Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Transportation Ab181 topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board approves AB 181 transportation plan to secure reimbursement for student transit passes
Summary
Trustees approved the district's AB 181 transportation services plan to retain reimbursement for VTA passes distributed to eligible students, a measure that preserves prior-year funding and increases reimbursement tied to McKinney‑Vento and other student groups.
The East Side Union High School District Board approved the district's AB 181 transportation services plan, a required annual plan that lets the district retain state reimbursement for bus and transit passes provided to eligible students.
Director of General Services Julie Kasperger and Transportation Supervisor Ray Castellanos presented the plan, explaining that AB 181 enables reimbursement for passes given to students who are migrant, McKinney‑Vento (homeless), foster, runaway or socioeconomically disadvantaged. Kasperger told trustees the district operates about 550 routes across roughly 180 square miles and that the program has led to a large increase in VTA passes for McKinney‑Vento students: "we're now servicing just under 1,500 additional VTA passes for those kids," a roughly 42% increase for that group.
The presentation said approving the plan preserves approximately $4.5 million the district requested for the prior year and anticipates up to $5.5 million in reimbursements next year, figures the staff said are already reflected in current budget planning. Board members praised transportation and maintenance staff for keeping buses running during a regional transit strike and for using routes to support college visits and career technical education events.
Trustee Cortese moved to approve the transportation services plan; Trustee Chavez seconded. The motion passed, with one trustee briefly absent from the vote before returning, and the final tally recorded as 5-0 after all trustees confirmed their votes.
Staff said they will continue streamlining bus requests with an online pilot at two schools and will monitor alternative fuel options as diesel buses are phased out.
