BILL REQ. #:  H-0641.1 

Read first time 01/11/2007.   Referred to Committee on Appropriations.

     AN ACT Relating to student transportation funding; amending RCW 28A.160.160 and 28A.160.170; and creating new sections.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that the current student transportation funding formula is outdated and does not adequately address the costs incurred by school districts in transporting students. The legislature further finds that any new formula should be based on reliable data from a uniform system of accounting used by all districts, provide incentives for efficient use of state resources, and maintain local school district control over operational decisions within the transportation program. Therefore, it is the legislature's intent to respond to the findings of the 2006 pupil transportation funding study by the joint legislative audit and review committee by improving the system of accounting for transportation costs, providing additional payments to districts to mitigate funding discrepancies identified by the study, and directing that a new funding formula be developed in a thoughtful and deliberative manner and implemented no later than the 2009-10 school year.

Sec. 2   RCW 28A.160.160 and 1996 c 279 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     For purposes of RCW 28A.160.150 through 28A.160.190, except where the context shall clearly indicate otherwise, the following definitions apply:
     (1) "Eligible student" means any student served by the transportation program of a school district or compensated for individual transportation arrangements authorized by RCW 28A.160.030 whose route stop is more than one radius mile from the student's school, except if the student to be transported is disabled under RCW 28A.155.020 and is either not ambulatory or not capable of protecting his or her own welfare while traveling to or from the school or agency where special education services are provided, in which case no mileage distance restriction applies.
     (2) "Superintendent" means the superintendent of public instruction.
     (3) "To and from school" means the transportation of students for the following purposes:
     (a) Transportation to and from route stops and schools;
     (b) Transportation to and from schools pursuant to an interdistrict agreement pursuant to RCW 28A.335.160;
     (c) Transportation of students between schools and learning centers for instruction ((specifically required by statute)) provided under RCW 28A.150.200 (basic education act), chapter 28A.155 RCW (special education), RCW 28A.165.015 through 28A.165.075 (learning assistance program), or RCW 28A.180.010 through 28A.180.080 (transitional bilingual instruction program); and
     (d) Transportation of students with disabilities to and from schools and agencies for special education services.
     Extended day transportation shall not be considered part of transportation of students "to and from school" for the purposes of chapter 61, Laws of 1983 1st ex. sess.
     (4) "Transportation services" for students living within one radius mile from school means school transportation services including the use of buses, funding of crossing guards, and matching funds for local and state transportation projects intended to mitigate hazardous walking conditions. Priority for transportation services shall be given to students in grades kindergarten through five.

Sec. 3   RCW 28A.160.170 and 1990 c 33 s 143 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Each district shall submit to the superintendent of public instruction during October of each year a report containing the following:
     (((1)))(a)(i) The number of eligible students transported to and from school as provided for in RCW 28A.160.150 for the current school year and the number of miles estimated to be driven for pupil transportation services, along with a map describing student route stop locations and school locations, and (((b))) (ii) the number of miles driven for pupil transportation services as authorized in RCW 28A.160.150 the previous school year; and
     (((2))) (b) Other operational data and descriptions as required by the superintendent to determine allocation requirements for each district.
     (2) When reporting expenditures for student transportation, each district shall separate the costs of providing transportation for eligible students to and from school as defined in RCW 28A.160.160(3) from other transportation costs.
     (3) Each district shall submit the information required in this section on a timely basis as a condition of the continuing receipt of school transportation moneys.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   Until a new distribution formula is implemented as directed under section 5 of this act, the legislature intends to appropriate funds for student transportation in addition to the funds generated by the distribution formula in RCW 28A.160.150 through 28A.160.180 and the omnibus appropriations act. The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall allocate the additional funds on a pro rata basis to school districts based on the variance between a district's allocation under the distribution formula in the 2004-05 school year and the estimate of that district's costs of transporting students to and from school created by the joint legislative audit and review committee in 2006, if such a variance was negative. The office of the superintendent of public instruction may adjust a school district's allocation under this section based on revised data about the district's costs of transporting students. The purpose of this additional allocation is to mitigate the estimated funding variance in state allocations for student transportation identified by the joint legislative audit and review committee while improvements are made in school districts' cost accounting and a new distribution formula is developed and implemented as provided in this act.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   (1) The superintendent of public instruction shall develop and propose a new distribution formula for allocating state funds to school districts for transportation of students to and from school, to be implemented beginning with the 2009-10 school year. The distribution formula shall include but not be limited to the characteristics in this subsection.
     (a) The formula shall be developed using the major cost factors in student transportation, including but not limited to driver and aide compensation, road miles, fuel, maintenance, student loads, and supervision. The major cost factors in the formula shall be based on reliable data and transparent to policymakers and the public. The formula shall be constructed in a manner that allows policymakers to adjust one or more of the major cost factors independently from the others. The formula may use data from school district transportation routing programs but shall not necessitate use of such a program to function reliably.
     (b) The formula shall allocate funds to school districts based on the predicted costs of transporting students to and from school, using the cost factors in the formula. The formula shall not be based on direct reimbursement of school districts for transportation expenditures, nor shall the formula direct how a school district operates its student transportation program.
     (c) The formula shall encourage efficient use of state resources by addressing:
     (i) Reasonable controls on compensation costs to be covered by the formula;
     (ii) Efficient use of vehicle capacity; and
     (iii) Efficient routing of buses.
     (d) The formula shall allocate funds for all students in grades kindergarten through five who are transported to and from school and all students in grades six through twelve who are transported to and from route stop locations located more than one mile from school.
     (e) The formula shall include transportation for academic extended day programs that are provided under the basic education act, special education, the learning assistance program, and the transitional bilingual instruction program.
     (2) The superintendent of public instruction shall present an interim report on the proposed distribution formula to the governor and the education and fiscal committees of the legislature by December 1, 2007, and a final report that includes the proposed formula, estimates of its fiscal impact on the state and school districts, and draft legislation necessary to implement the proposal, by December 1, 2008.