SB411: relative to liability for special education transportation costs.

SB 411-FN-LOCAL - AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE

03/17/04 0743s

2004 SESSION

04-3133 04/10

SENATE BILL 411-FN-LOCAL

AN ACT relative to liability for special education transportation costs.

SPONSORS: Sen. O'Hearn, Dist 12; Sen. Green, Dist 6; Sen. Johnson, Dist 2; Sen. Larsen, Dist 15; Rep. Alger, Graf 14; Rep. Carson, Rock 75

COMMITTEE: Finance

AMENDED ANALYSIS

This bill revises the method of calculating transportation costs for educationally disabled children.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

03/17/04 0743s

04-3133

04/10

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Four

AN ACT relative to liability for special education transportation costs.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 Special Education; Transportation. Amend RSA 186-C:11 to read as follows:

186-C:11 Transportation.

I. Each school district shall furnish suitable transportation to all educationally disabled children whose individualized education plan requires such transportation. The school district may board a child near the place where instruction is to be furnished and shall provide transportation if required by the child's individualized education plan from the place where the child is boarded to the place of instruction.

II. Transportation costs for educationally disabled children shall be paid in accordance with RSA 198, provided that:

(a) A school district receiving and expending adequate education grant funds for the transportation of an educationally disabled child shall not apply for reimbursement for those same transportation costs under RSA 186-C:18. However, if an educationally disabled child's individualized education plan is amended resulting in transportation costs which exceed the per pupil adequate education grant amount for the fiscal year for that child, such excess transportation costs shall be eligible for reimbursement under RSA 186-C:18.

(b) A school district shall only count costs for educationally disabled children who are transported on a bus or other vehicle specifically designed or designated primarily for the transportation of educationally disabled children, net of any costs incurred for transportation of children without educational disabilities, in the calculation of special education transportation costs. A school district shall count an educationally disabled child transported on a regular school bus in the calculation of regular transportation costs.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect July 1, 2004.

LBAO

04-3133

Revised 1/29/04

SB 411 FISCAL NOTE

AN ACT relative to liability for special education transportation costs.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The Department of Education indicates this bill will increase state general fund expenditures and local revenue by $6,895,491 in FY 2005. There will be no fiscal impact to state and county revenue or county and local expenditures.

METHODOLOGY:

The Department indicates it can only project the fiscal impact for FY 2005 since the estimated and actual per pupil expenditure for each district and the state average per pupil expenditure are unknown. The Department utilized data from FY 2004 to compute the fiscal impact. The Department indicates that by including special education transportation in the catastrophic aid calculation, the state general fund expenditures and local revenue will increase by $5,443,110. The Department increased the FY 2004 amount by 26.68%, the average increase in catastrophic aid under the terms of this bill for the last two years to estimate the impact in FY 2005.