Compliance with Pupil Transportation Requirements
Ohio House Bill 33 of the 135th General Assembly created new compliance requirements for pupil transportation services effective Oct. 3, 2023. The information below provides only a high-level overview to inform schools and districts of some of the new enforcement requirements.
The Department monitors whether districts are “out of compliance.” The law specifies that this is based on these occurrences:
- Students transported to and from school by a school bus arrive more than 30 minutes late to school;
- Students transported to and from school by a school bus are picked up more than 30 minutes after the end of the school day;
- Students scheduled to be transported to and from school by a school bus are not transported by a school bus at all due to the failure of the bus to arrive;
- A school district has been noncompliant with any other transportation requirements under Chapter 3327. of the Ohio Revised Code. Example: ORC 3327.01 requires that students be delivered “not sooner than thirty minutes prior to the beginning of school.”
Any school day on which noncompliance occurs due to “inclement weather,” is not counted toward the determination of noncompliance.
The Department investigates transportation-related complaints that are formally submitted using a Transportation Concern form.
The Department collects and reviews all information pertaining to a complaint provided by all parties and makes a compliance determination. Effective for complaints arising after Dec. 1, 2023, the Department will make a determination within 30 or 45 days of receiving the complaint.
The Department reviews all pertinent information measured against the standard for “out of compliance,” which means a period of:
- Five consecutive school days, or
- Ten school days within a school year.
A district’s transportation funding is withheld for identified dates that the Department determines the district is out of compliance (defined as five consecutive school days or 10 days within a school year) in the following manner:
- First determination that the district is out of compliance – no funding withheld; corrective action plan required;
- Second, third and fourth determinations that the district is out of compliance – 25% of daily state transportation funding is withheld; and
- Fifth and additional determinations that the district is out of compliance – 100% of daily state transportation funding is withheld.
A district must submit a corrective action plan within one week of receiving the first notice of determination that it is out of compliance from the Department.
The Department will calculate and disburse to the school at which the affected student(s) are enrolled the per-student amount for affected students. The school remits the calculated per-student amount to the parent, guardian or other person in charge of each student who did not receive proper transportation while the district was out of compliance.
Transportation Enforcement (2/13/2024)
Last Modified: 2/14/2024 9:22:20 AM