3301-83-01. Calculation of pupil transportation operation payments

(A) Formula for calculation of regular education payment amounts.

(1) Type I (board-owned and operated school buses):

(a) Funding shall be computed and distributed as specified in section 3317.0212 of the Revised Code.

(b) Qualifying ridership shall be defined as the average daily number of qualifying riders who are provided school bus service pursuant to division (A) of section 3317.0212 of the Revised Code.

(2) Type II (contractor-owned and operated school buses):

(a) Funding shall be computed and distributed as specified in section 3317.0212 of the Revised Code.

(b) Qualifying ridership shall be defined as the average daily number of qualifying riders who are provided school bus service pursuant to division (A) of section 3317.0212 of the Revised Code.

(3) Other types of transportation service: In accordance with division (F) of section 3317.0212 of the Revised Code, payment shall be made to each district for transportation service provided for students on other than board-owned or contractor- operated buses. This payment shall apply only to eligible students that use transportation services, as reported on the T-1 and T-2 reports submitted to the Ohio department of education.

(a) Type III (public utility) - An amount per pupil equal to thirty-five per cent of the state average cost as calculated in division (C) of section 3317.0212 of the Revised Code.

(b) Type V (board-owned vehicles other than school buses) - An amount per pupil equal to fifty per cent of the state average cost as calculated in division (C) of section 3317.0212 of the Revised Code.

(c) Type VI (privately-owned vehicles other than school buses) - An amount per pupil equal to fifty per cent of the state average cost as calculated in division (C) of section 3317.0212 of the Revised Code.

(B) Reimbursement for special education transportation.

(1) Reimbursement for special transportation may be approved by the department for children with disabilities attending a special education program approved by the department's office for exceptional children and/or attending a regular class in a public school, and who have transportation appropriately identified as a related service on their individual education plans.

(2) For eligible children with disabilities, the department shall calculate reimbursement as follows:

(a) Base amount equals the actual cost of special transportation up to six dollars per instructional day per child and one-half the actual cost in excess of six dollars per day.

(b) Base shall be adjusted according to the school district's state share index, or the minimum state share index established in section 3317.0212 of the Revised Code, whichever is larger based upon current language in the respective biennium budget that addresses such percentages .

(c) Formula amount for each district shall be limited by the actual reported cost of special education transportation, and shall also be limited to no more than two-hundred per cent of the statewide average cost of transportation per child.

(d) Final amount as determined in paragraph (B) (2)(c) of this rule shall be prorated as necessary to remain within the budgeted allocation for special education transportation.

(3) All vehicles used must be authorized vehicles as defined in rule 3301-83-19 of the Administrative Code. A privately owned vehicle utilized to transport a pupil of the family is not subject to regulation other than that required by state law.

(4) Eligible children with disabilities who ride on regular school buses on regular routes are not eligible for special education transportation reimbursement. They are to be counted and reported on the department's T-1 and T-2 forms as regular education riders; except that if fifty per cent or more of the passengers on a route are children with disabilities, the cost can be prorated and reported to the department for reimbursement.

(5) Reimbursement claims for transportation of children with disabilities shall be reported on the appropriate form as required by the department .

(C) Reporting and annual adjustments

(1) Each school district shall file annual reports of all pupils transported, miles traveled, actual costs, and other necessary information for the purposes of calculation and adjustments in amount due. Pupils transported and miles traveled shall be reported by vehicle as the average daily number of eligible pupils actually transported and miles traveled during the first full week of October that school is in session. Actual cost shall be reported by vehicle on or before the last day of August following the close of the fiscal year.

(2) All adjustments by transportation service type shall be made within the first quarter following the close of the fiscal year.

(D) Vehicles approved for use and operational payment

(1) Board-owned and operated school buses - A vehicle operated by a qualified driver meeting the definition of a school bus successfully passing the annual state highway patrol safety inspection assigned a school bus identification number and painted national school bus chrome with proper black lettering. Vehicle met or exceeded Ohio school bus minimum standards at the time of construction.

(2) Contractor-owned school buses - A vehicle meeting all the requirements of a board-owned school bus and requirement of licensing by the Ohio department of highway safety and bonding as required by law.

(3) Public transit vehicles - Vehicles owned and operated by regional transit authorities, community transit authorities, or privately owned, or taxis, under contract with a board of education and operated on routes designed for the purpose of transporting fare-paying passengers and eligible students simultaneously.

(4) Board-owned vehicles other than school buses - A vehicle, nine-passenger or less, not including driver, with no school bus identification other than school district name.

(5) Privately owned vehicles other than school buses used in compliance with rule 3301-83-19 of the Administrative Code.

(6) Privately owned vehicles may include ambulances and/or taxicabs for the purpose of transporting eligible children with disabilities.

(E) Operational regulations

(1) To receive funding for a pupil being transported, the pupil must meet the following criteria:

(a) Is one whose place of residence is one mile or more from the school of assignment for public school pupils and school of attendance in case of nonpublic and community school pupils when measured in the following manner: "Measurement of distance originates at a point on the traveled portion of the roadway nearest the primary entrance to the place of residence and then along the most direct route traversable excluding interstate routes by motor vehicle to the school bus loading area nearest and opposite the entrance door used by pupils transported"; and

(b) Is transported from an approved pick-up point near the residence, to a school of assignment in the case of public school pupils, and to the school of attendance in the case of nonpublic school pupils and who is returned from the school of assignment or attendance to the designated pick-up point; and

(c) Is enrolled in grades kindergarten through twelve and regularly transported to and from a public school; or

(d) Is enrolled in grades kindergarten through twelve and regularly transported to and from a nonpublic school chartered by the state board of education and eligible for transportation service; or

(e) Is enrolled in grades kindergarten through twelve and regularly transported to and from a community school that assumed responsibility for arranging or providing pupil transportation in accordance with section 3314.091 of the Revised Code.

(2)

Miles traveled to transport eligible pupils participating in an open enrollment program may be reported for payment purposes by the resident district from home to the designated border pick-up point and by the educating school district from the border pick-up point to the building of attendance in the educating district. If the educating district or the resident district provides all the open enrollment transportation for a student, the miles may be reported by the district providing the service.

(3) Miles traveled from bus storage location or school building to first student pick-up, all route miles, and return to storage both a.m. and p.m., including kindergarten miles, are approved for payment purposes.

(4) Miles traveled to and from storage locations outside the county or counties of the school district location are not approved miles for payment purposes. Miles traveled from county line to first pick-up and return to county line are approved miles.

(5) Total annual miles for payment purposes shall be calculated by multiplying total daily miles by one hundred eighty days.

(6) Recalculation of pupil transportation operation payment amount due may be approved when:

(a) Local board policy or routing is revised to provide transportation service for additional pupils or increased miles on or before the first of February, and providing such change in policy is to continue in effect for the remainder of the school year; or

(b) A nonpublic school is chartered for operation subsequent to the initial reporting period; or

(c) School district erroneously reports or the department errs in actual calculation of amount due.

(7) School districts contracting with transit authorities for the purpose of transporting eligible pupils to and from school shall require the transit authority director to file with the board of education actual operational costs in excess of, or less than, reimbursement as provided for by paragraph (A) (3) of this rule. Such report shall be filed with the board of education at the close of each fiscal year. Each board of education shall file with the department all transit authority and local board costs on or before the twentieth day of July of each year.

Effective: 5/13/2019
Five Year Review (FYR) Dates: 2/6/2019 and 04/25/2024
Promulgated Under: 119.03
Statutory Authority: 4511.76, 3301.07
Rule Amplifies: 4511.76
Prior Effective Dates: 11/01/1975, 12/28/1977, 12/28/1979, 03/22/1982, 04/01/1984, 05/01/1986, 04/01/1988, 05/01/1992, 05/06/1994, 10/01/2004, 05/19/2006, 02/25/2007, 03/25/2010