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Floor Packet Page No. 102
Amend CSHB 2 by striking the text on page 14, line 8, through
page 15, line 20, and substituting the following:
SUBCHAPTER D. TRANSPORTATION ALLOTMENT
Sec. 42.201. TRANSPORTATION ALLOTMENT. Each district or
county operating a transportation system is entitled to allotments
for transportation costs as provided by this subchapter.
Sec. 42.202. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Eligible special education student" means a
student who is eligible for special education services under
Section 29.003 and who would be unable to attend classes without
special transportation services.
(2) "Linear density" means the average number of
regular eligible students transported daily, divided by the
approved daily route miles traveled by the respective
transportation system.
(3) "Regular eligible student" means a student who
resides two or more miles from the student's campus of regular
attendance, measured along the shortest route that may be traveled
on public roads, and who is not classified as a student eligible for
special education services.
Sec. 42.203. REGULAR TRANSPORTATION ALLOTMENT. (a) Each
school district or county operating a regular transportation system
is entitled to an allotment based on the daily cost per regular
eligible student of operating and maintaining the regular
transportation system and the linear density of that system.
(b) In determining the cost, the commissioner shall give
consideration to factors affecting the actual cost of providing
these transportation services in each school district or county.
The commissioner shall compute the average actual cost and shall
report that cost to the Legislative Budget Board for consideration
by the legislature in the General Appropriations Act.
(c) The allotment per mile of approved route may not exceed
the amount set by appropriation.
Sec. 42.204. HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS TRANSPORTATION
ALLOTMENT. (a) A school district or county may apply for and on
approval of the commissioner receive an additional amount of up to
10 percent of its regular transportation allotment to be used for
the transportation of children who live within two miles of the
school they attend and who would be subject to hazardous traffic
conditions if they walked to school.
(b) Each board of trustees shall provide to the commissioner
the definition of hazardous conditions applicable to that district
and shall identify the specific hazardous areas for which the
allotment is requested. A hazardous condition exists where no
walkway is provided and children must walk along or cross a freeway
or expressway, an underpass, an overpass or a bridge, an
uncontrolled major traffic artery, an industrial or commercial
area, or another comparable condition.
Sec. 42.205. PRIVATE OR COMMERCIAL TRANSPORTATION
ALLOTMENT. (a) The commissioner may grant an amount set by
appropriation for private or commercial transportation for
eligible students from isolated areas. The need for this type of
transportation grant shall be determined on an individual basis,
and the amount granted may not exceed the actual cost.
(b) The grants may be made only in extreme hardship cases. A
grant may not be made if the students live within two miles of an
approved school bus route.
Sec. 42.206. TRANSPORTATION OF CAREER AND TECHNOLOGY
EDUCATION STUDENTS. The cost of transporting career and technology
education students from one campus to another inside a school
district or from a sending district to another secondary public
school for a career and technology program or an area career and
technology school or to an approved postsecondary institution under
a contract for instruction approved by the agency shall be
reimbursed based on the number of actual miles traveled times the
district's official extracurricular travel per mile rate as set by
the board of trustees and approved by the agency.
Sec. 42.207. TRANSPORTATION OF SPECIAL EDUCATION STUDENTS.
(a) A school district or county that provides special
transportation services for eligible special education students is
entitled to a state allotment paid on a previous year's
cost-per-mile basis. The maximum rate per mile allowable shall be
set by appropriation based on data gathered from the first year of
each preceding biennium.
(b) A school district may use a portion of its support
allocation to pay transportation costs, if necessary. The
commissioner may grant an amount set by appropriation for private
transportation to reimburse parents or their agents for
transporting eligible special education students. The mileage
allowed shall be computed along the shortest public road from the
student's home to school and back, morning and afternoon. The need
for this type of transportation shall be determined on an
individual basis and shall be approved only in extreme hardship
cases.
Sec. 42.208. DETERMINATION OF TRANSPORTATION ALLOTMENTS OF
DISTRICT BELONGING TO COUNTY TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM. If a school
district belongs to a county transportation system, the district's
transportation allotment is determined on the basis of the number
of approved daily route miles in the district multiplied by the
allotment per mile to which the county transportation system is
entitled.
Sec. 42.209. TRANSPORTATION ALLOTMENT FOR TEXAS SCHOOL FOR
THE DEAF. The Texas School for the Deaf is entitled to an allotment
under this subchapter. The commissioner shall determine the
appropriate allotment.
Sec. 42.210. TRANSPORTATION TO CHILD-CARE FACILITIES.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this subchapter, the
commissioner may not reduce the allotment to which a school
district or county is entitled under this subchapter because, as
authorized by Section 34.007, the district or county provides
transportation for an eligible student to and from a child-care
facility, as defined by Section 42.002, Human Resources Code,
instead of the student's residence, if the transportation is
provided within the approved routes of the district or county for
the school the student attends.
Sec. 42.211. USE OF TRANSPORTATION ALLOTMENTS. Funds
allotted under this subchapter must be used in providing
transportation services.
[Sections 42.212-42.220 reserved for expansion]