Local educational agencies: home-to-school transportation: transportation network companies: contracting requirements.

Existing law establishes a system of public elementary and secondary schools in this state and authorizes local educational agencies throughout the state to operate schools, provide instruction, and provide home-to-school transportation to pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive. The Passenger Charter-party Carriers' Act defines a transportation network company as an organization, whether a corporation, limited liability company, partnership, sole proprietor, or other form, operating in California that provides prearranged transportation services for compensation using an online-enabled platform to connect passengers with drivers using a personal vehicle. Existing law requires a transportation network company to comply with specific requirements for liability insurance coverage, background checks, and other regulatory matters applicable to transportation network companies and their participating drivers, as defined. A violation of the act is a crime. This bill would prohibit a school district, county office of education, or charter school from contracting with a transportation network company for home-to-school transportation, and would prohibit payment from being made to a transportation network company for those services, unless specified requirements are met, including, among others, that the contractor certifies that each driver who will perform home-to-school transportation pursuant to the contract meets specified requirements. The bill would require a contractor to submit certification of compliance with those requirements with each request for payment pursuant to a contract. The bill would require a school district, county office of education, or charter school to ensure that the contract does not displace existing employees and to meet and confer with each affected exclusive bargaining representative and bargain over the impacts of the proposed contract.