HF 2918

as introduced - 87th Legislature (2011 - 2012) Posted on 03/19/2012 12:53pm

A bill for an act
relating to education finance; modifying certain transportation aid provisions;
amending Minnesota Statutes 2011 Supplement, section 123B.92, subdivision 5.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2011 Supplement, section 123B.92, subdivision 5, is
amended to read:

Subd. 5.

District reports.

(a) Each district must report data to the department as
required by the department to account for transportation expenditures.

(b) Salaries and fringe benefits of district employees whose primary duties are
other than transportation, including central office administrators and staff, building
administrators and staff, teachers, social workers, school nurses, and instructional aides,
must not be included in a district's transportation expenditures, except that a district may
include salaries and benefits according to paragraph (c) for (1) an employee designated
as the district transportation director, (2) an employee providing direct support to the
transportation director, or (3) an employee providing direct transportation services such as
a bus driver or bus aide.

(c) Salaries and fringe benefits of the district employees listed in paragraph (b),
clauses (1), (2), and (3), who work part time in transportation and part time in other areas
must not be included in a district's transportation expenditures unless the district maintains
documentation of the employee's time spent on pupil transportation matters in the form
and manner prescribed by the department.

(d) Pupil transportation expenditures, excluding expenditures for capital outlay,
leased buses, student board and lodging, crossing guards, and aides on buses, must be
allocated among transportation categories based on cost-per-mile deleted text begin or deleted text end new text begin , new text end cost-per-student new text begin ,
cost-per-hour, or cost-per-route, new text end regardless of whether the transportation services are
provided on district-owned or contractor-owned school buses. Expenditures for school
bus driver salaries and fringe benefits may either be directly charged to the appropriate
transportation category or may be allocated among transportation categories based
on cost-per-mile deleted text begin or deleted text end new text begin , new text end cost-per-student new text begin , cost-per-hour, or cost-per-route new text end . Expenditures
by private contractors or individuals who provide transportation exclusively in one
transportation category must be charged directly to the appropriate transportation category.
Transportation services provided by contractor-owned school bus companies incorporated
under different names but owned by the same individual or group of individuals must be
treated as the same company for cost allocation purposes.

(e) Notwithstanding paragraph (d), districts contracting for transportation services
are exempt from the standard cost allocation method for authorized and nonauthorized
transportation categories if the district: (1) bids its contracts separately for authorized
and nonauthorized transportation categories and for special transportation separate from
regular and excess transportation; (2) receives bids or quotes from more than one vendor
for these transportation categories; and (3) the district's cost-per-mile does not vary
more than ten percent among categories, excluding salaries and fringe benefits of bus
aides. If the costs reported by the district for contractor-owned operations vary by more
than ten percent among categories, the department shall require the district to reallocate
its transportation costs, excluding salaries and fringe benefits of bus aides, among all
categories.