HOUSE BILL 235

49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2009

INTRODUCED BY

Thomas A. Garcia

AN ACT

RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS; AMENDING A SECTION OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOL FINANCE ACT TO PROVIDE FOR SALARY INCREASES FOR CONTRACTED SCHOOL BUS DRIVERS.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     Section 1. Section 22-8-26 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1967, Chapter 16, Section 76, as amended) is amended to read:

     "22-8-26. TRANSPORTATION DISTRIBUTION.--

          A. Money in the transportation distribution of the public school fund shall be used only for the purpose of making payments to each school district or state-chartered charter school for the to-and-from school transportation costs of students in grades kindergarten through twelve attending public school within the school district or state-chartered charter school and of three- and four-year-old children who meet the department-approved criteria and definition of developmentally disabled and for transportation of students to and from their regular attendance centers and the place where vocational education programs are being offered.

          B. In the event a school district's or state-chartered charter school's transportation allocation exceeds the amount required to meet obligations to provide

to-and-from transportation, three- and four-year-old developmentally disabled transportation and vocational education transportation, fifty percent of the remaining balance shall be deposited in the transportation emergency fund.

          C. Of the excess amount retained by the school district or state-chartered charter school, at least

twenty-five percent shall be used for to-and-from transportation-related services, excluding salaries and benefits, and up to twenty-five percent may be used for other transportation-related services, excluding salaries and benefits as defined by rule of the department.

          D. In the event the sum of the proposed transportation allocations to each school district or state-chartered charter school exceeds the amounts in the transportation distribution, the allocation to each school district or state-chartered charter school shall be reduced in the proportion that the school district or state-chartered charter school allocation bears to the total statewide transportation distribution.

          E. A local school board or governing body of a state-chartered charter school, with the approval of the state transportation director, may provide additional transportation services pursuant to Section 22-16-4 NMSA 1978 to meet established program needs.

          F. Nothing in this section prohibits the use of school buses to transport the general public pursuant to the Emergency Transportation Act.

          G. All appropriations to the transportation distribution of the public school fund that provide salary increases for transportation employees shall include increases for contracted school bus drivers and attendants equal to those for employees."

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