School transportation: apportionments.

Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to provide for the transportation of pupils to and from school. Existing law, among other things, requires each school district or county office of education that provides transportation to receive the same home-to-school and special education transportation allowances that it received in the prior fiscal year and prohibits the transportation allowances from exceeding the prior year's approved transportation costs, increased by the amount provided in the annual Budget Act. This bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction, commencing with the 2015–16 fiscal year, to apportion to each school district, county office of education, entity providing services under a school transportation joint powers agreement, or a regional occupational center or program that provides pupil transportation an amount equal to a specified annually increasing percentage of its approved transportation costs for the prior fiscal year or 100% of its school transportation apportionment for the 2013–14 fiscal year, annually adjusted as specified, whichever is greater. The bill would require the Superintendent to establish a process to provide startup school transportation apportionments to school districts that did not provide pupil transportation services in the 2014–15 fiscal year, as specified. These provisions would be operative only to the extent that funding for purposes of the bill is provided in the annual Budget Act or another statute.