that does not currently offer transportation to all pupils in the local educational agency may implement a plan to ensure that pupils are offered transportation to and from school.
(2)The plan shall identify and accommodate the special rights of pupils with disabilities and homeless children and youth, as defined
pursuant to the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 11301 et seq.).
(c)The plan authorized by paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) shall comply with all of the following:
(1)Be developed in consultation with classified staff, teachers, school administrators, regional local transit authorities, local air pollution control districts or air quality management districts, the Department of Transportation, parents, pupils, and other stakeholders.
(2)Be presented and adopted by the governing board or body of the local educational agency in an open meeting with the opportunity for in-person and remote public comment.
(d)A local educational agency shall ensure that all drivers providing home-to-school transportation meet the qualifications enumerated in subdivision (e) of Section 39800.2.
(e)(1)This section does not prevent a local educational agency from partnering with a municipally owned transit system to provide supplementary service pursuant to this section to middle school and high school pupils if all of the following conditions are met:
(A)All drivers are employees of a municipally owned transit system.
(B)The municipally owned transit system certifies that the transit system does not charge the local educational agency more than the cost for the supplementary service and for the marginal cost for each transit pass.
(C)All drivers providing home-to-school transportation or supplementary service meet the qualifications enumerated in subdivision (e) of Section
39800.2.
(2)This section does not prevent a local transportation agency from providing no-cost transit passes to pupils.
(f)All transportation provided pursuant to this section shall be reimbursed by the Transportation Access to Public Schools Fund created pursuant to Section 39800.2.
(g)For purposes of this section, “local educational agency” means a school district, county office of education, entity providing services under a school transportation joint powers agreement, or regional occupational center or program.
(h)This section shall become operative only upon appropriation of funds for this purpose by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or in another statute.
(a)The Transportation Access to Public Schools Fund is hereby created in the State Treasury to be administered by the department.
(b)Funds in the Transportation Access to Public Schools Fund shall, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be allocated to the department for allocation to each local educational agency that provides pupil transportation pursuant to the process established by the Superintendent.
(c)(1)Commencing with the 2022–23 fiscal year, the Superintendent shall annually allocate to a local educational agency from the Transportation Access to Public Schools
Fund 100 percent of a local educational agency’s approved home-to-school transportation costs as determined by their Function 3600 entry in the prior year’s Standardized Account Code Structure (SACS) report, as adjusted pursuant to subdivision (d).
(2)The Superintendent shall only allocate funds to a local educational agency pursuant to paragraph (1) if the local educational agency has home-to-school transportation costs, as determined by their Function 3600 entry in the prior year’s SACS report, that exceed the local educational agency’s apportionment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 42238.02.
(d)Commencing with the 2023–24 fiscal year, the amounts described in subdivision (c) shall be adjusted annually by the percentage change in the annual average value of the
Implicit Price Deflator for State and Local Government Purchases of Goods and Services for the United States, as published by the United States Department of Commerce, for the 12-month period ending in the third quarter of the prior fiscal year. This percentage change shall be determined using the latest data available as of May 10 of the preceding fiscal year compared with the annual average value of the same deflator for the 12-month period ending in the third quarter of the second preceding fiscal year, using the latest data available as of May 10 of the preceding fiscal year, as reported by the Department of Finance.
(e)As used in this section, the following definitions apply:
(1)“Approved school transportation drivers” include only those drivers who meet the following
qualifications:
(A)For municipally owned transit systems offering supplementary service:
(i)Each driver must hold a valid California commercial driver’s license for the appropriate class of vehicle, endorsed for passenger transportation.
(ii)If the driver will be transporting persons with developmental disabilities as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 4512 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, the driver holds the certificate described in Section 12523.6 of the Vehicle Code.
(iii)The municipally owned transit system shall certify to the local educational agency that the driver meets the qualifications in clauses (i) and (ii).
(B)For local educational agencies that employ drivers or contract with private transportation agencies:
(i)Each driver must hold a valid California commercial driver’s license for the appropriate class of vehicle, endorsed for passenger transportation.
(ii)Each driver must hold a valid certificate issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles pursuant to Section 12517 of the Vehicle Code for operation of a school bus or a pupil activity bus, having completed all classroom and behind-the-wheel instruction required for that certification pursuant to Sections 40082 and 40083 of this code, having passed the first aid examination required by Section 12522 of the Vehicle Code for that certification, having met all other
requirements for that certification, and that certification is not presently subject to revocation pursuant to Sections 13369 or 13370 of the Vehicle Code.
(iii)If a driver is not employed by a local educational
agency, the driver’s employer shall certify to the local educational agency that the driver and vehicle meet the qualifications in clauses (i) and (ii).
(C)If a driver is not employed by a local educational agency or a municipally owned transit system, the driver shall be employed by an agency that certifies to the local educational agency that the driver and vehicle meet the qualifications in clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (B).
(2)“Local educational agency” means a school district, county office of education, entity providing services under a school transportation joint powers agreement, or regional occupational center or program.
(f)Notwithstanding Section 39807.5 or any other law to the contrary, no local educational agency shall charge pupils a fee to be transported to school from their residence or to their residence from school.
(g)This section shall become operative only upon appropriation of funds for this purpose by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or in another statute.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.