Pupil transportation., the official text

An act to amend Section 39875 of, and to add Section 39881.5 to, the Education Code, relating to pupil transportation.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

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 governing board, the transportation is advisable and good reasons exist to do so. Existing law requires a driver employed by a local educational agency, contracted by a local educational agency, or contracted by any entity with funding from a local educational agency, who provides school-related pupil transportation for compensation to be subject to specified requirements including, among others, having a satisfactory driving record, as provided. Existing law exempts from these requirements a school employee when the employee provides transportation to pupils due to or because of the employee’s supervision of pupils for a field trip, extracurricular activity, or athletic program, or when the employee provides transportation to pupils for other activities, not to exceed 40 hours of drive time per school year per employee.
This bill would, for a local educational agency with fewer than 2,500 units of average daily attendance and a frontier school district, as defined, set that limit at 200 hours of drive time instead of 40 hours. The bill would, contingent upon an appropriation, establish the Rural Transportation Safety Grant Program to provide funding to small and rural local educational agencies for costs associated with training, inspections, and compliance with, among other things, the above-described driver requirements.

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

SECTION 1.
Section 39875 of the Education Code is amended to read:
39875.
(a) Except as provided pursuant to subdivisions (b) to (g), inclusive, this article shall apply to all drivers employed by a local educational agency, contracted by a local educational agency, or contracted by any entity with funding from a local educational agency, providing school-related pupil transportation for compensation.
(b) Nothing in this article shall be construed to apply to a driver employed by any of the following:
(1) A municipally owned transit system offering supplementary service.
(2) A congregate care facility licensed by the State Department of Social Services.
(3) A county human services agency.
(4) An entity, excluding entities with a primary purpose of providing transportation services, serving pupils experiencing homelessness that is coordinated with the homeless continuum of care in counties that have one or otherwise designated to serve children who are homeless by a county without a continuum of care.
(5) A county probation agency.
(6) Another government agency, other than a local educational agency.
(7) A foster family agency, as defined in paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 1502 of the Health and Safety Code.
(8) A tribal authority.
(c) This article shall not apply to any of the following persons who are compensated to drive a pupil:
(1) A parent or relative as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 361.3 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, or a nonrelative extended family member as defined in Section 362.7 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(2) A guardian.
(3) A caregiver given temporary or permanent custody of the pupil by a court, child welfare agency, tribal authority, or county probation department.
(4) A court-appointed educational rights holder.
(5) A court-appointed special advocate.
(6) A pupil who drives themselves.
(d) (1) This article shall not apply to a school employee of a local educational agency when the employee provides transportation to pupils due to or because of the employee’s supervision of pupils for a field trip, extracurricular activity, or athletic program, or when the employee provides transportation to pupils for other activities, not to exceed 40 hours of drive time per school year per employee, except as provided in paragraph (2), if both of the following conditions are met:
(A) The local educational agency makes a reasonable effort to secure a driver who meets the requirements of this article.
(B) If the local educational agency is unable to secure a driver who meets the requirements of this article, the local educational agency informs the parent, guardian, or court-appointed educational rights holder of the pupil being transported that the driver transporting their pupil does not meet the requirements of this article, unless that notice will jeopardize a pupil’s privacy rights.
(2) For a local educational agency with fewer than 2,500 units of average daily attendance and a frontier school district, as defined in Section 94, the drive time limit specified in paragraph (1) shall be 200 hours per school year per employee instead of 40 hours.
(e) This article shall not apply to a driver who transports a pupil who must be immediately transported to a facility in the case of a medical or psychiatric emergency, or in the case of pupils who need to be transported immediately as the result of an emergency that arises as a result of a fire, flood, earthquake, or epidemic, or because of any order of any military officer of the United States or of the state to meet an emergency created by war, or because of an immediate threat to the physical safety of the pupil or pupils. The exemption pursuant to this subdivision involving an epidemic shall only apply to each epidemic for a period lasting no longer than one month.
(f) This article shall not apply to a driver who transports a pupil if the transportation is being provided through a Foster Youth Services Coordinating Program while a pupil’s transportation plan is being finalized. The exemption pursuant to this subdivision shall apply for a period lasting no longer than one month after the first ride is provided to that pupil under this exemption.
(g) This article shall not apply to a driver during a trip for which they are authorized by the local educational agency to transport one or more pupils for a field trip when the destination is more than 200 miles from the transported pupil’s California school campus.

SEC. 2.
Section 39881.5 is added to the Education Code, to read:
39881.5.
The Legislature hereby establishes the Rural Transportation Safety Grant Program to provide funding to small and rural local educational agencies for costs associated with training, inspections, and compliance under this article. Subject to appropriation by the Legislature, the superintendent shall administer the program.