Sec. 48.151. TRANSPORTATION ALLOTMENT. (a) Each district or county operating a transportation system is entitled to allotments for transportation costs as provided by this section.

(b) As used in this section:

(1) "Regular eligible student" means a student who:

(A) resides two or more miles from the student's campus of regular attendance, measured along the shortest route that may be traveled on public roads, and who is not classified as a student eligible for special education services; or

(B) is a homeless child or youth, as defined by 42 U.S.C. Section 11434a.

(2) "Eligible special education student" means a student who is eligible for special education services under Section 29.003 and who would be unable to attend classes without special transportation services.

(c) Each district or county operating a regular transportation system is entitled to an allotment based on a rate per mile per regular eligible student set by the legislature in the General Appropriations Act.

(d) A district or county may apply for and on approval of the commissioner receive an additional amount of up to 10 percent of its regular transportation allotment to be used for the transportation of children living within two miles of the school they attend who would be subject to hazardous traffic conditions or a high risk of violence if they walked to school.

(d-1) For purposes of Subsection (d), each board of trustees shall provide to the commissioner an explanation of the hazardous traffic conditions or areas presenting a high risk of violence applicable to that district and shall identify the specific hazardous or high-risk areas for which the allocation is requested. A hazardous traffic condition exists where no walkway is provided and children must walk along or cross a freeway or expressway, an underpass, an overpass or a bridge, an uncontrolled major traffic artery, an industrial or commercial area, or another comparable condition. An area presents a high risk of violence if law enforcement records indicate a high incidence of violent crimes in the area. Each board of trustees requesting funds for an area presenting a high risk of violence must, in addition to the explanation required by this subsection, provide the commissioner with consolidated law enforcement records that document violent crimes identified by reporting agencies within the relevant jurisdiction.

(d-2) A district or county may use all or part of any funds received under Subsection (d) to support community walking transportation programs, including walking school bus programs, provided that the district or county requires each supported program to submit a financial report to the district or county each semester that covers services provided by the program for the benefit of the district or county. The commissioner shall adopt rules governing the transportation allotment as necessary to permit a district or county to receive funds under Subsection (d) that may be used to support innovative school safety projects, including community walking transportation programs as provided by this subsection and any other appropriate safety project, including rules defining an approved walking route mile that may be used as necessary in implementing this subsection.

(e) The commissioner may grant an amount set by appropriation for private or commercial transportation for eligible students from isolated areas. The need for this type of transportation grant shall be determined on an individual basis and the amount granted shall not exceed the actual cost. The grants may be made only in extreme hardship cases. A grant may not be made if the students live within two miles of an approved school bus route.

(f) The cost of transporting career and technology education students from one campus to another inside a district, from a sending district to another secondary public school for a career and technology program or an area career and technology school or to an approved post-secondary institution under a contract for instruction approved by the agency, or from a district campus to a location at which students are provided work-based learning under the district's career and technology program shall be reimbursed based on the number of actual miles traveled times the district's official extracurricular travel per mile rate as set by the board of trustees and approved by the agency.

(g) A school district or county that provides special transportation services for eligible special education students is entitled to a state allocation paid on a previous year's cost-per-mile basis. The rate per mile allowable shall be set by appropriation based on data gathered from the first year of each preceding biennium. Districts may use a portion of their support allocation to pay transportation costs, if necessary. The commissioner may grant an amount set by appropriation for private transportation to reimburse parents or their agents for transporting eligible special education students. The mileage allowed shall be computed along the shortest public road from the student's home to school and back, morning and afternoon. The need for this type transportation shall be determined on an individual basis and shall be approved only in extreme hardship cases.

(h) Funds allotted under this section must be used in providing transportation services.

(i) In the case of a district belonging to a county transportation system, the district's transportation allotment for purposes of determining a district's foundation school program allocations is determined on the basis of the number of approved daily route miles in the district.

(j) The Texas School for the Deaf is entitled to an allotment under this section. The commissioner shall determine the appropriate allotment.

(k) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the commissioner may not reduce the allotment to which a district or county is entitled under this section because the district or county provides transportation for an eligible student to and from a child-care facility, as defined by Section 42.002, Human Resources Code, or a grandparent's residence instead of the student's residence, as authorized by Section 34.007 of this code.

(l) A school district may, with the funds allotted under this section, provide a bus pass or card for another transportation system to each student who is eligible to use the regular transportation system of the district but for whom the regular transportation system of the district is not a feasible method of providing transportation. The commissioner by rule shall provide procedures for a school district to provide bus passes or cards to students under this subsection.

(m) A school district shall be reimbursed on a per-mile basis for the cost of transporting a dual credit student to another campus in the district, a campus in another district, or a postsecondary educational institution for purposes of attending the course, if the course is not available at the student's campus.

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, Sec. 1, eff. May 30, 1995. Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1071, Sec. 17, eff. Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 169, Sec. 4, eff. Sept. 1, 2001; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 201, Sec. 32, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.

Amended by:

Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 352 (H.B. 3506), Sec. 1, eff. June 17, 2011.

Acts 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., Ch. 524 (S.B. 195), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2017.

Transferred, redesignated and amended from Education Code, Section 42.155 by Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 943 (H.B. 3), Sec. 1.033, eff. September 1, 2019.