Existing law requires the driver of a vehicle, upon meeting or overtaking a schoolbus equipped with required signs that is stopped for the purpose of loading or unloading schoolchildren and displaying a flashing red light signal and stop signal arm, if equipped with a stop signal arm, to bring the vehicle to a stop immediately before passing the schoolbus and to not proceed past the schoolbus until the flashing red light signal and stop signal arm cease operation. A violation of these provisions is a crime. Existing law imposes escalating fines for violations of these provisions, including a fine of not less than $150, but not more than $250, for a first violation. This bill would authorize, until January 1, 2032, school districts to establish a stop signal arm enforcement system pilot program if the system meets specified requirements, in order to enforce the provisions above. The bill would require the school district to publish certain data regarding the system, and post routes or operational hours and camera locations on their internet website before deployment of the system. The bill would authorize the school district to contract with a private vendor or manufacturer to install a stop signal arm enforcement system on each schoolbus in its fleet. The bill would require a school district, vendor, or manufacturer to submit specified information regarding an alleged violation to a law enforcement agency authorized to enforce those violations within 30 days of the alleged violation. The bill would create a process for law enforcement to determine whether the person committed certain violations as well as a process for the alleged offender to challenge the violation. The bill would designate all photographic or administrative records, made by a system as confidential, and would only authorize public agencies to use and allow access to these records for specified purposes. The bill would require a school district operating a stop signal arm enforcement system, by July 1, 2028, and annually thereafter, to provide a summary report to the Governor, Legislature, and Department of Motor Vehicles that describes the use and operation of the system, as specified. This bill would, until January 1, 2032, repeal the authority to impose criminal fines for a violation of the schoolbus provisions and would instead recast the fines as a civil penalty schedule if a person violates those provisions. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to provide for the transportation of pupils to and from school whenever, in the judgment of the governing board, the transportation is advisable and good reasons exist to do so. Existing law requires a driver employed by a local educational agency, contracted by a local educational agency, or contracted by any entity with funding from a local educational agency, who provides school-related pupil transportation for compensation to be subject to specified requirements including, among others, having a satisfactory driving record, as provided. Existing law exempts from these requirements a school employee when the employee provides transportation to pupils due to or because of the employee's supervision of pupils for a field trip, extracurricular activity, or athletic program, or when the employee provides transportation to pupils for other activities, not to exceed 40 hours of drive time per school year per employee. This bill would, for a local educational agency with fewer than 2,500 units of average daily attendance and a frontier school district, as defined, set that limit at 200 hours of drive time instead of 40 hours. The bill would, contingent upon an appropriation, establish the Rural Transportation Safety Grant Program to provide funding to small and rural local educational agencies for costs associated with training, inspections, and compliance with, among other things, the above-described driver requirements.
Existing law authorizes the governing boards of 2 or more school districts to enter into an agreement, for a term not to exceed 5 school years, for the interdistrict attendance of pupils who are residents of the school districts. If a school district enters into an agreement, existing law requires, among other things, (1) that the agreement stipulate the terms and conditions under which interdistrict attendance will be permitted or denied, (2) that the school district post on its internet website the procedures and timelines regarding a request for an interdistrict transfer permit, as provided, (3) the notification of a parent submitting a current year request of its final decision within 30 calendar days from the date the request was received, and (4) if the school district denies a request for an interdistrict transfer, that the school district advise the parent, in writing, of the right to appeal to the county board of education within 30 calendar days from the date of the final denial. This bill would require the governing board of a school that has entered into an agreement, on or after January 1, 2027, for the interdistrict attendance of pupils to adopt, and post on its internet website, a policy that includes specified provisions, including that if the school district determines that a request received from a parent is incomplete, the school district is required to notify the parent, within 30 calendar days of receipt of the request, identifying any missing information or documentation, as provided. The bill would allow for certain extensions of the above-described 30-day requirement to notify a parent of its final decision when an application is determined to be incomplete or if an individualized education program meeting has been scheduled or is pending, as provided. The bill would require all interdistrict agreements entered into on or after January 1, 2027, to also contain those specified provisions, as provided. The bill would authorize the parent or guardian of a pupil to submit an interdistrict transfer request concurrently to the school district of residence and the school district of proposed agreement if there is an interdistrict agreement between the 2 school districts, and would require the school district of proposed enrollment to begin reviewing the request upon receipt, as provided.
