BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1072
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 3, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
SB 1072
(Mendoza) - As Amended June 29, 2016
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|Policy |Transportation |Vote:|13 - 0 |
|Committee: | | | |
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| |Education | |7 - 0 |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
Yes
SUMMARY:
This bill requires local education agencies (LEAs) to ensure
various bus safety requirements are met, including the
installation of child safety alarms, as specified, to ensure
that a student is not left unattended on a bus. Specifically,
this bill:
SB 1072
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1)Requires, on or before the 2018-19 school year, each school
bus, youth bus and child care motor vehicle to be equipped
with an operational child safety alert system.
2)Requires school pupil activity buses (SPABs) to be equipped
with child alert systems, except when the SPAB is not used
exclusively to transport students and when various safety
precautions are in place, including specific chaperone and bus
driver requirements. The bill also requires the bus driver and
chaperone to fill out a form verifying that all required
procedures have been followed. Local education agencies (LEAs)
are required to keep these forms for a minimum of two years.
3)Requires LEAs, or the owner or operator of a private school
that provides transportation to or from a school or school
activity, to notify the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)
within five calendar days if the driver's employer has ordered
and upheld disciplinary action against a driver and has made a
finding that the driver's actions constituted gross
negligence. And authorizes the DMV to refuse to issue or
revoke a driver's certificate if there is a report of
gross negligence, as specified. A former applicant or holder
of a certificate whose certificate was revoked may reapply for
a certificate if the revocation is reversed or dismissed by
the department.
4)Requires the California Highway Patrol (CHP), on or before
January 1, 2018, to adopt regulations governing the
specification, installation and use of child safety alarms.
5)Adds charter schools to the list of local education agencies
(LEAs) that are required to develop a safe transportation
plan, if they provide transportation services.
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6)Requires LEAs to update their transportation plan to include
procedures to ensure that a pupil is not left unattended on a
school bus, SPAB, or youth bus.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)Proposition 98/GF cost pressures, likely in the hundreds of
thousands of dollars, for LEAs to modify transportation plans,
report information to the DMV, maintain specified documents
for two years and install child alarm systems. These costs are
not likely reimbursable since state law does not require
school districts to provide transportation on school buses.
2)Minor GF costs to the California Department of Education (CDE)
to modify bus driver training programs to include instruction
on inspection procedures that ensure a student is not left
unattended.
3)Minor/absorbable costs for the California Highway Patrol (CHP)
to adopt regulations regarding child safety alarm systems, and
to incorporate requirements into school bus inspections.
4)Minor/absorbable costs for the Department of Motor Vehicles
(DMV) to account for an additional circumstance that would
result in the refusal to issue or renew a bus driver
certificate, or the revocation or suspension of that
certificate.
COMMENTS:
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1)Purpose. According to the author, there have been at least
eight instances of children being left alone and unsupervised
on schoolbuses for hours at a time in California. Most
recently, the author notes the death of a 19 year-old
special-needs student who passed away after being left alone
on a hot schoolbus for several hours at the end of a
home-to-school trip in Whittier.
The author's seeks to protect children getting to and from
school by establishing safe pupil transportation procedures to
help prevent children from being left unattended on buses.
These procedures include the installation of child safety
alarm systems on vehicles that transport children. The bill
also strengthens driver protocols and training and provides
the DMV the authority to suspend the bus driver's certificate
if a report determines gross negligence.
2)School Pupil Activity Buses (SPABs). This bill seeks to
prevent children from being left unattended on buses,
including School Pupil Activity Buses (SPABs). SPABs are
typically chartered buses which take students to and from
school activities, such as sporting events. SPABs are
required to have a parent representative or school official
present at the beginning and end of each trip.
According to the California Bus Association, its members
estimate the cost per bus to retrofit a vehicle's electrical
and computer systems to accommodate an external alarm system
at $7,000. CHP estimates the number of motorcoaches operated
by commercial carriers in California at approximately 13,000.
While not all of these vehicles function as SPABs, and the
cost would likely fluctuate from vehicle to vehicle, the cost
to retrofit these SPABs could be considerable.
Recent amendments exempt SPABs from the requirement to install
alarm systems if the SPAB is not used exclusively to transport
students and certain bus driver and chaperone requirements are
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met. The California Bus Association and other private carriers
have removed opposition with these amendments.
3)Local education agency cost pressures. This bill would impose
new requirements on LEAs that opt to provide a transportation
program. These additional requirements will place pressure on
local school district budgets and could result in state
pressures to provide additional Proposition 98/GF support.
There are approximately 24,000 school buses in California. The
number of buses already equipped with alarm systems is
unknown. Los Angeles Unified School District has already
equipped their fleet of 1,300 buses. They incurred costs of
approximately $194,000 or approximately $150 per bus. The
costs of these systems vary based on the vendor and the
complexity of the system and the electrical and computer
systems of the vehicles in which they are installed.
Although school bus transportation programs are not required,
most school districts provide transportation. Many school
districts receive support for their transportation programs
through the Home-to-School Transportation (HTST) program,
which provides $491 million (Proposition 98/GF). The LAO
estimates, however, that this funding only covers
approximately 35% of total school transportation costs. The
HTST program is also based on historic funding formulas that
do not often reflect actual transportation costs in individual
districts. Any costs not covered by HTST funds come from the
school district's general fund.
4)Commission on State Mandates and transportation costs. Prior
decisions by the Commission on State Mandates (CSM) indicate
the CSM is not likely to rule that the activities imposed by
this bill will constitute a state reimbursable mandate. For
example, test claims submitted for existing school bus safety
requirements in statute, including the development of a
transportation plan and requiring seatbelts in buses, have
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been determined by the CSM to not constitute a reimbursable
state mandate because those activities are triggered by a
decision to provide transportation services to students.
Some school districts are required to provide transportation
services to their special education students if the student's
individualized education plan (IEP) determines these services
are necessary to ensure a free and appropriate education under
the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA). The CSM ruled, however, that "although school
districts may provide school bus or school pupil activity bus
transportation, along with a variety of other possible
options, to fulfill the possible transportation requirements
under the [federal] IDEA, neither state law nor the IDEA
requires school districts to provide school bus or school
pupil activity bus transportation."
Analysis Prepared by:Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916)
319-2081