SB1246 - 552R

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 15-923, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE15-923. Contracts for transportation; requirement; report

A. As an alternative to maintaining and operating a transportation program or in conjunction with a transportation program, a school district may, if it is found to be economically advantageous, may contract for vehicles and other transportation services. Contracts may be with another political subdivision, a common or contract carrier or a private party.

B. In order to expediently process contracts for the provision of transportation, a school district may select a preapproved contract carrier or private party that meets both of the following criteria:

1. Provides one or more of the following:

(a) Electric school buses.

(b) Electric school bus charging infrastructure.

(d) Electric school bus services.

2. Has filed with and received approval from the school bus advisory council established by section 28-3053.

B. C. In addition to other powers and duties prescribed by title 11, chapter 2, article 4, any board of supervisors, may at the request of any or all of the governing boards of the school districts within the county, may provide necessary student transportation. If the board of supervisors and the governing board or boards of such school districts mutually agree that such an arrangement is economically advantageous, the governing board of the school district is authorized to sell or lease its bus or buses to the board of supervisors for such purposes. Agreement between the parties shall be by written contract.

C. D. An eligible student who is transported part by contract and part by school district transportation facilities may not be counted as more than one eligible student.

D. E. Miles driven to transport eligible students may not be reported as daily route miles by more than one school district.

E. F. Each school district shall submit electronically to the department of education a report regarding the routes contracted, the contractor contract information, the number of eligible students transported by each contractor and any additional information requested by the department of education. END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Section 28-3053, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE28-3053. School bus advisory council

A. The school bus advisory council is established consisting of nine members appointed by the governor. The governor shall appoint the members as follows:

1. One member representing the department of public safety.

2. One member representing the state board of education.

3. One member from a school district with a student count of less than six hundred.

4. One member from a school district with a student count of six hundred or more but less than three thousand.

5. One member from a school district with a student count of three thousand or more but less than ten thousand.

6. One member from a school district with a student count of ten thousand or more.

7. One member representing transportation administrators.

8. One member who is a certified school bus driver or school bus driver instructor.

9. One member representing a private sector school bus service provider.

B. The members shall serve staggered three-year terms unless a member vacates the position. Appointment to fill a vacancy resulting other than from expiration of a term is for the unexpired portion of the term only.

C. The school bus advisory council shall:

1. Meet at least annually.

2. Select a chairperson from its members.

3. Advise and assist the department of public safety in developing the rules required by sections 28-900 and 28-3228.

4. Recommend curricula for school bus driver safety and training courses required by section 28-3228.

5. Advise and consult with the department of public safety concerning matters related to the certification of school bus drivers and the safety of school buses.

6. Establish a mailing list that includes any party expressing an interest in the council's activities. The council shall provide written notice to each person on the list at least fifteen days before the date on which the meeting is to be held. The notice shall be sent by mail or electronic means to the party's last address of record with the council or by any other method reasonably calculated to effect actual notice to any party expressing interest in the council's activities. Written notice by electronic means is effective when transmitted. For other methods written notice is effective on receipt or five days after the date shown on the postmark stamped on the envelope, whichever is earlier.

7. Preapprove contract carriers and private parties as prescribed in section 15-923, subsection B.

D. Members of the school bus advisory council are not eligible to receive compensation or reimbursement for expenses.END_STATUTE

Sec. 3. Laws 2021, chapter 404, section 111 is amended to read:

Sec. 111. Department of administration; public school transportation modernization grants; delayed repeal

A. The public school transportation modernization grants program is established in the department of administration. The department shall select an organization to administer the program. The program administrator selected by the department must meet all of the following criteria:

1. Be a nonprofit organization that is exempt from taxation under section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code and that has experience with awarding innovation grants to both school districts and charter schools in this state that promote expanding educational options for students or innovative approaches to K-12 education.

2. Have previously been awarded funding from this state or the federal government to grant to school districts or charter schools in the current or previous fiscal year.

3. Demonstrate the ability and history to be able to provide ongoing evaluation and compliance to entities that are awarded grants pursuant to this section.

B. The program administrator selected pursuant to subsection A of this section shall distribute grants to school districts, charter schools or other entities that are determined to be eligible grant recipients and shall do all of the following:

1. Develop a public school transportation modernization grant application and application procedures that require an applicant to explain how it would use grant monies to do either of the following:

(a) Improve access to reliable and safe transportation for students who attend school through open enrollment pursuant to title 15, chapter 8, article 1.1, Arizona Revised Statutes, or who attend charter schools.

(b) Support K-12 transportation innovations and efficiency solutions.

2. Make final grant determinations and awards pursuant to this section.

3. Submit an interim report on or before December 31, 2021 to the department of administration and an annual report on or before June 30 of each year thereafter to the governor, the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives and provide a copy of these reports to the secretary of state. The department of education, the department of administration and any grant recipient shall provide any information, including student finance and enrollment data, that is deemed necessary by the program administrator to complete the reports pursuant to this paragraph. The reports must include all of the following:

(a) If applicable, the best practices used by grant recipients to transport K-12 students to schools outside of attendance boundaries.

(b) A list of the grant recipients and the amounts and purposes of the grants.

C. The program administrator shall distribute the monies appropriated for the program based on demand and the most innovative solutions. Beginning in the 2022 calendar year, the program administrator shall ensure the funding of proposals demonstrating innovations in electrified school transportation, with funding to be used to purchase electric school buses, electric school bus charging infrastructure, charging and charging management services or electric school bus services, or any combination of those items or services. The program administrator shall award at least twenty-five percent of these grants to support rural and remote proposals, except that if an insufficient number of qualified rural and remote proposals is submitted, the program administrator may award fewer than twenty-five percent of these grants to rural and remote proposals. The program administrator may retain not more than five percent of monies appropriated each fiscal year to administer the grant program pursuant to this section. Administrative expenditures may include costs of designing a public awareness effort to communicate to the public the ability to choose any public school in this state and how to learn about school choice options in this state and instructing the public how to request enrollment for pupils.

D. This section is repealed from and after December 31, 2024.

Sec. 4. School bus advisory council; preapprovals

For the purposes of section 15-923, subsection B, Arizona Revised Statutes, as added by this act, and section 28-3053, subsection C, paragraph 7, as added by this act, the school bus advisory council established by section 28-3053, Arizona Revised Statutes, as amended by this act, shall finalize a process for soliciting preapprovals within six months after the effective date of this act and shall finalize an initial list of preapproved contract carriers and private parties within one year after the effective date of this act.

Sec. 5. Legislative findings

A. The legislature finds that there are ____ school districts using bus contractors across this state to transport students and that school bus contractors in this state transport ____ children a day.

B. The legislature further finds that the lower lifetime operating and maintenance costs of electric school buses can save schools thousands of dollars per year.

C. The legislature further finds that most school buses in use today emit diesel exhaust that contributes to air pollution and its resulting health effects on our most vulnerable communities.

D. The legislature hereby declares that there is an interest in electrifying school transportation to garner the many widespread benefits of such action, including local diesel emission reductions, reduced lifetime operating and maintenance costs for schools, and the reduction in exposure of children to diesel emissions.