BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 497|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 497
Author: Vidak (R)
Amended: 4/8/15
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 8-0, 4/15/15
AYES: Liu, Huff, Block, Hancock, Leyva, Mendoza, Pan, Vidak
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 5/28/15
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza, Nielsen
SUBJECT: Pupil transportation: data
SOURCE: School Transportation Coalition
DIGEST: This bill requires the California Department of
Education (CDE) to collect and post online pupil transportation
data.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Authorizes school districts and county offices of education to
provide transportation services to regular education students
attending their schools at the discretion of their governing
board.
2)Requires school districts to provide transportation services
for special education students whose individualized education
programs require such services.
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This bill:
1)Requires the CDE, commencing with data for the 2014-15 fiscal
year and annually thereafter, to request pupil transportation
data from each school district, charter school, county office
of education, joint powers authority, and regional
occupational center or program that provides pupil
transportation.
2)Specifies that the provision of the transportation data to the
CDE is voluntary on the part of these entities.
3)Requires the data to include, but is not limited to, totals
from each entity for all of the following:
a) Revenue received for transportation purposes.
b) Number of buses.
c) Ridership of all pupils.
d) Ridership of pupils with an individualized education
program.
e) Ridership of pupils who are eligible for free or
reduced-price meals.
f) Number of miles driven.
g) Approved costs.
h) Cost per mile.
i) Cost per pupil.
1)Requires the CDE to annually post the data collected on its
Web site along with the statewide average cost per mile and
the statewide average cost per pupil.
2)Requires that the data posted on the Web site shall be
separated between home-to-school transportation (HTST) and
special education transportation, as specified.
Comments
Need for the bill. According to the author's office, school
transportation data has been collected since the start of the
HTST program when it reimbursed local educational agencies
(LEAs) at 100% of their costs. The data was used by the state
as maintenance of effort to follow up on the school
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transportation reimbursement. In 1982-83, reimbursement for the
HTST program was frozen and reduced by 20%. The state continued
to use the data to adjust the maintenance of effort
appropriations and reduce reimbursements if districts spent less
money on transportation. The data was last collected in 2012-13
and is no longer collected due to the HTST program allocation
being rolled in the Local Control Funding Formula as an add-on
to the base grant of LEAs. The author's office indicates that
agencies, including the CDE and the Fiscal Crisis and Management
Assistance Team, and LEAs need this data for administrative
purposes, including the ability to compare their efficiency
levels with other LEAs.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, the CDE
estimates initial start-up costs to develop the web application
to collect data and communications from LEAs to be $50,000 to
$70,000 and that ongoing maintenance of the application and
field support costs are estimated to be $15,000 to $25,000
depending on how many LEAs respond to the CDE's request.
Additionally, because it is discretionary, there is a cost
pressure for LEAs to report this information to the CDE without
any additional funding.
SUPPORT: (Verified5/28/15)
School Transportation Coalition (source)
California Association of School Business Officials
California Association of School Transportation Officials
OPPOSITION: (Verified5/28/15)
None received
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Prepared by:Lenin Del Castillo / ED. / (916) 651-4105
5/29/15 12:53:59
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