Senate panel approves reimbursing districts for smaller student-transport vehicles

The Senate Education Committee voted to send House Bill 396 to the Senate floor with a due-pass recommendation after hearing testimony that allowing school districts to be reimbursed for smaller, authorized vehicles could reduce transportation costs and better serve small groups of students.

Representative Dan Garner, the bill sponsor, told the committee the measure updates language about district transportation and removes reimbursement for virtual students. “What you have before you today is House Bill 396, which deals with the transportation part of the school districts and charter schools,” Garner said. He said the bill replaces older language with “authorized transportation operations” and adds a list of allowable alternative vehicles, including smaller vehicles transporting fewer than 10 students.

The bill is intended to let districts choose whether to use smaller vehicles; it is not mandatory. Garner said safety measures are included: the vehicles must carry the same kinds of safety equipment as buses, and they must be inspected every 60 days by a qualified mechanic. “There's nothing mandatory about this, the school districts get to decide for themselves, if this is a benefit or if it's not a benefit,” Garner said.

Superintendents from rural districts testified in support. Tyler Telford, superintendent of Westside School District, told the committee a minivan for a 20-mile round trip costs “just under a dollar a mile,” versus a state busing cost he cited as $6.51 per mile for a full-size yellow bus; he estimated savings for a single career-event trip at about $600. “Given the round trip of a 20 miles, the cost savings for this single trip to just an hour away is over $600,” Telford said. Greg Larson, superintendent of Rockland School District, described frequent small trips for extracurriculars and special-education outings and said sending a large bus for only a few students can be “very expensive.”

Committee questions focused on where districts had reported the need; Garner and witnesses said rural districts with small teams or single IEP students were primary examples. The measure requires the smaller vehicles to meet safety inspection and equipment standards comparable to school buses, including fire extinguishers and fluid-cleanup kits.

Senator Nichols moved to send the bill to the floor with a due-pass recommendation; the motion was moved and seconded and the committee voice-voted in favor. The committee chair declared, “Motion carries.” The record does not show a roll-call tally.

The bill now heads to the full Senate for consideration.