Enrolled Bill Summary

House Bill 273	House Author:  Truitt
Effective:  6-16-07	Senate Sponsor:  Harris et al.

            House Bill 273 amends the Education Code to allow a board of county school trustees or a school district board of trustees to establish and operate an economical public school transportation system outside the county or district, as applicable, if the county or district enters into an interlocal contract as provided by Chapter 791, Government Code.  The bill also allows those trustees to contract with a juvenile board for all or any part of a district's public school transportation if the juvenile board requires its bus drivers to be certified in accordance with Department of Public Safety standards and uses only buses that meet or exceed specified school bus safety standards when transporting 15 or more students . 

            The bill requires  a school district that enters into a purchasing contract valued at $25,000 or more to document any contract-related fee, including any management fee, and to present as an agenda item the amount, purpose, and disposition of any such fee in a written report submitted annually in an open meeting of the district's board of trustees.

            The bill also makes mandatory a previously permissive provision relating to certain factors that a district could consider in determining to whom to award a contract.