42290-42293
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.