SECTIONS 42290-42293 - California Statutes

EDUCATION CODE

SECTION 42290-42293

42290. (a) Any school district or county office of education with
an average daily attendance of less than 2,501 in any fiscal year
may, in that fiscal year, apply to the State Department of Education
for an apportionment for transportation equipment, as specified in
Section 42291.
(b) The State Department of Education may adopt regulations
regarding district or county office applications pursuant to this
section.

42291. (a) The State Department of Education shall grant
applications for apportionments for purposes of this article, to the
extent that funds are available, according to the following
priorities:
(1) First priority for apportionments shall be for the purchase of
new schoolbuses to replace existing schoolbuses owned by an eligible
district or county office that do not conform to federal safety
standards.
(2) Second priority for apportionments shall be for the
reconditioning of existing schoolbuses owned by an eligible district
or county office. For purposes of this paragraph, "reconditioning"
includes, but is not limited to, retrofitting schoolbuses to conform
to the federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 222 relating to
schoolbus passenger seating and crash protection requirements.
(3) Any remaining funds shall be apportioned for the purchase of
new schoolbuses by eligible districts and county offices which have
proposed to increase the number of schoolbuses owned by the district
or county office.
(b) The governing board of any school district or county office of
education with an average attendance of less than 2,501 in the
current fiscal year shall be eligible to receive apportionments under
this section for the replacement of schoolbuses with new
schoolbuses.
(c) The State Department of Education shall develop priority
categories for funding under this section which are based solely on
vehicle age and mileage. Seventy-five percent of the funds available
in any fiscal year for the purposes of this section shall be
distributed to school districts and county offices of education based
upon priority categories which utilize only vehicle age, mileage,
and type of vehicle. Twenty-five percent of the funds available in
any fiscal year for purposes of this section shall be allocated based
upon the condition of the vehicles to be replaced. School districts
and county offices of education shall submit as evidence of the
condition of the vehicle to be replaced, the most recent California
Highway Patrol inspection report, a repair estimate made by an
independent repair shop, and any other information requested by the
department.
(d) The State Department of Education shall estimate the cost of a
replacement vehicle of the same capacity as the vehicle being
replaced. A school district's or county office of education's
entitlement shall equal the department's estimated cost. A district
or county office may use additional district or county office funds
to purchase a schoolbus which is more expensive than the model used
by the department to estimate the cost.
(e) Funds allocated pursuant to this section shall not be used to
purchase a vehicle which does not meet the schoolbus passenger
seating and crash protection requirements of the federal Motor
Vehicle Safety Standard 222.

42291.5. (a) For the purposes of this article, in a school district
with fewer than three schoolbuses, a schoolbus shall be considered
disposed of for the purposes of replacement if the schoolbus is
designated a temporary schoolbus. A temporary schoolbus shall be
limited to annual mileage of no more than 10 percent of the average
annual mileage in that district over the prior five years.
(b) A schoolbus that is designated a temporary schoolbus under
subdivision (a), is no longer eligible for replacement pursuant to
this article, Article 4.7 (commencing with Section 42300), or Part
10.7 (commencing with Section 17910).
(c) After a schoolbus has been designated as temporary pursuant to
subdivision (a), and before it can be used as a schoolbus, the
school district must be in compliance with all relevant provisions of
the Vehicle Code and Title 13 of the California Code of Regulations.

42292. Insofar as possible, any purchases of new schoolbuses with
funds apportioned pursuant to this article shall be made by the
Department of General Services. Title to any schoolbus purchased by
the Department of General Services pursuant to this section shall be
in the name of the school district for which the schoolbus was
purchased.

42293. For the 1995-96 fiscal year, the State Department of
Education shall collect and rank the schoolbus replacement
applications for each of the 1995-96 and 1996-97 fiscal years. The
department shall notify each school district of its rank and shall
use that rank for the allocation of any funds appropriated pursuant
to this article in the 1995-96 or 1996-97 fiscal year. Commencing
with the 1996-97 fiscal year and each year thereafter, the department
shall request schoolbus replacement applications for the next fiscal
year and shall use those applications for the allocation of any
funds to be appropriated for the next fiscal year.