Education committee holds bill to overhaul school transportation funding after safety and distribution concerns

Representatives Dan Garner and Jack Nelson presented House Bill 293 to the House Committee on Education proposing to replace the current block-grant and split reimbursement system for pupil transportation with a uniform 85% per-mile reimbursement and to explicitly allow district-authorized non-school-bus vehicles for certain trips.

"It strikes the old formula and puts in a new one that would do away with the block grant which is based on enrollment and makes it so that they get reimbursed at 85% of the mileage right across the whole board," Representative Dan Garner said, summarizing the bill.

Cosponsors and staff described a spreadsheet showing uneven current reimbursements — some districts allegedly receiving more than 200% of their actual costs under the existing system while others receive much less — and proposed restoring…