IASBO WORKSHOP July 27, 2005 TRANSPORTATION

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IASBO WORKSHOPJuly 27, 2005TRANSPORTATION

• Vicky Cullinan
• Associate Superintendent for
• Business and Auxiliary Services
• Antioch CCSD 34

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Introduction

• Most school districts in Illinois are required to
  provide transportation to students residing more
  than 1½ miles from their assigned school of
  attendance except for those pupils for whom the
  school board shall certify to the State Board of
  Education that adequate transportation for the
  public is available.
• Additionally, school boards may provide free
  transportation for any pupil residing within 1½
  miles from the school attended where conditions
  are such that walking constitutes a serious
  safety hazard as approved by the Illinois
  Department of Transportation.

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Introduction

• The school board of any school district that
  provides transportation to and from the public
  schools shall afford transportation, without
  cost, for children who attend any school other
  than a public school, who reside at least 1½
  miles from the school attended.

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Agenda

• General Regulations
• Outsourcing
• Operating Effectively District Owned
• Transportation Claim
• Taxi Cabs and Vans

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General Regulations

• Bus evacuations
• S Endorsement
• Videotape policy
• Routing
• Responsibility of school board
• Bidding requirement

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Requirement To Bid

• A school district operating their own
  transportation vehicles with drivers employed by
  the district must bid their transportation
  services if it receives a timely request from a
  private school bus contractor
• Timely request less than 24 months or more than 3
  months before the expiration of a collective
  bargaining agreement
• Requests must be in writing by certified mail to
  the BOE
• Districts are not required to respond more than
  every 2 years
• School board shall publicly announce the
  districts fully allocated costs of providing
  transportation of its pupils to and from school
  under its present system the board can then elect
  to maintain its present system or award the
  contract to the lowest bidder
• If board elects to continue providing
  transportation at a higher cost they are required
  to announce at a regularly scheduled board
  meeting within 30 days, the fully allocated costs
  of the district and amount of each sealed bid and
  which bid was the lowest responsible bidder

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Outsourcing Transportation

• Fewer headaches - maybe
• Potential cost savings maybe
• Less control
• Personnel / Union Issues
• Impact of sale or property or equipment
• Public response

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Outsourcing - Bidding

• Know responsibilities of department
• How much staff will you keep
• Contract duration
• up to 3 year, may be extended for 2 additional
  years, thereafter may be extended on a
  year-to-year basis unless a timely request from
  another interested contractor requesting that a
  contract be let by bid
• Bid timeline
• Route Schedule
• Time and mileage
• Per day, per bus

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Outsourcing - Bidding

• Keep property?
• Keep vehicles?
• Define maintenance
• Fuel
• District purchase
• Escalator
• Insurance Coverage
• Software and data
• Specify maximum and average age of equipment

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Outsourcing - Bidding

• Rates spell it out
• Field trips, shuttles, sick children, missed
  children, ½ days
• Liquidated damages
• Keep parents/board happy
• Keep good records with reason
• Graduated discount up to free if ½ hour late
• Award bid
• Know your manager

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Operating Effectively District Owned

• Competent administration
• Maximize use of equipment
• Layering of routes
• Maximize ridership
• Minimize spare equipment
• Vehicle capacity
• Maximize reimbursement
• Claim all reimbursable costs
• Only transport reimbursable students for free

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Operating Effectively District Owned

• Office staffing
• Monitor route hours
• Mechanic to vehicle ratio
• 130 depends on age and mileage
• Lease vs. Purchase
• Capability and needs of district
• Higher reimbursement rate 5 year
• Management Consultants

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Transportation Claim

• Involve transportation personnel even if they do
  not complete claim
• Set up accounts to reflect claimable /
  non-claimable categories
• Auditors use the AFR when conducting audit

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Transportation Claim Eligible Services

• Transportation to and from school
• Greater than 1.5 miles (home or daycare)
• Within 1.5 miles with Serious Safety Hazard Study
  on file
• Nonpublic pupils provided on the same basis as
  public pupils
• Transportation when student is required for
  disciplinary reasons to serve a detention before
  or after school
• Transportation for students prior to or following
  extracurricular or cocurricular activities when
  scheduled before or after the school day
• Transportation between attendance center during
  the school day

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Transportation Claim Eligible Services

• Vocational transportation services during the
  school day transported more than 1.5 miles
• Special Education transportation including field
  trips
• Field trip transportation that occurs on a
  regular attendance day, during school hours,
  provided free of charge and is part of the
  curriculum

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Transportation Claim Depreciation Schedule

• Equipment repair or modification (3 years)
• Pupil Transportation Vehicles (5 years)
• Transport pupils and meet design standards of the
  Illinois Vehicle Code
• Equipment (10 years)
• Buildings (50 years)
• Site Improvement (20 years)

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Transportation Claim Depreciation Schedule

• Principal Cost
• Applies to purchased vehicles, equipment, land
  and/or buildings
• Purchase price revenue for sale or trade in
  undepreciated balance of traded or sold item
  excluding all financing charges minus any
  insurance proceeds
• Multi Year Lease
• Lease payment or 20

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Transportation Claim Pupil Count

• Reported by public and private
• Actual days transported
• Over 1.5 miles
• Under 1.5 miles non-special education
• Under 1.5 miles with serious safety hazards
• Preschool, non special education that rode on a
  regular route are reported but not claimable

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Transportation Claim - Mileage

• Miles must be reported by category
• Regular
• Special Education
• Vocational
• Non-reimbursable
• Field trip mileage reported separately

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Transportation Claim Expenditures

• 4 categories Regular, Vocational, Special
  Education and Non-reimbursable based on mileage
• Supervisory costs are prorated against all
  mileage (district plus contractual)
• Claim bookkeeper and payroll costs
• Claim insurance premium for vehicles

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Transportation Claim Deductions

• Payments from other districts
• Rental revenue
• Proceeds from an independent contractor when the
  pupil transportation services are provided by the
  contractor and the district leases or sells
  vehicles, supplies, equipment or facilities to
  the contractor
• Proceeds in excess of the undepreciated balance
  from the sale of vehicles or equipment if it is
  not replace in current year
• Any other revenue from state and federal programs

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Transportation Claim Claimable Expenses

• School bus driver physicals
• Wages
• School bus drivers
• Maintenance personnel
• Special education aides
• Dispatchers and clerical workers who support
  transportation function when positions are
  documented and records support the percentage of
  time claimed

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Transportation Claim Claimable Expenses

• Benefits
• Health/Life/Dental/Vision insurance
• Annuities in lieu of insurance
• IMRF/TRS contribution paid by employer as part of
  the transportation supervisory salary costs
• Payments made to other school districts for
  providing pupil transportation services
• Computerized bus scheduling, purchase of computer
  software
• Fuel, oil tires and other supplies to maintain
  vehicles
• Expenditures for contractual maintenance services

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Transportation Claim Claimable Expenses

• Insurance, license plates, inspection fees for
  pupil transportation vehicles
• Rental less than 30 days of pupil transportation
  vehicles
• Transportation related building, land and
  building maintenance costs charge to O M
• Items to enhance transportation safety less than
  2,500
• Contractual pupil transportation services
• Includes taxis and parents

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Transportation Claim Non-claimable Expenses

• Transportation for participants or spectators to
  and from athletic contests, academic contest and
  extracurricular and cocurricular activities
• Transportation provided for pupils at times other
  than those encompassed by the regularly scheduled
  routes
• Transportation services funded by other state or
  federal programs or for which parents/guardians
  pay a portion or all costs

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Transportation Claim Non-claimable Expenses

• Payment for aides other than personnel stipulated
  in the IEP of students with disabilities
• IMRF contributions (except for transportation
  supervisory personnel), social security,
  unemployment or workers compensation
• CDL license
• Snow removal equipment or service

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Alternative Transportation

• Taxi cabs
• Are claimable
• Must have school bus permits
• 15 passenger vans
• Federal law prohibits the sale of 15 passenger
  vans for school related transportation of high
  school age and younger students
• Activity buses

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Where to Get More Information

• www.isbe.net
• www.dot.il.gov
• www.napt.org