Public School Transportation Fund

C.R.S. tit. 22, art. 51

in effect

C.R.S. § 22-51-101 Legislative declaration

22-51-101. Legislative declaration. It is declared to be the policy of this state to furnish financial aid to school districts and the state charter school institute of the state for the transportation of pupils to and from their places of residence and the public schools which they attend, including transportation for purposes of special education and career and technical education, and for board in lieu of transportation. It is further declared to be the policy of this state to furnish aid to facility schools for the transportation of pupils in facilities to and from the facilities in which they reside and the facilities in which they receive educational services.

C.R.S. § 22-51-102 Definitions

22-51-102. Definitions. As used in this article 51, unless the context otherwise requires: (1) (a) "Current operating expenditures for pupil transportation" means expenditures for providing pupil transportation, exclusive of purchase or lease of pupil transportation vehicles or other capital outlays. The term includes expenditures for the following: Motor fuel and oil; maintenance and repair of vehicles (including additions to and alterations of pupil transportation vehicles built since 1977 that will increase efficiency and safety or that are necessary to meet current minimum standards), equipment, and facilities; costs of employment for drivers while employed in pupil transportation; costs of employment paid specifically for providing transportation supervision and support services; insurance; contracted services; reimbursements to pupils who utilize public transportation services; and, for entitlement periods ending on June 30, 1989, and thereafter, amounts spent for pupil transportation for special education and career and technical education programs. (b) "Current operating expenditures for pupil transportation" shall not be reduced by revenues received by a school district or the state charter school institute from fees imposed and collected for pupil transportation pursuant to a resolution adopted by the board of education of such district in accordance with the provisions of section 22-32-113 (5) or by the state charter school institute board. (2) "Entitlement period" means the twelve-month period ending June 30 of each year. (2.5) "Facility" means any of the following facilities that operates a facility school: (a) A day treatment center, residential child care facility, or other facility licensed by the department of human services pursuant to section 26-6-905; (b) A hospital licensed by the department of public health and environment pursuant to section 25-1.5-103, C.R.S. (2.7) "Facility school" means an approved facility school as defined in section 22-2-402 (1). (3) "Pupil transportation" means: (a) The transportation of pupils regularly enrolled in the public schools through grade twelve to and from their places of residence and the public schools in which they are enrolled, including any site attended for special education or career and technical education, and to and from one school of attendance and another in vehicles owned or rented and operated by a school district or state charter school or under contract with a school district or state charter school; and (b) The transportation of students who are receiving educational services from facility schools to and from the facility in which the students reside and the place at which the students receive the educational services. (4) "Reimbursement entitlement" means the amount of reimbursement to which a school district, a state charter school, or a facility school is entitled under the provisions of section 22-51-104. (5) "State charter school institute" or "institute" means the state charter school institute created pursuant to part 5 of article 30.5 of this title.

C.R.S. § 22-51-103 Creation of the public school transportation fund

22-51-103. Creation of the public school transportation fund. (1) There is hereby created, in the office of the state treasurer, a fund to be known as the public school transportation fund, to which shall be credited such moneys as may be appropriated by the general assembly for the purposes of this article, excluding moneys appropriated as a lump sum for reimbursement for pupil transportation in a school district subject to a court-ordered desegregation order, and which shall be held by the state treasurer and paid out as provided in this article. Any unexpended or unencumbered moneys remaining in the fund at the end of any budget year shall remain in the fund and shall not be transferred to the state general fund or any other fund. (2) For the 2006-07 budget year and each budget year thereafter, the net amount recovered by the department of education during the applicable budget year pursuant to section 22-51-105 as overpayments made to school districts, the state charter school institute, and facility schools shall be transferred to the state treasurer for deposit in the public school transportation fund. Such amount shall be available for appropriation to the department in the budget year in which the transfers are made or in subsequent budget years. (3) Any appropriation made from the public school transportation fund from moneys deposited in the fund pursuant to subsection (2) of this section shall not be included in the calculation of total state funding for all categorical programs as defined in section 22-55-102 (19).

C.R.S. § 22-51-104 Methods of determining reimbursement entitlement

22-51-104. Methods of determining reimbursement entitlement. (1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (1.5) of this section, for financial aid in providing pupil transportation, for entitlement periods ending on June 30, 1988, and thereafter, each school district, the state charter school institute, and each facility school shall have a reimbursement entitlement in an amount determined as follows: (a) Thirty-seven and eighty-seven one-hundredths cents for each mile traveled by vehicles operated by or for the school district, the institute, or the facility school in providing pupil transportation during the entitlement period. The number of miles traveled shall be determined by the state board of education based upon information submitted pursuant to section 22-51-105. (b) Thirty-three and eighty-seven one-hundredths percent of any amount by which the school district's, the institute's, or the facility school's current operating expenditures for pupil transportation during the entitlement period exceeded the school district's, institute's, or facility school's reimbursement entitlement under the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subsection (1); and (c) Not more than sixty percent of the costs of contracts entered into by a school district pursuant to section 22-32-110 (1)(w) or entered into by the state charter school institute or a facility school for the purpose of conserving fuel or reducing operating or capital expenditures, or both, for pupil transportation under public transportation programs which comply with the code of federal regulations, title 49, parts 390 to 397, or successor regulations thereto. Reimbursement entitlements under this paragraph (c) shall not be greater than those the school district, the institute, or the facility school would otherwise receive if it operated its own vehicles or contracted for the exclusive transportation of pupils. (1.5) (a) Repealed. (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, for entitlement periods ending on June 30, 1989, and thereafter, a school district, the state charter school institute, and a facility school shall not receive a reimbursement entitlement in an amount which is less than its reimbursement entitlement for the preceding entitlement period. For purposes of this paragraph (b), the reimbursement entitlement for the preceding entitlement period shall be the amount to which the school district, the institute, or the facility school would have been entitled under the formula in subsection (1) of this section, and not the amount it actually received for the preceding entitlement period, if different from the amount under said formula. (2) In no event shall the reimbursement entitlement of a school district, the institute, or a facility school under the provisions of subsection (1) of this section for any entitlement period exceed ninety percent of the total amount expended by the school district, the institute, or the facility school during said entitlement period for current operating expenditures for pupil transportation. (3) For financial aid in providing board allowances in lieu of transportation, each school district and the institute shall have a reimbursement entitlement for an entitlement period for each pupil who is temporarily residing during said entitlement period for the purpose of attending school at a place nearer the school of attendance than the student's permanent residence, and for whom the district or the institute has paid a board allowance in lieu of furnishing transportation, in the amount of one dollar for each day such board was paid by the district or the institute.

C.R.S. § 22-51-105 Certifications by school boards, governing boards, and facility schools - rules

22-51-105. Certifications by school boards, governing boards, and facility schools - rules. (1) On or before September 15 of each year, the school board of each school district entitled to and desiring reimbursement under this article 51, the state charter school institute board, and each facility school entitled to and desiring reimbursement under this article 51 shall certify to the state board of education, on forms provided by the commissioner of education, any information the board deems necessary to determine the reimbursement entitlement of the district, the institute, or the facility school. The information includes, but is not limited to, the total amount of the school district's, institute's, or facility school's current operating expenditures for pupil transportation during the preceding entitlement period, the total number of miles traveled and the total number of pupils transported on the pupil enrollment count day, as defined in section 22-54-103 (10.5), during the preceding entitlement period by vehicles operated by or for the school district, the institute, or the facility school in providing pupil transportation, and the transportation route descriptions in effect on the pupil enrollment count day. (2) The department of education shall promulgate rules to allow for verification of the accuracy and appropriateness of the route mileages submitted by school districts, the institute, and facility schools pursuant to subsection (1) of this section. If the department determines that an overpayment has been made due to the submission of inaccurate or inappropriate route mileages, the department shall recover from the school district, the institute, or the facility school an amount equal to the overpayment plus a penalty of not more than twenty percent of the overpayment.

C.R.S. § 22-51-106 Certification to and payment by state treasurer - deficiency in fund

22-51-106. Certification to and payment by state treasurer - deficiency in fund. (1) (a) On or before November 15 of each year, the commissioner of education shall certify to the state treasurer the amount of the advance reimbursement entitlement of each school district, the state charter school institute, and each facility school for the current entitlement period and the amount of the final reimbursement entitlement of each school district, the institute, and each facility school for the preceding entitlement period. The state treasurer shall thereupon pay from the public school transportation fund directly to the treasurer of each school district that has elected under the law to withdraw its funds from the custody of the county treasurer, directly to the treasurer of the state charter school institute, and directly to the treasurer of each facility school the amount certified as the total reimbursement entitlement of the school district, the institute, or the facility school; and, for all other school districts, the state treasurer shall pay to the county treasurer of the county in which each school district has its headquarters the amount certified as the total reimbursement entitlement of each district, and the county treasurer shall forthwith credit to the general fund of each district in the county the amount certified therefor. (b) For purposes of this section: (I) "Advance reimbursement entitlement" means an amount that a school district, the state charter school institute, or a facility school is entitled to receive in the current entitlement period as an advance payment of its reimbursement entitlement for such period and which is equal to twenty percent of the reimbursement entitlement of the school district, the institute, or the facility school for the preceding entitlement period. (II) "Final reimbursement entitlement" means the reimbursement entitlement of a school district, the state charter school institute, or a facility school for the preceding entitlement period less any advance reimbursement entitlement received by said district, the institute, or the facility school for said period. (III) "Total reimbursement entitlement" means the advance reimbursement entitlement and the final reimbursement entitlement of a school district, the state charter school institute, or a facility school. (2) (a) In the event the amount of money appropriated by the general assembly to the public school transportation fund is less than the amount of the total reimbursement entitlements of all of the school districts, of the state charter school institute, and of all of the facility schools authorized by this section, the amount to be distributed to each school district, the institute, and each facility school shall be in the same proportion as the amount which the appropriation made bears to the total amount of the reimbursement entitlements of all school districts, of the state charter school institute, and of all facility schools. (b) For the entitlement period beginning on or after July 1, 1993, the calculation in paragraph (a) of this subsection (2) shall be based on the amount of money appropriated by the general assembly to the public school transportation fund. For the entitlement period beginning on or after July 1, 1993, any district subject to a court-ordered desegregation order shall be entitled to reimbursement of one million five hundred thousand dollars, subject to separate appropriation by the general assembly, for pupil transportation in addition to any amount received pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subsection (2).

C.R.S. § 22-51-107 Requirements for participation

22-51-107. Requirements for participation. Unless otherwise authorized by the commissioner of education, a school district, the state charter school institute, or a facility school shall not be entitled to any reimbursement under this article if the school district, the institute, or the facility school has not filed the certifications required by section 22-51-105 on or before the date provided in said section or has not complied with the rules promulgated by the state board of education pursuant to section 22-51-108.

C.R.S. § 22-51-108 Rules

22-51-108. Rules. The state board of education shall promulgate rules for the administration of this article. Such rules shall include reasonable and adequate standards of safety in the maintenance and operation of buses, the maintenance of records by school districts, the state charter school institute, and facility schools, the length of bus routes, the number of children to be transported in the various types of buses, and such other rules pertaining to pupil transportation as will promote the welfare of the students and afford reasonable protection to the public.

C.R.S. § 22-51-109 County treasurers' fees

22-51-109. County treasurers' fees. No fees shall be charged by the county treasurers of the state for receiving or crediting funds of the school districts received under the provisions of this article.

C.R.S. § 22-51-110 Effective date

22-51-110. Effective date. (Repealed)

C.R.S. § 22-51-111 Study of alternative transportation services

22-51-111. Study of alternative transportation services. (Repealed)

Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-22.docxFetched: 10/6/2026