1
2
3
4
5
6
7 LONG TITLE
8 General Description:
9 This bill requires the State Board of Education to establish a working group to study
10 and make recommendations related to unsafe or hazardous routes for students who walk
11 to school.
12 Highlighted Provisions:
13 This bill:
14 ▸ requires the State Board of Education to establish a working group to study and
15 make recommendations related to unsafe or hazardous routes for students who walk
16 to school;
17 ▸ provides requirements related to membership and study components of the working
18 group;
19 ▸ requires the State Board of Education and the Department of Transportation to
20 report to the Legislature; and
21 ▸ makes technical changes.
22 Money Appropriated in this Bill:
23 None
24 Other Special Clauses:
25 None
26 Utah Code Sections Affected:
27 AMENDS:
28 53F-2-403, as renumbered and amended by Laws of Utah 2018, Chapter 2
29
30 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
31 Section 1. Section 53F-2-403 is amended to read:
32 53F-2-403. Eligibility for state-supported transportation -- Approved bus routes
33 -- Study and recommendations for unsafe or hazardous routes.
34 (1) A student eligible for state-supported transportation means:
35 (a) a student enrolled in kindergarten through grade [
36 miles from school;
37 (b) a student enrolled in grades [
38 school; and
39 (c) a student enrolled in a special program offered by a school district and approved by
40 the State Board of Education for trainable, motor, multiple-disability, or other students with
41 severe disabilities who are incapable of walking to school or where it is unsafe for students to
42 walk because of their disabling condition, without reference to distance from school.
43 (2) If a school district implements double sessions as an alternative to new building
44 construction, with the approval of the State Board of Education, those affected elementary
45 school students residing less than 1-1/2 miles from school may be transported one way to or
46 from school because of safety factors relating to darkness or other hazardous conditions as
47 determined by the local school board.
48 (3) (a) The State Board of Education shall distribute transportation money to school
49 districts based on:
50 (i) an allowance per mile for approved bus routes;
51 (ii) an allowance per hour for approved bus routes; and
52 (iii) a minimum allocation for each school district eligible for transportation funding.
53 (b) The State Board of Education shall distribute appropriated transportation funds
54 based on the prior year's eligible transportation costs as legally reported under Subsection
55 53F-2-402(3).
56 (c) The State Board of Education shall annually review the allowance per mile and the
57 allowance per hour and adjust the allowances to reflect current economic conditions.
58 (4) (a) Approved bus routes for funding purposes shall be determined on fall data
59 collected by October 1.
60 (b) Approved route funding shall be determined on the basis of the most efficient and
61 economic routes.
62 (5) A [
63 representation from school district superintendents, business officials, school district
64 transportation supervisors, and State Board of Education employees shall serve as a review
65 committee for addressing school transportation needs, including recommended approved bus
66 routes.
67 (6) A local school board may provide for the transportation of students regardless of the
68 distance from school, from general funds of the school district.
69 (7) (a) (i) If a local school board expends an amount of revenue equal to at least .0002
70 per dollar of taxable value of the school district's board local levy imposed under Section
71 53F-8-302 to pay for transporting students and for the replacement of school buses, the state
72 may contribute an amount not to exceed 85% of the state average cost per mile, contingent
73 upon the Legislature appropriating funds for a state contribution.
74 (ii) The State Board of Education's employees shall distribute the state contribution
75 according to rules enacted by the State Board of Education.
76 (b) (i) The amount of state guarantee money that a school district would otherwise be
77 entitled to receive under Subsection (7)(a) may not be reduced for the sole reason that the
78 school district's levy is reduced as a consequence of changes in the certified tax rate under
79 Section 59-2-924 due to changes in property valuation.
80 (ii) Subsection (7)(b)(i) applies for a period of two years following the change in the
81 certified tax rate.
82 (8) (a) The state board shall establish a working group to study and make
83 recommendations related to improving unsafe or hazardous routes for students who walk to
84 school.
85 (b) The working group shall include representatives of:
86 (i) the state board;
87 (ii) school district superintendents;
88 (iii) school district business administrators;
89 (iv) the transportation advisory committee described in Subsection (5); and
90 (v) the Department of Transportation.
91 (c) (i) The working group shall study, based on information provided by each school
92 district:
93 (A) the number of unsafe or hazardous routes for students to walk to school;
94 (B) information that supports a determination that a route is unsafe or hazardous; and
95 (C) plans that a school district develops under Subsection (8)(c)(ii).
96 (ii) A school district shall develop a plan to address unsafe or hazardous routes within
97 the school district that includes:
98 (A) how the Department of Transportation, a city, or a county will provide resources to
99 help address the unsafe or hazardous routes; and
100 (B) the estimated time and cost to address each unsafe or hazardous route.
101 (iii) The working group shall study the components described in Subsection (8)(c)(i)
102 based on measuring a distance described in Subsection (1) or (2):
103 (A) in the way in which the distance is currently measured; and
104 (B) from where a student lives to the main entrance of the school.
105 (d) (i) The state board shall report to the Education Interim Committee the
106 recommendations described in Subsection (8)(a) on or before the committee's November
107 interim meeting.
108 (ii) The report shall include recommendations related to the differences in measuring
109 distance described in Subsection (8)(c)(iii).
110 (iii) The Department of Transportation shall report to the Education Interim
111 Committee, in coordination with the state board's report, on how the Department of
112 Transportation will help address unsafe or hazardous routes for students who walk to school.