Amended in Assembly April 21, 2016

Amended in Assembly April 5, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1572

Introduced by Assembly Member Campos

January 4, 2016

An act to amend Section 39800 of, and to add Sections 39800.1 and 39800.2 to, the Education Code, relating to school transportation.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1572, as amended, Campos. School transportation.

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.

This bill would entitle a pupil who attends a public, noncharter school that begin delete is eligible for end delete begin insert receives end insert Title 1 federal funding to free transportation to and from school if certain conditions are met. The bill would require a school district not currently providing transportation to all pupils attending schools that begin delete are eligible for end delete begin insert receive end insert Title 1 federal funding to implement a plan developed, in consultation with specified stakeholders, to ensure that all pupils entitled to free transportation receive the transportation. The bill would authorize school districts to contract with a municipally owned transit system to transport pupils if certain conditions are met. By begin delete requiring end delete begin insert imposing end insert new duties on a local educational agency, the bill would begin delete impose end delete begin insert constitute end insert a state-mandated local program.

This bill would create the Transportation and Access to Public School Fund and require the Superintendent of Public Instruction, upon appropriation to this fund by the Legislature, to allocate moneys from this fund to school districts, county offices of education, entities providing services under a school transportation joint powers agreement, or regional occupational centers or programs that provide pupil transportation an amount equal to the actual costs of the entitled transportation pursuant to this bill. The bill would provide that these provisions shall become operative only to the extent that funding is provided in the annual Budget Act or another statute.

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 these statutory provisions.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(1) According to data released by the begin delete U.S. end delete begin insert United States end insert 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.

(3) According to a recent report by begin delete California end delete Attorney General
Kamala Harris, poverty and financial instability is the number one
cause of truancy in the state.

(4) Research shows a strong relationship between access to
transportation and improved school attendance.

(b) Based on the findings and declarations in subdivision (a), it
is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would
support school participation and high school attainment among
low-income youth.

SEC. 2.  

Section 39800 of the Education Code is amended to
read:

39800.  

(a) In addition to the requirement to provide
transportation pursuant to Section 39800.1, the governing board
of any school district may provide for the transportation of pupils
to and from school whenever, in the judgment of the governing
board, the transportation is advisable and good reasons exist. The
governing board of a school district may purchase or rent and
provide for the upkeep, care, and operation of begin delete vehicles, or end delete begin insert vehicles.
The governing board of a school district end insert may begin insert also end insert contract and
pay for the transportation of middle school and high school pupils
to and from school by a vehicle driven by a public employee of a
municipally owned transit system, or may contract with the parent
or guardian of the pupil being transported. The governing board
of a school district may allow the transportation of preschool or
nursery school pupils in schoolbuses owned or operated by the
school district. A state reimbursement may not be received by a
school district for the transportation of preschool or nursery school
pupils.

(b) As used in this article, “municipally owned transit system”
means a transit system owned by a city or by a district created
under Part 1 (commencing with Section 24501) of Division 10 of
the Public Utilities Code.

SEC. 3.  

Section 39800.1 is added to the Education Code, to
read:

39800.1.  

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, a pupil attending
a public, noncharter school that begin delete is eligible for end delete begin insert receives end insert Title 1
federal funding shall be entitled to free transportation to and from
school, if either of the following conditions are met:

(1) The pupil resides more than one-half mile from the school.

(2) The neighborhood through which the pupil must travel to
get to school is unsafe, as defined by the plan established pursuant
to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b), which may include factors,
including, but not limited to, stray dogs, lack of sidewalks, known
gang activity, presence of environmental problems and hazards,
required crossings of freeways or busy intersections, or other
reasons documented by stakeholders in the plan developed pursuant
to subdivision (c).

(b) (1) A school district not currently providing transportation
to all pupils attending schools that begin delete are eligible for end delete begin insert receive end insert Title 1
federal funding shall implement a plan to ensure that all pupils
entitled to free transportation pursuant to subdivision (a) receive
the transportation.

(2) The plan shall identify and accommodate the special rights
of homeless youth, as defined pursuant to the federal
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 11301
et seq.).

(c) The plan required by paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) shall
be developed with the consultation of teachers, school
administrators, regional local transit authorities, local air districts,
the Department of Transportation, parents, pupils, and other
stakeholders.

(d) If free, dependable, and timely transportation is not already
available to pupils entitled to transportation services pursuant to
this section, the school district shall ensure that the pupils entitled
to the transportation are provided free transportation.

(e) Notwithstanding subdivision (f), transportation provided
pursuant to this section shall be provided by a public employee.

(f) A school district may partner with a begin delete transit authority end delete
begin insert municipality owned transit system end insert to provide the transportation
provided pursuant to this section to middle school and high school
pupils if all of the following conditions are met:

(1) All drivers are public employees of a municipality owned
transit begin delete agency end delete begin insert system end insert as defined in subdivision (b) of Section
39800.

(2) The begin insert municipality owned end insert transit begin delete agency end delete begin insert system end insert can certify
that the begin delete public end delete transit system can ensure consistent, adequate routes
and schedules to enable pupils to get home, to school and back,
and does not charge the school district more than marginal cost
for each transit pass.

(3) Nothing in this section would prevent a local transportation
agency from providing no-cost transit passes to pupils attending
Title 1 schools.

(g) All transportation provided pursuant to this section shall be
reimbursed by the Transportation and Access to Public School
Fund created pursuant to Section 39800.2.

SEC. 4.  

Section 39800.2 is added to the Education Code, to
read:

39800.2.  

(a) The Transportation and Access to Public School
Fund is hereby created in the State Treasury to be administered
by the department.

(b) Funds in the Transportation and Access to Public School
Fund shall, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be allocated to
the department for allocation to local educational agencies pursuant
to the process established by the Superintendent.

(c) Commencing with the 2017-18 fiscal year, the
Superintendent shall allocate from the Transportation and Access
to Public School Fund to each school district, county office of
education, entity providing services under a school transportation
joint powers agreement, or regional occupational center or program
that provides pupil transportation an amount equal to the actual
costs of the entitled transportation established pursuant to Section
39800.1. The allocation shall be in addition to any amount
apportioned for home-to-school transportation pursuant to Article
10 (commencing with Section 41850) of Chapter 5 of Part 24.

(d) This section shall become operative only to the extent that
funding is provided in the annual Budget Act or another statute
for the purposes of this section.

SEC. 5.  

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.