Bill would let districts use non‑bus vehicles, tighten driver rules for inspected vehicles

Senate Bill 5009 would modify Washington’s pupil transportation rules to allow school districts to use vehicles other than traditional school buses for some routes, expand the purchase and reimbursement process to include other vehicle types, and require that training and qualification rules that apply to school bus drivers also apply to drivers of Washington State Patrol‑inspected, school‑use vehicles, the committee heard.

Committee staff explained that OSPI currently uses the STARS regression formula to calculate transportation allocations and that districts may already receive allocations for transporting students in district‑owned passenger cars using the private vehicle reimbursement rate in limited circumstances. The proposed substitute would explicitly permit school districts to use a vehicle type they deem safe and cost‑effective, expand the purchase and reimbursement process to non‑bus vehicles, and require that drivers of inspected non‑bus school vehicles meet appropriate training and licensing; drivers who “exclusively transport students in such a vehicle must have the appropriate license for that vehicle and may not be required to hold a commercial driver’s license,” staff said.

Sponsor Senator Braun told the committee the bill responds to widespread driver shortages and long, lightly filled bus routes in many rural districts. “I was following a regular bus, and it was basically empty,” she said, and the bill aims to give districts flexibility to choose a safe, cost‑effective vehicle for small routes instead of running near‑empty yellow buses.

Superintendents and rural advocates testified in favor. Jim Kolkowsky, director of the Rural Education Center and a retired superintendent, said small rural districts sometimes must use vans, suburban vehicles or other inspected vehicles when a bus or bus driver is not available; he testified the change would be “common sense” and help districts manage costs. Brian Freeman, superintendent of Inchelium School District, said his district runs one WSP‑inspected vehicle for a daily route with four students because they cannot hire a second bus driver; he said the bill would let the district depreciate such a vehicle from transportation funds rather than general funds. Rick Chiesa of Public School Employees of Washington, representing education support professionals including many bus drivers, said PSC supports the bill’s funding and flexibility steps but urged caution on passenger vehicle driver qualifications and asked the committee to consider an amendment removing the final sentence of section 5.

Several senators noted the bill intersects with other transportation and funding issues, including MSOC shortfalls and driver recruitment. The staff fiscal note was requested and not yet available at the time of the hearing.

No formal committee vote on SB 5009 was recorded in the transcript portion provided.