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 CASTO Legislation Committee Chairperson
Mike Rea
Legislative Update
April 19, 2010
The biggest threat to school transportation this year will most likely be how your school district responds to the State's funding crisis.
At the time of this writing, there are no bills in Sacramento relative to school transportation that we are watching right now. We are in the second year of a two-year legislative cycle. Any of the bills that we were watching last year have either passed or have died in committee.
The biggest issue in Sacramento is funding. In January the Governor announced his proposed budget for the next year. The proposal would further reduce school transportation funding. For the 2009-2010 school year, school transportation apportionments were cut 19.84%. The Governor's proposal is to cut a further .38% for a total cut of 20.22% for the 2010-2011 school year. Although this seems relatively minor, last year school districts may have been able to avoid reducing home to school transportation with the ARRA (Stimulus) funding from the Federal Government. There does not appear to be any new salvation from Washington.
Since the time of the January announcement the Governor has called another special session of the legislature. They are currently in their eighth extraordinary session. This is also in response to the concern that there will be approximately a $20 billion shortfall between this year and next year.
The Governor rolls out a revised budget proposal in May, cleverly called the May Revise. We wait in anticipation for that announcement and fear that the news will not be getting any better and we pray that it doesn't get worse.
School Districts all over the State are exploring cutting (and in some cases eliminating) home to school transportation. Below are some cautions relative to this:
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If your school district spends less than your Approved Apportionment, your apportionment will be cut in the subsequent year to the level of your spending. The apportionment is the full apportionment as it was in the 2008-2009 school year, not the reduced apportionment.
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Education Code 41850 defines home to school transportation and SD/OI (severely disabled/orthopedically impaired) school transportation. Those are the categories under which your district reports costs. Home to school transportation can include non-severe students and their costs.
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"Severely disabled" is defined in Education Code 56030.5. Orthopedically Impaired is defined as students requiring a wheelchair.
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Many questions have been raised regarding the opportunity to raise revenue by advertising on school buses. It is possible to advertise on the interior of school buses in California as long as the advertising does not violate any other regulation or law. Advertising on the exterior of school buses is not allowed.
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Parents and other community members are exploring other options like carpooling, purchasing their own bus and operating it, contracting with another school transportation provider, and others. As you well know there are many laws and regulations that govern the safe transportation of students. As a start, familiarize yourself with Vehicle Code Section 545 that defines school transportation and some legal exceptions to the school bus.
Hold on tight, the roller-coaster is going to take us on another ride!!!
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