Montana Code 20-10-143. Budgeting for transportation and transmittal of transportation contracts
20-10-143. Budgeting for transportation and transmittal of transportation contracts. (1) The trustees of a district furnishing transportation to pupils who are residents of the district shall provide a transportation fund budget that is adequate to finance the district’s transportation contractual obligations and any other transportation expenditures necessary for the conduct of its transportation program. The transportation fund budget must include:
Terms Used In Montana Code 20-10-143
- Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
- Bus route: means a route approved by the board of trustees of a school district and by the county transportation committee. See Montana Code 20-10-101
- County superintendent: means the county government official who is the school officer of the county. See Montana Code 20-1-101
- district: means the territory, regardless of county boundaries, organized under the provisions of this title to provide public educational services under the jurisdiction of the trustees prescribed by this title. See Montana Code 20-6-101
- Eligible transportee: means a public school pupil who:
(a)is 5 years of age or older and has not reached the age of 21 on or before September 10 of the current school year or who is a preschool child with a disability between the ages of 3 and 6;
(b)is a resident of the state of Montana;
(c)regardless of district and county boundaries:
(i)resides at least 3 miles, over the shortest practical route, from the nearest operating public elementary school or public high school, whichever the case may be; or
(ii)has transportation identified as a related service in an individualized education program as developed and implemented in accordance with the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, 20 U. See Montana Code 20-10-101
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- fund: means a separate detailed account of receipts and expenditures for a specific purpose as authorized by law or by the superintendent of public instruction under the provisions of subsection (2). See Montana Code 20-9-201
- Individual transportation: means transportation by which a district is relieved of actually conveying a pupil. See Montana Code 20-10-101
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- school: means an institution for the teaching of children that is established and maintained under the laws of the state of Montana at public expense. See Montana Code 20-6-501
- School bus: means , except as provided in subsection (5)(b), any motor vehicle that complies with the bus standards established by the board of public education as verified by the department of justice's semiannual inspection of school buses and the superintendent of public instruction and:
(i)is owned by a district or other public agency and operated for the transportation of pupils to or from school or owned by a carrier under contract with a district or public agency to provide transportation of pupils to or from school; or
(ii)is district-owned, is designed to carry 10 or fewer passengers, has an overall safety rating of five stars from the national highway traffic safety administration at the time of purchase, and is insured in accordance with minimum coverage requirements set forth in 20-10-109. See Montana Code 20-10-101
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- Superintendent of public instruction: means that state government official designated as a member of the executive branch by the Montana constitution. See Montana Code 20-1-101
- Transportation: means :
(a)a district's conveyance of a pupil by a school bus between the pupil's legal residence or an officially designated bus stop and the school designated by the trustees for the pupil's attendance; or
(b)individual transportation. See Montana Code 20-10-101
- Trustees: means the governing board of a district. See Montana Code 20-1-101
(a)an adequate amount to finance the maintenance and operation of school buses owned and operated by the district;
(b)the annual contracted amount for the maintenance and operation of school buses by a private party;
(c)the annual contracted amount for individual transportation, including any increased amount because of isolation, which may not exceed the schedule amounts prescribed in 20-10-142;
(d)any amount necessary for the purchase, rental, or insurance of school buses; and
(e)any other amount necessary to finance the administration, operation, or maintenance of the transportation program of the district, as determined by the trustees.
(2)The trustees may include a contingency amount in the transportation fund budget for the purpose of enabling the district to fulfill an obligation to provide transportation in accordance with this title for:
(a)pupils not residing in the district at the time of the adoption of the final budget and who subsequently became residents of the district during the school fiscal year;
(b)pupils who have become eligible transportees since the adoption of the final budget because their legal residence has been changed; or
(c)other unforeseen increases in bus route mileage or obligations for payment of additional contracts for individual transportation for an eligible transportee for which state and county reimbursement is authorized under 20-10-141 and 20-10-142. The budgeted contingency amount may not exceed 10% of the transportation schedule amount as calculated under the provisions of 20-10-141 and 20-10-142 for all transportation services authorized by the schedules and provided by the district unless 10% of the transportation schedule amount is less than $100, in which case $100 is the maximum limitation for the budgeted contingency amount.
(3)A budget amendment to the transportation fund budget may be adopted subject to the provisions of 20-9-161 through 20-9-166.
(4)The trustees shall report the transportation fund budget on the regular budget form prescribed by the superintendent of public instruction in accordance with 20-9-103, and the adoption of the transportation fund budget must be completed in accordance with the school budgeting laws. When the adopted final budget is sent to the county superintendent, the trustees shall also send copies of all completed transportation contracts for school bus transportation to the county superintendent. The contracts must substantiate all contracted school bus transportation services incorporated in the final budget.