MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2010 Regular Session
To: Education
By: Representative Brown
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 37-41-1, 37-41-2, 37-41-7, 37-41-21, 37-41-27, 37-41-29, 37-41-31, 37-41-35, 37-41-81 AND 37-41-89, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH ARE THE STATUTES RELATING TO THE TRANSPORTATION OF PUPILS, TO REMOVE THE REQUIREMENT OF THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO REGULATE AND APPROVE CERTAIN LOCAL TRANSPORTATION PROGRAMS; TO REPEAL SECTION 37-41-17, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH REQUIRES EACH LOCAL SCHOOL BOARD TO SUBMIT ITS PROPOSED TRANSPORTATION PLAN TO THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION FOR APPROVAL; TO REPEAL SECTION 37-41-19, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH PRESCRIBES THE INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED IN THE PROPOSED TRANSPORTATION PLAN SUBMITTED BY THE LOCAL SCHOOL BOARD; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 37-41-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-41-1. The State Board of Education is authorized, empowered and directed to promulgate rules and regulations for:
(a) Setting standards for public school bus routes;
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(b) Setting standards for public school buses;
(c) Setting standards for public school bus drivers;
(d) Formulating procedure for selecting public school bus drivers;
(e) Formulating courses of training for public school bus drivers and mechanics, and assist in administering and financing such courses;
(f) Providing operation procedure for public school buses to insure safety of pupils;
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(g) Formulating specifications for use in purchasing public school buses; getting bids on public school buses; equipment and supplies; and fixing prices based upon said bids which school districts may not exceed in purchasing said equipment;
(h) Formulating specifications for use by school districts in purchasing used school buses; and
(i) Providing a system of records and reports for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of Sections 37-41-1 through 37-41-51, and providing the superintendent of schools with a sufficient supply of report forms.
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All rules and regulations adopted and promulgated by the State Board of Education relating to school bus drivers shall also be applicable to drivers of privately-owned buses transporting public school children.
All rules and regulations adopted and promulgated by the State Board of Education under the authority conferred by this section shall be spread at large upon the minutes of the State Board of Education and copies thereof shall be furnished to all school boards not less than thirty (30) days before the effective date of those rules and regulations.
SECTION 2. Section 37-41-2, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-41-2. (a) It shall be unlawful for any individual, other than a student scheduled to be a passenger upon that particular bus, a member of the public school administration or faculty, or a law enforcement official, to directly or indirectly interfere in any way with passenger ingress and egress or the operation, including unauthorized boarding thereof, of a bus used in public school student transportation unless permission has been obtained as prescribed by pertinent rules of the local school authorities.
(b) Upon conviction of violation of any provision of this section, the individual shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be subject to a fine of not to exceed Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), imprisonment in the county jail for a period not to exceed six (6) months, or both. Any person under the age of seventeen (17) who violates any provision of this section shall be treated as delinquent within the jurisdiction of the youth court.
SECTION 3. Section 37-41-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-41-7. The local school board is hereby authorized, empowered and directed * * * to lay out all transportation routes and provide transportation for all school children who are entitled to transportation within their respective counties and school districts.
Any school district may, in the discretion of the school board, expend funds from any funds available to the school district other than adequate education program funds, including the amounts derived from district tax levies, sixteenth section funds, and all other available funds, for the purpose of supplementing funds available to the school board for paying transportation costs, not covered by adequate education program funds.
SECTION 4. Section 37-41-17, Mississippi Code of 1972, which requires each local school board to submit its proposed transportation plan to the State Board of Education for approval, is repealed.
SECTION 5. Section 37-41-19, Mississippi Code of 1972, which prescribes the information to be included in the proposed transportation plan submitted by the local school board, is repealed.
SECTION 6. Section 37-41-21, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-41-21. * * * It shall be unlawful to transport pupils who are not entitled to * * * transportation, or to transport pupils from one (1) district to another if their grade or grades are taught in a school within the district in which they reside, unless the transfer of those children from the district in which they reside to those other districts has been approved in the manner provided by law. It shall be further unlawful for the school board to expend funds from any source whatsoever for the transportation of pupils from one (1) district to another district if their grade or grades are taught in a school within the district in which they reside, unless the transfer of those children from the district in which they reside to that other district has been approved in the manner provided by law.
SECTION 7. Section 37-41-27, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-41-27. The local school boards * * * may permit the use of publicly owned school buses for the transportation of participating students, teachers, coaches and sponsors in connection with athletic events, events of boys' and girls' clubs and special events in connection with the schools that the boards may consider a part of the educational program. The local school boards * * * may permit the use of publicly owned school buses for the transportation of citizens for grand jury and other jury functions upon order of the court or as considered necessary by the school board during natural or man-made emergencies, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and other acts of God.
SECTION 8. Section 37-41-29, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-41-29. (1) It shall be the duty of the school boards, as existing private contracts providing for transportation of school pupils expire, to replace the private transportation with publicly owned transportation unless publicly owned transportation is deemed impractical. The school boards may acquire, when so requested by holders of private transportation contracts, from the holders of private transportation contracts, all buses which, in the opinion of the school boards, can be practicably operated as units of the public transportation system. The actual market value shall be paid therefor, the value to be determined by an appraisal by three (3) experienced and impartial citizens, the selection of whom shall be mutually agreed upon by the parties to the private transportation contract.
(2) It shall be the duty of the local school boards to approve the continuation of present private contracts providing for transportation of school pupils * * *, or to approve new contracts * * * entered into whenever it is deemed that the needs of the pupils can best be served by that method of transportation. However, in no case shall the amount allotted per pupil from state funds for transportation in facilities provided by private contracts exceed the amount allowed per pupil from state funds for public transportation in the same county and district.
(3) Before any money is allocated or disbursed from the state transportation funds to any school board that is transporting children under private contracts, written contracts shall be entered into by and between the respective carriers and school boards. Except as otherwise provided in subsection (6) of this section, a copy of each contract shall be filed with the local superintendent of schools. The aforesaid contract shall contain, at a minimum:
(a) The cost of services to be provided, to include all necessary bus routes, as well as the cost of school-approved activities such as field trips;
(b) The length of the contract;
(c) The terms of the use of existing pupil transportation facilities and existing fleet of buses; and
(d) If applicable, the necessary types and amounts of limits of insurance required to protect the district, to include worker's compensation insurance.
(4) Subject to the applicability of insurance requirements of subsection (3)(d) of this section, certificates of insurance shall include a provision requiring that notice of cancellation be given to the district thirty (30) days in advance of the cancellation.
(5) The contractor shall comply with all state laws and the State Board of Education policies pertaining to pupil transportation services, including the requirement that school buses used by the contractor shall comply with the Mississippi Minimum Standards for School Buses established by the State Board of Education, and all school bus drivers employed by the contractor shall be trained and certified by the State Department of Education.
(6) Local school boards are not required to file a copy of any private contract for the transportation of exceptional children or the transportation of children under extraordinary circumstances with the State Board of Education.
SECTION 9. Section 37-41-31, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-41-31. In each case where pupils are transported to and from the public schools in this state in privately owned vehicles, the contract for that transportation shall be let to the lowest responsible bidder who is able to furnish a solvent bond for the faithful performance of his contract. This shall be done after each route over which the pupils are to be transported has been laid out and established as provided in this chapter. The contracts shall be awarded upon receipt of sealed bids or proposals after the time and place of letting the contracts and the manner of bidding have been duly advertised in some newspaper published in the county in accordance with the procedures provided in Section 31-7-13(c). If no newspaper is published in the county, then the advertisement shall be made by publication for the required time in some newspaper having a general circulation therein, and, in addition, by posting a copy thereof for that time in at least three (3) public places in the county, one (1) of which shall be at the county courthouse in each judicial district of the county. The awarding of all such contracts shall, however, in all respects be subject to the provisions of Section 37-41-29.
Private contracts for the transportation of exceptional children, as defined in Section 37-23-3, may be negotiated by the local school board without the necessity of the advertising for or taking of bids. The same may apply under extraordinary circumstances where regular transportation is considered to be impractical * * *. The local school board may negotiate and contract for the transportation described in this paragraph so long as the local school board complies with the school transportation regulations promulgated by the State Board of Education.
Contracts shall be made for four (4) years, at the discretion of the local school board. Any and all bids may be rejected. At the expiration of any transportation contract, if the school board believes a route should remain substantially as established and finds that the carrier thereon has rendered efficient and satisfactory services it may * * * extend the contract for not more than four (4) years, subject, however, to the provisions of Section 37-41-29.
SECTION 10. Section 37-41-35, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-41-35. In every school district of this state having district-owned school buses, the school board may establish, maintain and operate a school bus garage or shop for the servicing, repair and maintenance of the county-owned or district-owned buses. Two (2) or more counties or school districts are authorized, in the discretion of the respective school boards thereof, jointly to establish, maintain and operate a school bus garage or shop for the servicing, repair and maintenance of the county-owned or district-owned buses. All of the garages or shops shall be established, maintained and operated under the rules of the school boards. All expenses incurred in acquiring land, purchasing, renting or constructing buildings, purchasing equipment, and all other expenses incurred in connection with the establishing, operation and maintenance of the garages or shops, may be paid from county or district transportation funds. However, before any county or school district shall expend those transportation funds for the purchase of land, or the purchase, rental or construction of buildings, or other permanent improvements in connection with the garages or shops, the proposed expenditures shall be * * * approved by a majority of the members of the school boards having a bona fide interest in the expenditure of transportation funds in accordance with the applicable rules * * * of the boards. Where maintenance shops are operated by the board of supervisors or the governing authorities of a municipality, school boards may, by agreement with the board of supervisors or the governing authorities of a municipality provide for the maintenance of school buses in the maintenance shops operated by the boards of supervisors or governing authorities of a municipality and may contribute to the support and expense of the shops as they may deem appropriate * * *. School boards may contract with Head Start Programs to provide maintenance services for buses operated by Head Start and may accept financial contributions from Head Start Programs to support the expense of operating their respective school district vehicle maintenance facilities. * * *
SECTION 11. Section 37-41-81, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-41-81. The local school boards of this state are * * * authorized and empowered to purchase, own and operate * * * motor vehicles and other equipment for the transportation of children to and from the public schools of the respective counties and school districts, and to provide for the servicing, repair, care and maintenance of those county or district-owned motor vehicles and to employ drivers for the operation thereof, and to establish, erect and equip school bus shops or garages, and purchase land therefor, all under the rules of the school boards.
SECTION 12. Section 37-41-89, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-41-89. The school board of any school district * * * may borrow money for the purchase of school transportation equipment or to establish, erect and equip school bus shops or garages, and purchase land therefor, and issue the negotiable notes or bonds of the school district as evidence of the indebtedness so incurred.
SECTION 13. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2010.