Committee funds $600,000 pilot for student bus‑routing software; districts must report savings

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on March 11 approved a one‑time $600,000 FY‑26 appropriation to pilot student transportation routing software for public school districts and charter schools, with participating districts required to report cost and savings and the Department of Education tasked to report to the legislature after one full year of data.

Jared Tetro, budget and policy analyst in the Legislative Services Office, told the committee the Central Services request originally included more enhancements, but an item for student transportation routing software had been cut on the House floor. "The original request was for $5,000,000," Tetro said; the version considered by the committee was for $600,000 as a pilot. The committee’s motion, offered by Senator Woodward and seconded by Representative Petzke, moved $600,000 from the general fund for the pilot.

Tetro said the Department surveyed districts and charters and "received responses from I believe it was 70 districts and charters and most of them indicated interest." Later in the discussion a committee cochair said 43 districts had expressed interest in the survey. Representative Petzke explained the calculation used in the request: at $1,500 per bus, $600,000 would cover software for about 400 buses.

Members asked how much data the pilot would generate. Tetro said if a contractor is on board and implementation begins in August, districts would have about four months of data by the end of the legislative session and roughly six to seven months thereafter; the committee acknowledged that a single budget year provides limited time to evaluate outcomes. Representative Petzke said the pilot would allow districts to report initial savings next year and that "we will probably need a couple years' worth of data" before making a longer‑term funding decision.

The committee added language that requires participating districts and charters to track necessary data demonstrating the program’s effectiveness, including cost and savings. The language describes the effort as a two‑year pilot and directs the Department of Education to collect data and report back to the committee after one full year of implementation.

The committee approved the motion; roll calls recorded 8 ayes and 2 nays in the Senate and 7 ayes and 3 nays in the House for a combined 15 ayes and 5 nays. The committee accepted the required language by unanimous consent.

The pilot is one‑time funding; committee members said future funding would depend on the pilot’s reported results and potential economies of scale if a statewide approach proved cost‑effective.