Student Transportation Count

Derald Glover, OASA Assistant Executive Director

School funding has many different components, and it is vital that school administrators maximize those funding opportunities. Student transportation represents one of those areas where accurate student counts are important.

Oklahoma statute is as follows:

(a) A student must live in a school district authorized by law to furnish transportation.

(b) A student must live one and one-half (1 1/2) miles or more by commonly traveled road from the school attended. Students living less than one and one-half (1 1/2) miles from school may be transported, but shall not be counted in determining state aid.

(c) A normal school day consists of not less than six (6) hours, exclusive of lunch period, with the exception of the first and kindergarten grades. Transportation may be provided for kindergarten age students to and from school during the normally scheduled morning and evening bus operation. Districts desiring to provide additional transportation for kindergarten students at midday may do so at local district expense but it is not required.

(d) The local school district is responsible for providing transportation for those students with disabilities identified under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) for whom transportation has been identified as “related service” necessary to enable the students to receive the educational services outlined in their Individualized Education Programs (IEPs).

(e) Students living in a school district not offering the grade which they are entitled to pursue are entitled to transportation to a school authorized by law to provide transportation to and from school provided they have been legally transferred and reside in the high school transportation area of the school they choose to attend.

A wise school administrator will ensure that every student living 1.5 miles or more from the school is counted and included in their October counts.

Each eligible student is worth 1.39 times the Per Capita rate in the state funding formula. Per Capita rates range from $33 per student up to $157 and are calculated by dividing the previous year’s average daily haul (ADH) by the square miles of the district to get the district’s “density figure.” The Per Capita rate is then determined by entering the density figure in the Per Capita table in the SDE Technical Assistance Document.

Make sure you have a process in place to identify the addresses of all students, verify that all eligible students are being counted, even if they choose not to ride the bus, and finally, compare that number to previous years.

Verifying data takes a little time, but it can pay off in more dollars to the district!