Missouri Code of State Regulations
Title 5 - DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION
Division 30 - Division of Financial and Administrative Services
Chapter 261 - Pupil Transportation
Section 5 CSR 30-261.040 - Allowable Costs for State Transportation Aid

Universal Citation: 5 MO Code of State Regs 30-261.040

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 18, September 16, 2024

PURPOSE: Section 163.161, RSMo authorizes state transportation aid to school districts based upon allowable costs. This rule defines allowable costs and specifies how they will be used in calculating state transportation aid. The rule further specifies school district recordkeeping and audit requirements related to the calculation of state aid.

(1) Allowable Costs for School District Operated School Transportation.

(A) Salaries and benefits of personnel employed for the operation and maintenance of school transportation are allowable costs.

If employees have other school duties in addition to those relating directly to transportation, then salaries and benefits shall be divided between school transportation and other programs according to time actually spent in each program.

1. Examples of school transportation personnel for which salaries and benefits are allowable include those paid to transportation directors, school aides serving students with disabilities pursuant to law, school bus drivers, dispatchers, transportation secretaries, mechanics and garage custodians.

2. Examples of personnel for which salaries and benefits are nonallowable include school administrators and administrative support staff that exceed the limitation described in paragraph (1)(I)1. of this rule.

(B) Purchased service expense is an allowable cost. Examples of allowable purchased service expense include:
1. Insurance for school buses;

2. Labor contracted for repairs and parts used for repairs by persons other than school district employees;

3. Expenditures for utilities, insurance and telephone for the school bus garage/storage facility. If these facilities are used for vehicles other than school buses, costs must be prorated on the basis of the number of vehicles served by the facility; and

4. Expenditures for cellular telephone service and two (2)-way radio communication systems.

(C) Supplies expense is an allowable cost. Examples of allowable supplies include:
1. Fuel;

2. Oil and other lubricants;

3. Tires, both new and recapped, tubes, tire and tube repair;

4. Tools;

5. Parts, including engine parts, batteries, antifreeze, small motors, lights, lenses, bulbs, springs and shock absorbers; and

6. Custodial supplies for the school bus garage/storage facility. If these facilities are used for vehicles other than school transportation vehicles, costs must be prorated on the basis of the number of vehicles served by the facility.

(D) Capital outlay expense is an allowable cost. Capital outlay expenditures must be paid out of the Capital Projects Fund. Examples of allowable capital outlay expenditures include:
1. The cost of retrofit equipment required on school buses under Missouri specification or otherwise authorized in this rule;

2. Expenses incurred to equip school buses with a two (2)-way radio communication system, including a communication tower (antenna) and administrative base station or cellular telephones;

3. Expenses for electronic safety and security equipment;

4. Expenses incurred to equip school buses with strobe lights; and

5. The cost of replacement engines for school buses.

(E) The depreciation costs of new and used school buses are allowable. The purchase price of lease/purchased school buses shall not include interest. Each vehicle eligible for depreciation shall be depreciated on a straight-line depreciation schedule of eight (8) years beginning in the first year the school bus is placed in service. No depreciation will be paid for school buses which are ten (10) model years of age or older. If a vehicle is sold, either for cash or trade-in, its value and the gain or loss from sale or trade must be reflected in the aggregate district depreciation schedule.

(F) The depreciation costs of new school bus facilities and the renovation of existing bus parking lot and school bus facilities that exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) per fiscal year shall be claimed by a school district on a straight-line depreciation schedule of twenty (20) years beginning in the first year of the facility's use. If these facilities are used for vehicles other than school buses, the depreciation charged will be prorated on the basis of the number of vehicles served by the facilities.

(G) Allowable cost for transporting students with disabilities.
1. Expenditures for additional equipment necessary for transporting students with disabilities, such as vehicle renovation, lifts, seat restraints and wheelchair locks.

2. Expenditures for salaries and benefits of bus drivers and aides for students with disabilities, purchased services, supplies and capital outlay (excluding vehicle purchases) incurred while operating routes transporting only students with disabilities.

3. Routes to be approved by the local board of education and included for additional costs for transporting students with disabilities must meet the following criteria:
A. Transport students to and from school on a daily basis; and

B. Transport primarily students with disabilities.

(H) Gasoline, oil, parts or other operating expense for any vehicle or equipment that is not a school bus are not allowable. Examples include, but are not limited to, superintendents' cars, food service vans, school maintenance vehicles, driver education cars, lawn mowers, tractors, speech laboratories and bookmobiles.

(I) Administrative support service expenditures not to exceed five percent (5%) for each district-operated transportation services school district's total of subsections (1)(A)-(F) in this rule and for each contract-operated school district's total of subsection (2)(A) cost for providing administrative support services related to the operation of their school transportation program. Administrative support service expenditures include:
1. Salaries and benefits paid to part-time transportation directors, school administrators and administrative support staff;

2. Expenditures for utilities, insurance and telephone for the transportation office;

3. Custodial and office supplies for the transportation office; and

4. Office space and equipment for the transportation office, including but not limited to: furniture, copy machine, fax machine, computer hardware and software.

(2) Allowable Costs for Contracted School Transportation.

(A) Contracted transportation costs, including transportation of students under the provisions of section 304.060, RSMo administrative support services in subsection (1)(I) of this rule and costs paid to other school districts, are allowable.

(3) Eligible and Ineligible Transportation Mileage.

(A) Transportation eligible for state aid includes:
1. Approved route mileage during the regular school term to and from:
A. School at the beginning and end of the regular school day;

B. A publicly-operated university laboratory school at the beginning and end of the school day;

C. Any school, department or class conducted during the regular school day for which career education aid is paid by the Division of Career Education that provides education services for high school students;

D. Special education classes either in or outside the district that require special transportation arrangements at the beginning and end of the regular school day or during the regular school day; and

E. Any public school district with an accredited high school when provided by an elementary school district at the beginning and end of the regular school day;

2. Approved route mileage during the summer school term (for summer school programs that are approved by the Division of School Improvement) to and from special education classes either in or outside the district that require special transportation arrangements; and

3. Route mileage will be approved by the local board of education on the basis of the most effective and economical route to transport students. All mileage on approved routes will be considered eligible including necessary mileage before student pickups and after student delivery.

(B) Transportation mileage ineligible for state aid includes:
1. Mileage to and from any place at any time for field trips, athletic events or extracurricular activities;

2. Mileage for maintenance or safety inspections;

3. Mileage for school bus operators to take commercial driver's license or school bus permit driving skills tests, or both;

4. Mileage for transporting three (3)-and four (4)-year old special education students to any place for education services authorized by section 162.700, RSMo;

5. Mileage for a route that only picks up students who live less than one (1) mile from school.

(C) Each district shall maintain records in a detail as to readily disclose the eligible and ineligible mileage that contracted and/or district-operated school buses travel during the year.

(4) Students Eligible and Ineligible for State Transportation Aid.

(A) State aid for transportation shall be paid as provided in section 163.161, RSMo, and as implemented in this rule, only on the basis of the cost of transportation for those students living one (1) mile or more from school including publicly-operated university laboratory schools or who are transported one (1) mile or more to and from approved public career education courses, special education classes either in or outside the district. Regular school term, career education and students with disabilities are defined as eligible students in calculating a district's state transportation aid.

(B) If a district provides transportation service to students living less than one (1) mile from school as provided in section 167.231, RSMo, or provide shuttle transportation less than one (1) mile to and from any school or learning center either in or outside the district, these students may be transported and are defined as ineligible students in calculating a district's state transportation aid. If, however, a local board of education determines that certain students who live less than one (1) mile from school or are transported at no appreciable expense to that incurred in the transportation of eligible students, a district may provide transportation to these students without increasing or diminishing its entitlement to state transportation aid but in no case shall a school district create space by adding an additional school bus to transport these students, or detour from the regular route to transport these ineligible students. No district shall be subject to a penalty when the district reports that certain students transported from a school bus stop, which existed in school year 2005-06 and who live less than one (1) mile from school, are being transported so these students do not have to cross a state highway or county arterial where there are no sidewalks, traffic signals, or a crossing guard to access the students' school building.

(C) If a district receives compensation from a parent or guardian for transporting a student who lives less than one (1) mile from school, as provided in section 167.231, RSMo, the student shall be reported as ineligible and shall not be counted as a part of the students transported at no appreciable additional expense.

(5) Calculation of State Transportation Aid for Districts. State transportation aid, including district-operated transportation costs, contracted costs, or both, will be determined by prorating total allowable cost less the total cost of transportation of students with disabilities on the basis of eligible and ineligible miles less the miles for the transportation of students with disabilities. The average number of students daily transported (ADT) and the applicable mileage resulting from a contract for transportation between two (2) school districts will be certified by the district providing contracted service to the sending district. The ADT and mileage so certified will be omitted by the serving district from its calculation of state aid and will be included by the sending district in its state aid computations.

(A) Non-disabled students allowable costs, less any receipts for interdistrict contracted transportation, will be divided by the total number of non-disabled students eligible miles and ineligible miles traveled to determine a non-disabled student cost per mile.

(B) The non-disabled students cost per mile is multiplied by total non-disabled students eligible miles yielding the cost for non-disabled students eligible miles. This cost is divided by the average number of eligible non-disabled students plus the average number of ineligible students transported, less the average number transported at no appreciable additional expense, yielding the cost per non-disabled student ADT.

(C) The cost per ADT for non-disabled students calculated in subsection (5)(B) is multiplied by the eligible non-disabled students ADT, representing the average number of non-disabled students transported who live one (1) mile or more from school. If necessary, this product is then adjusted by the district's cost factor, as outlined in paragraph (7)(A)5., to determine what portion of its costs for eligible non-disabled students will be used in calculating transportation aid. The result of this step is then multiplied by seventy-five percent (75%) to obtain the maximum non-disabled students transportation aid amount.

(D) The total cost of transportation of students with disabilities is multiplied by seventy-five percent (75%) to obtain the maximum students with disabilities transportation aid amount.

(E) The cost per ADT for non-disabled students calculated in subsection (5)(C) is combined with the cost per ADT for students with disabilities calculated in subsection (5)(D) to obtain the maximum transportation aid entitlement.

(F) If the amount appropriated for transportation aid is less than the aggregate amount of entitlement for districts, then the amount of aid distributed to each district shall be prorated to equal the level of appropriation.

(6) Records and Audits.

(A) Each school district will annually submit the data required to determine the allowable costs, ridership, and mileage upon which its transportation aid will be computed. The transportation data must be documented by the records of the local school district.
1. Records are to be kept on a school-year basis.

2. Records are to include substantiation for the following:
A. Allowable costs as defined in this rule;

B. Eligible and ineligible mileage as defined in this rule;

C. Numbers of students who are provided transportation under eligible mileage; and

D. All receipts for transportation contracts from other districts, student activities or other sources.

(B) The school district audit provided for in section 165.121, RSMo, shall include an opinion statement regarding the adequacy and accuracy of allowable cost and mileage records kept by the district and used for the transportation aid application for the period audited.

(7) Procedures to Evaluate Circumstances to Authorize State Transportation Aid in Excess of State Average Approved Cost Per Pupil Transported the Second Previous Year.

(A) The district cost factor described below shall be used to measure the efficiency of the transportation program for costs other than the costs of transporting exclusively students with disabilities.
1. A curvilinear regression analysis is computed annually to predicty, the cost per student mile, based on x, the number of miles per student per day, for each district.

2. The cost per student mile predicted for each district is compared with the district's actual cost per student mile. When the cost factor ratio of actual to predicted costs is one hundred percent (100%) or less, the operation of the district's transportation service is considered to be efficient. If the percentage is greater than one hundred percent (100%), the operation of the transportation service is presumed to be inefficient.

3. A variance factor of four percent (4%) based statistically on the standard error recognizes possible error in the regression analysis. The state maximum cost factor will be one hundred four percent (104%) (one hundred percent plus four percent (100% + 4%) variance factor).

4. The allowable costs of a district will be reduced by the same percentage that the district's cost factor exceeds one hundred four percent (104%) with no adjustment exceeding thirty percent (30%). For example, if the district's cost factor is one hundred ten percent (110%), this figure exceeds one hundred four percent (104%) by six percent (6%) and the allowable costs would be reduced six percent (6%) before calculating transportation aid. Likewise, if the district's cost factor is one hundred fifty percent (150%), this figure exceeds one hundred four percent (104%) by forty-six percent (46%) but the allowable costs will be reduced by thirty percent (30%) so that no less than seventy percent (70%) of the allowable costs will be used in calculating transportation aid.

5. The following statistical formula defines the curvilinear regression analysis used to determine cost factors.

Prediction Formula y = axb

y = predicted cost per student per mile for a district

x = actual miles per student per day for a district

a and b = computed amounts using the entire state's average miles per student per day (x) and average cost per student mile (y) as further defined.

Formula to compute a a = e([SIGMA]Lny-b[SIGMA]Lnx)/N e = 2.71. . .(This is a constant from mathematics. "a" is obtained by finding the natural antilog of the exponent of "e" as shown in the equation above.)

Formula to compute b

b= N[SIGMA] (Lnx.Lny)-([SIGMA]Lnx).([SIGMA]Lny)/N[SIGMA] (Lnx)2-([SIGMA]Lnx)2

The meanings of the symbols used in the formulas defining "a" and "b" are as listed:

Lnx = natural logarithm of each x Lny = natural logarithm of each y (Lnx)2 = natural logarithm of each x squared

(Lnx).(Lny) = natural logarithm of x multiplied by the natural logarithm of y for each district

[SIGMA]Lnx = sum of Lnx for all transporting districts

[SIGMA]Lny = sum of Lny for all transporting districts

[SIGMA](Lnx)2 = sum of (Lnx)2 for all transporting districts

[SIGMA](Lnx.Lny) = sum of (Lnx.Lny) for all transporting districts N = number of transporting districts

*Original authority: 161.092, RSMo 1963, amended 1973, 2002, 2003; 162.700, RSMo 1973, amended 1977, 1990, 1991, 2002, 2005, 2006; 163.161, RSMo 1963, amended 1965, 1969, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1993, 1998; 165.121, RSMo 1963; 167.231, RSMo 1963, amended 1965, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1990, 2000; and 304.060, RSMo 1949, amended 1977, 1987, 1992.

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