H. B. 4305
(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss, and Delegate Ashley)
[By Request of the Executive]
[Introduced February 9, 1998; referred to the
Committee on Education then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section one, article one, chapter
eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to amend and reenact
section seven, article nine-a of said chapter, all relating
to defining low density and high density counties;
increasing the percentage of transportation cost for
maintenance, operation, and related costs for high density
and low density counties; increasing the percentage of
transportation cost for maintenance, operation, and related
costs in the event a county uses an alternative fuel;
eliminating the requirement of the state board to distribute
an additional allowance to qualifying counties as it relates
to alternative fuels; eliminating the application process by
large, sparsely populated counties to the state
superintendent for additional mini buses; increasing the percentage for cost of contracted transportation services
and public utility transportation; increasing the percentage
for transporting students to and from multicounty vocational
center; eliminating obsolete language relating to rules
promulgated by the state board; and requiring the state
department of education to conduct a comprehensive study of
student transportation and submit the report to the
legislative oversight commission on education accountability
by the fifteenth day of January, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-nine.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section one, article one, chapter eighteen of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted; and that section seven,
article nine-a of said chapter be amended and reenacted, all to
read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. DEFINITIONS; LIMITATIONS OF CHAPTER; GOALS FOR
EDUCATION.
§18-1-1. Definitions.
The following words used in this chapter and in any
proceedings pursuant thereto shall, unless the context clearly
indicates a different meaning, be construed as follows:
(a) "School" means the pupils and teacher or teachers
assembled in one or more buildings, organized as a unit;
(b) "District" means county school district;
(c) "State board" means the West Virginia board of
education;
(d) "Board" means the county board of education;
(e) "State superintendent" means the state superintendent of
free schools;
(f) "Superintendent" means the county superintendent of
schools;
(g) "Teacher" means teacher, supervisor, principal,
superintendent, public school librarian; registered professional
nurse, licensed by the West Virginia board of examiners for
registered professional nurses and employed by a county board of
education, who has a baccalaureate degree; or any other person
regularly employed for instructional purposes in a public school
in this state;
(h) "Service personnel" means all nonteaching school
employees not included in the above definition of "teacher";
(i) "Regular full-time employee" means any person employed
by a county board of education who has a regular position or job
throughout his employment term, without regard to hours or method
of pay;
(j) "Career clusters" means broad groupings of related
occupations;
(k) "Work-based learning" means a structured activity that correlates with and is mutually supportive of the school-based
learning of the student and includes specific objectives to be
learned by the student as a result of the activity;
(l) "School-age juveniles" means any individual who is
entitled to attend or who, if not placed in a residential
facility, would be entitled to attend public schools, in
accordance with: (1) Section five, article two of this chapter;
(2) sections fifteen and eighteen, article five of this chapter;
or (3) section one, article twenty of this chapter; and
(m) "Student with a disability" means an exceptional child,
other than gifted, pursuant to section one, article twenty of
this chapter;
(n) "Low density county" means a county whose ratio of
student population to square miles is less than or equal to the
state average ratio as computed by the state department of
education; and
(o) "High density county" means a county whose ratio of
student population to square miles is greater than the state
average ratio as computed by the state department of education.
ARTICLE 9A. PUBLIC SCHOOL SUPPORT.
§18-9A-7. Foundation allowance for transportation cost.
The allowance in the foundation school program for each
county for transportation shall be the sum of the following
computations:
(1) Eighty Eighty-five percent of the transportation cost
within each high density county and ninety percent of the
transportation cost within each low density county for
maintenance, operation and related costs, exclusive of all
salaries: Provided, That for the school year beginning the first
day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four, and
thereafter, in the event a county uses an alternative fuel such
as compressed natural gas or other acceptable alternative fuel
for the operation of all or any portion of its school bus system,
then the allowance in the foundation school program for each such
county for that portion of its school bus system shall be ninety
ninety-five percent of the transportation cost for maintenance,
operation and related costs, exclusive of all salaries, incurred
by the use of the alternatively fueled school buses: Provided,
however, That any county using an alternative fuel and qualifying
for the additional allowance shall submit a plan regarding the
intended future use of alternatively fueled school buses;
Provided further, That the state board shall distribute the
additional allowance to qualifying counties only until such time
as the state board has distributed in the then current fiscal
year one hundred thousand dollars of transportation allowance, in
the statewide aggregate, above the eighty percent to qualifying
counties, after which the additional ten percent shall no longer
be available to any county
(2) The total cost, within each county, of insurance
premiums on buses, buildings and equipment used in
transportation: Provided, That such premiums were procured
through competitive bidding;
(3) For the school year beginning the first day of July, one
thousand nine hundred eighty-nine, and thereafter, an amount
equal to ten percent of the current replacement value of the bus
fleet within each county as determined by the state board, such
amount to be used only for the replacement of buses. In
addition, in any school year in which its net enrollment
increases when compared to the net enrollment the year
immediately preceding, a school district may apply to the state
superintendent for funding for an additional bus. Furthermore,
large, sparsely populated counties may also apply to the state
superintendent for funding for additional mini-buses. The state
superintendent shall make a decision regarding each application
based upon an analysis of the individual school district's net
enrollment history and transportation needs: or, in the case of
a large, sparsely populated county, the population of the county
Provided, That the superintendent shall not consider any
application which fails to document that the county has applied
for federal funding for additional buses. If the state
superintendent finds that a need exists, a request for funding
shall be included in the budget request submitted by the state board for the upcoming fiscal year;
(4) Eighty Ninety percent of the cost of contracted
transportation services and public utility transportation with
each county;
(5) Aid in lieu of transportation equal to the state average
amount per pupil for each pupil receiving such aid within each
county; and
(6) Ninety Ninety-five percent of the total cost of
transportation operations and related expenses, excluding
salaries and maintenance for transporting students to and from
classes at a multicounty vocational center.
The total state share for this purpose shall be the sum of
the county shares. and shall be distributed in accordance with
rules to be promulgated by the state board: Provided, That No
county shall receive an allowance which is greater than one third
above the computed state average allowance per transportation
mile multiplied by the total transportation mileage in the
county.
The state department of education shall cause a
comprehensive study to be made relating to student
transportation. The study shall examine, but is not limited to,
the issues of funding, timeliness of data used for formula
distribution, service personnel needed, inter-county service,
regionalization of services, bus routes, amount of time students spend on buses, maintenance, safety training, and alternative
transportation systems. The state department of education shall
submit a report of the study to the legislative oversight
commission on education accountability by the fifteenth day of
January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine.
NOTE: Following a recommendation of the Commission on
Educational Quality and Equity, the purpose of this bill is to
increase the rate of reimbursement to county boards of education
for student transportation costs, exclusive of personnel costs.
Definitions are provided for "High Density" and "Low Density"
counties based on students per square mile. The reimbursement
rate is increased from the present 80%, to 85% for high density
counties and to 90% for low density counties. Similar increases
are made to other transportation reimbursement rates established
in the section.
The bill also requires the state department of education to
cause a comprehensive study to be made relating to student
transportation.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.
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