A local board of education can decide to transport students that live less than one mile from school.  If the district chooses to use the "no appreciable cost" allowance, and does not want to incur a financial penalty, the students must be transported at no additional cost which means the route cannot detour from the regular route nor can space be created for these students (5 CSR 30-261.040 (4)(B)). 

If a board of education determines that certain students who live less than one mile from school or who are provided shuttle transportation less than one mile to and from specialized learning opportunities are transported at no appreciable expense to that incurred in the transportation of eligible students, a district may provide transportation to these students without increasing or diminishing its entitlement to state transportation aid (5 CSR 30-261.040 (4)(B)).

Mileage carries almost three times as much weight as the allowable cost or the ridership.  The district’s calculation is based on a per mile reimbursement.  If the mileage increases the cost per mile drops which has a positive impact on the district’s cost factor.  If the mileage drops, the cost per mile increases which has a negative impact on the district’s cost factor. 

A change in the cost factor doesn’t always mean there will be a change in the entitlement; refer to the Calculation for State Transportation Aid, Line 48.

Ineligible miles are part of the Calculation for State Transportation Aid, Line 35, cost per mile calculation.  The more miles there are, eligible or ineligible, the lower the cost per mile, and the more efficient the district appears.

The Calculation for State Transportation Aid, Line 36, backs out the cost for ineligible miles by only multiplying the cost per mile (Line 35) by the eligible miles (Line 29).

A school bus operator is an individual who operates a school bus in the transportation of school children and who receives compensation for such service (302.010, RSMo).

Anyone who is licensed in Missouri to perform physical examinations can perform a school bus driver physical (5 CSR 30-261.040).

No ECSE ridership or mileage data is reported on the Application for State Transportation Aid.  ECSE transportation expenditures should be coded to Function Code 2559 within the ASBR.

Yes, any benefits approved by public school district board of education action as necessary to recruit and retain qualified school bus drivers are allowable; however, as a school board considers adding benefits, the effect of the increase to the allowable costs on the cost factor should be considered (5 CSR 30-261.040 (1)(B)).

A bus driver cannot drive a school bus for more than eight consecutive hours unless the driver stops operation of the bus for at least sixty minutes.  A bus driver cannot operate a school bus for more than twelve hours in a twenty-four hour period (5 CSR 30-261.010 (3)(A)18 and for bus contractors-all applicable DOT regulations).