HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 94546        FILED ON: 3/3/2010

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 4546

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Ten

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An Act Resolve establishing a special commission relative to reimbursements of school busing costs..

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

Resolved,  that a special commission to consist of 10 members: 3 members of the senate; 1 of whom shall be the senate chair of the joint committee on education, who shall serve as co-chair of the commission; 1 of whom shall be the chair of the senate committee on ways and means; 1 of whom shall be a member of the senate; 3 members of the house of representatives; 1 of whom shall be the house chair of the joint committee on education, who shall serve as co-chair of the commission; 1 of whom shall be the chair of the house committee on ways and means; 1 of whom shall be a member of the house of representatives; 1 of whom shall be the state auditor, or his designee; 1 of whom shall be the commissioner of elementary and secondary education, or his designee; 1 person to be appointed by the governor, who shall be selected from a list of 3 nominees offered by the Massachusetts Municipal Association; and 1 person to be appointed by the governor who shall be selected from a list of 3 nominees offered by the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents; is hereby established for the purpose of making an investigation and study relative to examining the costs of mandatory school transportation incurred by school districts. The investigation and study shall include: examining the mandatory transportation costs for school districts relating to charter schools, private schools, regional schools, and special education transportation for both in-district and out of district students; examining cost-saving measures, including, but not limited to, the use of routing software for bus routes, efficiencies achieved through collaboration by districts, the charging of fees to offset transportation costs, the use of fuel efficient vehicles, the outsourcing of transportation to a third party, and the state reimbursement of district transportation costs. The commission shall report to the general court the results of its investigation and study and its recommendations, if any, together with drafts of legislation necessary to carry out such recommendations, by filing the same with the clerks of the senate and house who shall forward the same to the chairs of the joint committee on education and the chairs of the house and senate committees on ways and means on or before December 31, 2010.