3301-83-01 Calculation of pupil transportation operation payments.

(A) Authority – Pupil transportation operation payment amount for each school district may be determined as prescribed by the general assembly, in section 3317.022 of the Revised Code.

(B) Eligibility – Fiscal year payment for pupil transportation operation shall be made to all city, exempted village, and local school districts eligible for school foundation funding as provided for by Chapter 3317. of the Revised Code.

(1) Type I (board-owned and operated school buses):

(a) Funding shall be computed and distributed as specified in section 3317.022 of the Revised Code.

(b) For purposes of making computations under division (J) of section 3317.02 of the Revised Code, transportation ADM means average daily number of eligible pupils actually riding pursuant to paragraph (E)(1) of this rule.

(c) Payment for extra service miles run on days public school is not in session may be made by multiplying the extra miles by a per mile amount approved by the state board of education.

(2) Type II (contractor-owned and operated school buses):

(a) Funding shall be computed and distributed as specified in section 3317.022 of the Revised Code.

(b) Payment for extra service miles run on days public school is not in session may be made by multiplying the extra miles by a per mile amount approved by the state board of education.

(3) Type III (public utility) – An amount for the number of eligible pupils transported, as determined by multiplying the number of eligible pupils by a per pupil amount approved by the state board of education.

(4) Type IV (payment to parent or guardian) – Payment shall be determined by multiplying the number of eligible pupils by a per pupil amount approved by the state board of education.

(5) Type V (board-owned vehicles other than school buses) – An amount for the approved total annual miles traveled, as determined by multiplying the total annual miles by a per mile amount approved by the state board of education.

(6) Type VI (privately owned vehicles other than school buses) – An amount for the approved total annual miles traveled, as determined by multiplying the total annual miles by a per mile amount approved by the state board of education.

(D) Reimbursement for special education transportation.

(1) Reimbursement for special transportation may be approved by the department’s center for school finance for children with disabilities attending a special education program approved by the department’s office of exceptional children and/or attending a regular class in a public school.

(2) For eligible children with disabilities, the department’s center for school finance will approve reimbursement for the actual cost of special transportation up to six dollars per instructional day per child and one-half the actual cost in excess of six dollars per day. This amount may be adjusted by factors included in the budget bill, or to remain within the budgeted allocation for special education transportation.

(3) All vehicles used must be authorized vehicles as defined in rule 3301-83-19 of the Administrative Code. A privately owned vehicle utilized to transport a pupil of the family is not subject to regulation other than that required by state law.

(4) Eligible children with disabilities who ride on regular school buses on regular routes are not eligible for special education transportation reimbursement. They are to be counted on the department’s T-1 and T-2 forms.

However, if fifty per cent or more of the passengers on a regular school bus, on a regular route, are eligible children with disabilities, that cost can be prorated and reported to the department’s center for school finance for reimbursement.

(5) Reimbursement claims for transportation of children with disabilities shall be reported on the appropriate form as required by the department’s center for school finance.

(6) The amount reimbursed to the school district may not exceed the actual cost for transportation of eligible children with disabilities.

(E) Reporting and annual adjustments

(1) Each school district shall file annual reports of all pupils transported, miles traveled, actual costs, and other necessary information for the purposes of calculation and adjustments in amount due. Pupils transported and miles traveled shall be reported by vehicle as the average daily number of eligible pupils actually transported and miles traveled during the first full week of October that school is in session. Actual cost shall be reported by vehicle on or before the first day of August following the close of the fiscal year.

(2) All adjustments by transportation service type shall be made within the first quarter following the close of the fiscal year.

(F) Vehicles approved for use and operational payment

(1) Board-owned and operated school buses – A vehicle operated by a qualified driver meeting the definition of a school bus successfully passing the annual state highway patrol safety inspection assigned a school bus identification number and painted national school bus chrome with proper black lettering. Vehicle met or exceeded Ohio school bus minimum standards at the time of construction.

(2) Contractor-owned school buses – A vehicle meeting all the requirements of a board-owned school bus and requirement of licensing by the Ohio department of highway safety and bonding as required by law.

(3) Public transit vehicles – Vehicles owned and operated by regional transit authorities, community transit authorities, or privately owned, or taxis, under contract with a board of education and operated on routes designed for the purpose of transporting fare-paying passengers and eligible students simultaneously.

(4) Board-owned vehicles other than school buses – A vehicle, nine-passenger or less, not including driver, with no school bus identification other than school district name.

(5) Privately owned vehicles other than school buses used in compliance with rule 3301-83-19 of the Administrative Code.

(6) Privately owned vehicles may include ambulances and/or taxicabs for the purpose of transporting eligible children with disabilities.

(G) Operational regulations

(1) Only pupils eligible for payment may be included in the counts as reported in paragraph (E)(1) of this rule. An “eligible pupil” must meet the following criteria:

(a) Is one whose place of residence is one mile or more from the school of assignment for public school pupils and school of attendance in case of nonpublic pupils when measured in the following manner: “Measurement of distance originates at a point on the traveled portion of the roadway nearest the primary entrance to the place of residence and then along the most direct route traversable excluding interstate routes by motor vehicle to the school bus loading area nearest and opposite the entrance door used by pupils transported”; and

(b) Is transported from an approved a pick-up point near the residence, to a school of assignment in the case of public school pupils, and to the school of attendance in the case of nonpublic school pupils and who is returned from the school of assignment or attendance to the designated pick-up point; and

(d) Is enrolled in grades kindergarten through twelve and regularly transported to and from a nonpublic school chartered by the state board of education and eligible for transportation service.

(2) Nonresident non-open enrollment pupils regularly transported may be reported for payment purposes only when such pupils are released by the district of residence. Miles traveled to transport eligible pupils participating in an open enrollment program may be reported for payment purposes by the resident district from home to the designated border pick-up point and by the educating school district from the border pick-up point to the building of attendance in the educating district. If the educating district or the resident district provides all the open enrollment transportation for a student, the miles may be reported by the district providing the service.

(3) Miles traveled from bus storage location or school building to first student pick-up, all route miles, and return to storage both a.m. and p.m., including kindergarten miles, are approved for payment purposes.

(4) Miles traveled to and from storage locations outside the county or counties of the school district location are not approved miles for payment purposes. Miles traveled from county line to first pick-up and return to county line are approved miles.

(5) Total annual miles for payment purposes shall be calculated by multiplying total daily miles by one hundred eighty days.

(6) Recalculation of pupil transportation operation payment amount due may be approved when:

(a) Local board policy or routing is revised to provide transportation service for additional pupils or increased miles on or before the first of February, and providing such change in policy is to continue in effect for the remainder of the school year.

(b) A nonpublic school is chartered for operation subsequent to the initial reporting period.

(7) School districts contracting with transit authorities for the purpose of transporting eligible pupils to and from school shall require the transit authority director to file with the board of education actual operational costs in excess of, or less than, reimbursement as provided for by paragraph (C)(3) of this rule. Such report shall be filed with the board of education at the close of each fiscal year. Each board of education shall file with the Ohio department of education all transit authority and local board costs on or before the twentieth day of July of each year.

(8) Type IV, payment to parent or guardian in lieu of transportation service for eligible pupils whose transportation is deemed impractical by school conveyance, must be declared as being impractical by board of education resolution. Payment under this type will not be made for pupils who live within two miles of their school of attendance. Post-secondary transportation shall be reported as type IV when pupils are eligible for such reimbursement under law and any rules adopted by the state board of education.

(9) For payment purposes, all school districts providing transportation service to nonpublic or vocational schools on days public schools are not in session and shuttle service to joint vocational schools may report on forms provided by the Ohio department of education such additional miles.

Effective: 02/25/2007

R.C. 119.032 review dates: 11/29/2006 and 02/25/2012

Promulgated Under: 119.03

Statutory Authority: 3301.07, 3317.022, 4511.76

Rule Amplifies: 3317.022, 4511.76

Prior Effective Dates: 11/1/75, 12/28/77, 12/28/79, 3/22/82, 4/1/84, 5/1/86, 4/1/88, 5/1/92, 5/6/94, 10/1/04, 5/19/06