An Act to Amend the Essential Programs and Services Funding Formula to Include All Costs for the Transportation of Students
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1369
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: SOBOLESKI, LYFORD, ANDREWS, BRADSTREET, CAMPBELL, DRINKWATER, LANDRY, SMITH, STROUT
Amends: 20-A MRSA §5401, 20-A MRSA §15672, 20-A MRSA §15681-A, 20-A MRSA §15689

Legislative Document
No. 1369
H.P. 883
House of Representatives, March 28, 2023
An Act to Amend the Essential Programs and Services Funding 
Formula to Include All Costs for the Transportation of Students
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative SOBOLESKI of Phillips.
Cosponsored by Senator LYFORD of Penobscot and
Representatives: ANDREWS of Paris, BRADSTREET of Vassalboro, CAMPBELL of 
Orrington, DRINKWATER of Milford, LANDRY of Farmington, SMITH of Palermo, 
STROUT of Harrington.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  20-A MRSA §5401, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2007, c. 572, Pt. A, §2, is 
further amended to read:
1.  Municipal school units.  The superintendent of schools in a municipal school unit 
shall must, with the approval of the school board, provide transportation for elementary 
school students and public preschool students a part of or the whole distance to and from 
the nearest suitable elementary school and for secondary school students a part of or the 
whole distance to and from the nearest suitable secondary school.  The municipality may 
provide transportation for secondary level students.
Sec. 2.  20-A MRSA §5401, sub-§18 is enacted to read:
18.  Cocurricular and extracurricular costs.  Transportation shall be provided to and 
from cocurricular and extracurricular activities.
Sec. 3.  20-A MRSA §15672, sub-§22-A, as repealed and replaced by PL 2005, c. 
519, Pt. AAAA, §4, is amended by amending the first blocked paragraph to read:
Approved adjustments include a per-mile rate equal to the state average gross 
transportation operating costs per mile driven for transportation associated with out-of-
district special education programs, up to 2 round trips per day to each facility for 
transportation associated with career and technical education programs, transportation for 
cocurricular and extracurricular activities and adjustments for expenditures for ferry 
services within a school administrative unit, transportation of homeless children in 
accordance with section 5205 and transportation costs of island school administrative units.
Sec. 4.  20-A MRSA §15681-A, sub-§3, as repealed and replaced by PL 2005, c. 
519, Pt. AAAA, §8, is amended to read:
3.  Transportation costs.  For fiscal year 2006-07, the commissioner, using 
information provided by a statewide education policy research institute, shall establish for 
each school administrative unit a predicted per-pupil transportation cost as defined in 
section 15672, subsection 22‑A.  The established predicted per-pupil transportation cost 
multiplied by the number of the school administrative unit's resident students for each 
school administrative unit must be no less than 90% of the most recent year's reported net 
transportation expenditures.  Beginning in From fiscal year 2007-08, and for each 
subsequent fiscal year through fiscal year 2023-24, the per-pupil transportation costs for 
each school administrative unit are its predicted per-pupil transportation cost for the most 
recent year adjusted by the Consumer Price Index or other comparable index, except that 
the established predicted per-pupil transportation cost multiplied by the number of the 
school administrative unit's resident students for each school administrative unit must be 
no less than 90% of the most recent year's reported net transportation expenditures.  The 
commissioner shall develop an appeals procedure for established per-pupil transportation 
costs for school administrative units;
Sec. 5.  20-A MRSA §15689, sub-§17 is enacted to read:
17.  Transportation costs.  Beginning in fiscal year 2024-25, and for each subsequent 
fiscal year, each school administrative unit must be guaranteed and the State shall pay, in 
addition to the state share of the total allocation, 100% of the per-pupil transportation costs 
for each school administrative unit, which must be its predicted per-pupil transportation 
cost for the most recent year adjusted by the Consumer Price Index or other comparable 
index, except that the established predicted per-pupil transportation cost multiplied by the 
number of the school administrative unit's resident students for each school administrative 
unit may not be less than 100% of the most recent year's reported net transportation 
expenditures. The commissioner shall develop an appeals procedure for established per-
pupil transportation costs for school administrative units.
SUMMARY
 This bill provides that, beginning in fiscal year 2024-25, transportation costs for public 
school students will no longer be paid as other subsidizable costs and that instead each 
school administrative unit must be guaranteed and the State is required to pay, in addition 
to the state share of the total allocation, 100% of the per-pupil transportation costs for each 
school administrative unit. The bill also provides that per-pupil transportation costs include 
transportation costs for cocurricular and extracurricular activities and requires municipal 
school units to provide transportation to secondary school students.