Ohio Administrative Code
Title 3301 - Department of Education - Administration and Director
Chapter 3301-83 - Pupil Transportation
Section 3301-83-01 - Calculation of pupil transportation operation payments

(1) Type I (board-owned and operated school buses):

(2) Type II (contractor-owned and operated school buses):

(3) Other types of transportation service: In accordance with division (F) of section 3317.0212 of the Revised Code, payment shall be made to each district for transportation service provided for students on other than board-owned or contractor- operated buses. This payment shall apply only to eligible students that use transportation services, as reported on the T-1 and T-2 reports submitted to the Ohio department of education.

(1) Reimbursement for special transportation may be approved by the department for children with disabilities attending a special education program approved by the department's office for exceptional children and/or attending a regular class in a public school, and who have transportation appropriately identified as a related service on their individual education plans.

(2) For eligible children with disabilities, the department shall calculate reimbursement as follows:

(3) All vehicles used must be authorized vehicles as defined in rule 3301-83-19 of the Administrative Code. A privately owned vehicle utilized to transport a pupil of the family is not subject to regulation other than that required by state law.

(4) Eligible children with disabilities who ride on regular school buses on regular routes are not eligible for special education transportation reimbursement. They are to be counted and reported on the department's T-1 and T-2 forms as regular education riders; except that if fifty per cent or more of the passengers on a route are children with disabilities, the cost can be prorated and reported to the department for reimbursement.

(5) Reimbursement claims for transportation of children with disabilities shall be reported on the appropriate form as required by the department .

(1) Each school district shall file annual reports of all pupils transported, miles traveled, actual costs, and other necessary information for the purposes of calculation and adjustments in amount due. Pupils transported and miles traveled shall be reported by vehicle as the average daily number of eligible pupils actually transported and miles traveled during the first full week of October that school is in session. Actual cost shall be reported by vehicle on or before the last day of August following the close of the fiscal year.

(2) All adjustments by transportation service type shall be made within the first quarter following the close of the fiscal year.

(1) Board-owned and operated school buses - A vehicle operated by a qualified driver meeting the definition of a school bus successfully passing the annual state highway patrol safety inspection assigned a school bus identification number and painted national school bus chrome with proper black lettering. Vehicle met or exceeded Ohio school bus minimum standards at the time of construction.

(2) Contractor-owned school buses - A vehicle meeting all the requirements of a board-owned school bus and requirement of licensing by the Ohio department of highway safety and bonding as required by law.

(3) Public transit vehicles - Vehicles owned and operated by regional transit authorities, community transit authorities, or privately owned, or taxis, under contract with a board of education and operated on routes designed for the purpose of transporting fare-paying passengers and eligible students simultaneously.

(4) Board-owned vehicles other than school buses - A vehicle, nine-passenger or less, not including driver, with no school bus identification other than school district name.

(5) Privately owned vehicles other than school buses used in compliance with rule 3301-83-19 of the Administrative Code.

(6) Privately owned vehicles may include ambulances and/or taxicabs for the purpose of transporting eligible children with disabilities.

(1) To receive funding for a pupil being transported, the pupil must meet the following criteria:

(2)

Miles traveled to transport eligible pupils participating in an open enrollment program may be reported for payment purposes by the resident district from home to the designated border pick-up point and by the educating school district from the border pick-up point to the building of attendance in the educating district. If the educating district or the resident district provides all the open enrollment transportation for a student, the miles may be reported by the district providing the service.

(3) Miles traveled from bus storage location or school building to first student pick-up, all route miles, and return to storage both a.m. and p.m., including kindergarten miles, are approved for payment purposes.

(4) Miles traveled to and from storage locations outside the county or counties of the school district location are not approved miles for payment purposes. Miles traveled from county line to first pick-up and return to county line are approved miles.

(5) Total annual miles for payment purposes shall be calculated by multiplying total daily miles by one hundred eighty days.

(6) Recalculation of pupil transportation operation payment amount due may be approved when:

(7) School districts contracting with transit authorities for the purpose of transporting eligible pupils to and from school shall require the transit authority director to file with the board of education actual operational costs in excess of, or less than, reimbursement as provided for by paragraph (A)(3) of this rule. Such report shall be filed with the board of education at the close of each fiscal year. Each board of education shall file with the department all transit authority and local board costs on or before the twentieth day of July of each year.