An act to amend Section 39800 of, and to add Sections 39800.1 and 39800.2 to, the Education Code, relating to school transportation.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.
(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) According to data released by the
U.S.
United States
Census Bureau, without a high school diploma, Americans are almost twice as likely to live in poverty.
(2) Several independent academic studies indicate a marked increase in school participation and graduation rates among children who were guaranteed transportation to and from school.
(3) According to a recent report by
California
Attorney General Kamala Harris, poverty and financial instability is the number one cause of truancy in the state.
(4) Research shows a strong relationship between access to transportation and improved school attendance.
(b) Based on the findings and declarations in subdivision (a), it is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would support school participation and high school attainment among low-income youth.
SEC. 2.
Section 39800 of the Education Code is amended to read:
39800.
(a) In addition to the requirement to provide transportation pursuant to Section 39800.1, the governing board of any school district may provide for the transportation of pupils to and from school whenever, in the judgment of the governing board, the transportation is advisable and good reasons exist. The governing board of a school district may purchase or rent and provide for the upkeep, care, and operation of
vehicles, or
vehicles. The governing board of a school district
may
also
contract and pay for the transportation of middle school and high school pupils to and from school by a vehicle driven by a public employee of a municipally owned transit system, or may contract with the parent or guardian of the pupil being transported. The governing board of a school district may allow the transportation of preschool or nursery school pupils in schoolbuses owned or operated by the school district. A state reimbursement may not be received by a school district for the transportation of preschool or nursery school pupils.
(b) As used in this article, “municipally owned transit system” means a transit system owned by a city or by a district created under Part 1 (commencing with Section 24501) of Division 10 of the Public Utilities Code.
SEC. 3.
Section 39800.1 is added to the Education Code, to read:
39800.1.
(a) Notwithstanding any other law, a pupil attending a public, noncharter school that
is eligible for
receives
Title 1 federal funding shall be entitled to free transportation to and from school, if either of the following conditions are met:
(1) The pupil resides more than one-half mile from the school.
(2) The neighborhood through which the pupil must travel to get to school is unsafe, as defined by the plan established pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b), which may include factors, including, but not limited to, stray dogs, lack of sidewalks, known gang activity, presence of environmental problems and hazards, required crossings of freeways or busy intersections, or other reasons documented by stakeholders in the plan developed pursuant to subdivision (c).
(b) (1) A school district not currently providing transportation to all pupils attending schools that
are eligible for
receive
Title 1 federal funding shall implement a plan to ensure that all pupils entitled to free transportation pursuant to subdivision (a) receive the transportation.
(2) The plan shall identify and accommodate the special rights of homeless youth, as defined pursuant to the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 11301 et seq.).
(c) The plan required by paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) shall be developed with the consultation of teachers, school administrators, regional local transit authorities, local air districts, the Department of Transportation, parents, pupils, and other stakeholders.
(d) If free, dependable, and timely transportation is not already available to pupils entitled to transportation services pursuant to this section, the school district shall ensure that the pupils entitled to the transportation are provided free transportation.
(e) Notwithstanding subdivision (f), transportation provided pursuant to this section shall be provided by a public employee.
(f) A school district may partner with a
transit authority
municipality owned transit system
to provide the transportation provided pursuant to this section to middle school and high school pupils if all of the following conditions are met:
(1) All drivers are public employees of a municipality owned transit
agency
system
as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 39800.
(2) The
municipality owned
transit
agency
system
can certify that the
public
transit system can ensure consistent, adequate routes and schedules to enable pupils to get home, to school and back, and does not charge the school district more than marginal cost for each transit pass.
(3) Nothing in this section would prevent a local transportation agency from providing no-cost transit passes to pupils attending Title 1 schools.
(g) All transportation provided pursuant to this section shall be reimbursed by the Transportation and Access to Public School Fund created pursuant to Section 39800.2.
SEC. 4.
Section 39800.2 is added to the Education Code, to read:
39800.2.
(a) The Transportation and Access to Public School Fund is hereby created in the State Treasury to be administered by the department.
(b) Funds in the Transportation and Access to Public School Fund shall, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be allocated to the department for allocation to local educational agencies pursuant to the process established by the Superintendent.
(c) Commencing with the 2017–18 fiscal year, the Superintendent shall allocate from the Transportation and Access to Public School Fund to each school district, county office of education, entity providing services under a school transportation joint powers agreement, or regional occupational center or program that provides pupil transportation an amount equal to the actual costs of the entitled transportation established pursuant to Section 39800.1. The allocation shall be in addition to any amount apportioned for home-to-school transportation pursuant to Article 10 (commencing with Section 41850) of Chapter 5 of Part 24.
(d) This section shall become operative only to the extent that funding is provided in the annual Budget Act or another statute for the purposes of this section.
SEC. 5.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

Summary: Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to provide for the transportation of pupils to and from school whenever in the judgment of the board the transportation is advisable and good reasons exist to do so.
This bill would entitle a pupil who attends a public, noncharter school that
is eligible for
receives
Title 1 federal funding to free transportation to and from school if certain conditions are met. The bill would require a school district not currently providing transportation to all pupils attending schools that
are eligible for
receive
Title 1 federal funding to implement a plan developed, in consultation with specified stakeholders, to ensure that all pupils entitled to free transportation receive the transportation. The bill would authorize school districts to contract with a municipally owned transit system to transport pupils if certain conditions are met. By
requiring
imposing
new duties on a local educational agency, the bill would
impose
constitute
a state-mandated local program.
This bill would create the Transportation and Access to Public School Fund and require the Superintendent of Public Instruction, upon appropriation to this fund by the Legislature, to allocate moneys from this fund to school districts, county offices of education, entities providing services under a school transportation joint powers agreement, or regional occupational centers or programs that provide pupil transportation an amount equal to the actual costs of the entitled transportation pursuant to this bill. The bill would provide that these provisions shall become operative only to the extent that funding is provided in the annual Budget Act or another statute.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.