1. PDE Transportation Formula and Subsidies1
Presented by Jennifer Hobart

2. Authorization Other Citations
Sections , , 2541 and 2543 of the Pennsylvania Public School Code
Chapter 23, Sections through of the State Board of Education Regulations
Other Citations
Sections 1361, 1362, 1365, 1366, 1374, 1726-A of the Pennsylvania Public School Code

3. Overview of Data Required for the Subsidy

4. Pupil Count Data The following data is reported in eTran:
Number of public school pupils transported
Number of pupils transported to nonpublic schools located within the school district or outside of the school district at a distance no greater than ten miles
Number of pupils transported to charter schools outside of the school district at a distance no greater than ten miles or to a regional charter school
Number of public school pupils residing within 1 ½ miles of an elementary school or 2 miles of a secondary school but are transported because of certified hazardous walking routes
Number of pupils transported within walking distance when route is not certified as hazardous (nonreimbursable pupils).

5. Nonreportable Transportation
Pre-kindergarten programs
Summer School
Extended School Year Programs
Nonpublic or Charter School students transported beyond 10 miles from the district border (except for regional charter schools)

6. Types of Service LEA-Owned Contract with Contractor
School district, IU or AVTS owns the vehicles and employs drivers
Contract with Contractor
LEA negotiates a contractual agreement with a bus company, taxi service or an independent contractor
LEA negotiates a contractual agreement with another LEA that does not own the vehicles
Contract with Parent or Other Individual
LEA has agreement with a parent or relative to transport students
Contract with Another LEA
LEA negotiates a contractual agreement with another LEA that owns the vehicles
Fare-based
LEA purchases tokens or passes for service provided by a common transportation carrier over established routes and schedules, as certified by PUC or transit Authority. (Students ride with the general public.)

7. Individual Vehicle Data
The following data is reported in eTran:
Vehicle Identification Number
Manufacturer Serial Number
Year of manufacture of chassis
Seating capacity
Days of use
Daily miles with pupils
Daily miles without pupils
Greatest number of pupils assigned to any one run
Layover or congested hours

8. Other Data Used in Subsidy Calculations
Cost index
IU transportation state revenue and proration by school district
AVTS transportation service proration by school district
Market value aid ratio
STEB market value
Amount paid contractor
Total transportation expenditures from AFR
Total annual miles for LEA-owned vehicles

9. Overview of Individual Vehicle Calculations

10. Summary of Individual Vehicle Data
The following data is reported by the LEA in eTran:
Vehicle ID Code, Manufacturer’s Serial Number, Year Manufactured, Seating Capacity, Number of Days, Daily Miles With, Daily Miles Without, Number of pupils, and Total Annual Miles.
Approved Daily Miles
Sum of daily miles with and daily miles without pupils.
If daily miles without exceeds daily miles with the calculation is 2 times daily miles with.
Utilized Passenger Capacity Miles
Approved Annual Miles x Number of Pupils
Approved Annual Excess Hours
Congested Hours or Layover Hours approved by PDE

11. Calculated Allowances for Individual Vehicles
Fractional Adjustments
Shared Service Fraction
Calculated when a vehicle is used in more than one notification number – normally by two LEAs
Prorata share based on Approved Daily Miles x Number of Days x Number of Pupils
Miles <20 Fraction
When the bus travels less than 20 miles per day
Approved Daily Miles/20

12. Calculated Allowances for Individual Vehicles (Continued)
Fractional Adjustments (Continued)
Number Days Fraction
When a bus operates less than Days in Session
Number Days/(lesser of 180 or Days in Session)
1-Way Trip Fraction
When a bus is used for one-way transportation
Value is .50
Final Fraction
Shared Service Fraction x Miles <20 Fraction x Number Days Fraction x 1-Way Trip Fraction

13. Calculated Allowances for Individual Vehicles (Continued)
Vehicle Allowance
= (Basic Allowance + Additional Allowance) x Final Fraction
Basic Allowance
Based on the seating capacity of the vehicle
11 or greater = $540.00
10 or less = $360.00
Additional Allowance
= Rate x Seating Capacity
Rate is based on the age of the vehicle

14. Calculated Allowances for Individual Vehicles (Continued)
Vehicle Allowance (Continued)
Additional Allowance (Continued)
Additional Rate for Contracted Service
1-3 years = $20.00
4-6 years = $18.00
7-10 years = $16.00
11 or more = $12.00
Additional Rate for LEA-Owned Vehicles
1-10 years = $15.00

15. Calculated Allowances for Individual Vehicles (Continued)
Mileage Allowance
Approved Annual Miles x $0.23
UPCM Allowance
Contracted Service
(Utilized Passenger Capacity Miles x $3.50)/1,000
LEA-Owned Service
(Utilized Passenger Capacity Miles x $3.00)/1,000
Excess Hours Allowance
Approved Annual Excess Hours x $3.00

16. Calculated Allowances for Individual Vehicles (Continued)
Total of Allowances
Vehicle Allowance + Mileage Allowance + UPCM Allowance + Excess Hours Allowance
Vehicle Cost Deduction
Only calculated for LEA-Owned vehicles
$700 x Final Fraction
Depreciation Amount Paid
Not calculated for activity runs or spare buses
Maximum Depreciation Amount = $10,500
Amount Paid is the [lesser of $700 or ($10,500 – Sum of depreciation paid to date)] x (lesser of Day Fraction or Shared Service Fraction)

17. Summary of Allowances and Expenditure Comparisons
Total of Allowances from “Calculated Allowances for Individual Vehicles”
Cost Index
Posted on the PDE Pupil Transportation website under Subsidy-Related Documents

18. Summary of Allowances and Expenditure Comparisons
Final Formula Allowance =
(Total of Allowances x Cost Index) – Vehicle Cost Deduction
Amount Paid Contractor is reported in eTran by the school district
Maximum Allowable Cost is the lesser of the Amount Paid Contractor or the Final Formula Allowance

19. Overview of the Pupil Transportation Subsidy Calculation (PDE-2576)

20. PDE-2576, Summary of Pupil Transportation Subsidy
Half Mill of Market Value: Market Value x (rounded to 2 decimal places)
Days in Session: Based on data reported in the Child Accounting Database system; capped at 180
Total Pupils Transported, Nonreimbursable Pupils, and Charter School Pupils Transported are reported by the LEA in eTran
The Market Value used in the calculation is the STEB Market Value for the first year of the school year that the payment is based on

21. PDE-2576 – Calculations For Approved Costs
Maximum Allowable Cost from PDE-2518 or PDE-2519
Nonreimbursable Factor = (8 x Nonreimbursable Pupils x Days in Session) / UPCM
The Best Assumption for the 8 in the calculation is , which comes from the 2 miles for the walking distance to a secondary school. 2 miles with and 2 miles without in the morning and the afternoon.
Nonreimbursable Deduction = Maximum Allowable Cost x Nonreimbursable Factor
Approved Cost = Maximum Allowable Cost – Nonreimbursable Deduction

22. PDE-2576 – Final Calculations To Determine Total Transportation Subsidy Due
State Share when Aid Ratio is or greater
=Market Value Aid Ratio x Total Approved Cost
For a school district with an aid ratio of .5 or higher the total approved cost is multiplied by the district’s market value aid ratio.
If a school district has a market value aid ratio less than 0.5 to find the state share the calculations shown in the bottom box are performed. These calculations are:
Nonpublic: We take the number of nonpublic students found in the box at the top of the left hand side of the page and divide that number by the total pupils transported to find what the portion of total pupils transported that were nonpublic pupils. We then take that figure times the total approved costs. This calculation results in the portion of the total approved costs that applies to nonpublic transportation. This figure is then multiplied by .5 to find the state share for nonpublic students.
Hazardous: The same calculations are done for the Hazardous portion that are done for nonpublic except the number for total public hazardous students transported is used instead of the nonpublic students number.
To find the state share for Public Non Hazardous we take the total approved cost minus the portion for nonpublic and minus the approved costs for hazardous. Then the result of that calculation is multiplied by the school districts market value aid ratio.
The three final figures from these calculations is added together to find the state share for the district’s transportation.
Found in section 2541 (d) of the school code

23. PDE-2576 – Final Calculations To Determine Total Transportation Subsidy Due
State Share when Aid Ratio is less than .5000
District Transportation – Aid Ratio Calculations to Determine State Share
1. Nonpublic = 1,702 / 8,333 =
2. ( X 2,451,593.62) = 500, X = $250,366.67
3. Hazardous = 1,797 / 8,333 =
4. ( X 2,451,593.62) = 528, X = $264,341.36
Public Non Hazardous
5. (2,451, – 500, – 528,682.73) X = $
6. State Share District Transportation $1,122,120.06
The calculation is separated into three parts:
Nonpublic
Hazardous
Public Non Hazardous
The School Code states that reimbursement for nonpublic and hazardous transportation will be at least 50%.

24. PDE-2576 – Final Calculations To Determine Total Transportation Subsidy Due
State Share when Aid Ratio is less than (Continued)
District Transportation – Aid Ratio Calculations to Determine State Share
1. Nonpublic = 1,702 / 8,333 =
2. ( X 2,451,593.62) = 500, X = $250,366.67
3. Hazardous = 1,797 / 8,333 =
4. ( X 2,451,593.62) = 528, X = $264,341.36
Public Non Hazardous
5. (2,451, – 500, – 528,682.73) X = $
6. State Share District Transportation $1,122,120.06
1. Nonpublic Ratio
Number of Nonpublic Students / Total Pupils Transported
2. Nonpublic State Share
Nonpublic Ratio x Total Approved Cost x
3. Hazardous Ratio
Number of Hazardous Students / Total Pupils Transported
4. Hazardous State Share
Hazardous Ratio x Total Approved Cost x

25. PDE-2576 – Final Calculations To Determine Total Transportation Subsidy Due
State Share when Aid Ratio is less than .5000
District Transportation – Aid Ratio Calculations to Determine State Share
1. Nonpublic = 1,702 / 8,333 =
2. ( X 2,451,593.62) = 500, X = 250,366.67
3. Hazardous = 1,797 / 8,333 =
4. ( X 2,451,593.62) = 528, X = 264,341.36
Public Non Hazardous
5. (2,451, – 500, – 528,682.73) X =
6. State Share District Transportation ,122,120.06
5. Public Non Hazardous Share of Approved Costs
Total Approved Cost – Hazardous Portion of Approved Costs – Nonpublic Portion of Approved Costs
Public Non Hazardous State Share
Public Non Hazardous Approved Cost x Aid Ratio
6. State Share District Transportation
Nonpublic State Share + Hazardous State Share + Public Non Hazardous State Share

26. PDE-2576 – IU and AVTS Transportation
SD Deduction for IU Transportation
= Total Cost - State Share
Total Costs and Approved Costs are based on proration percentages provided by IU or AVTS
Total Cost for IU is based on advanced revenue provided by PDE
School district deduction amount for IU transportation on the final PDE-2576 may not match the deduction found on the PDE-2548 due to revisions between June 1 and June Unipay
An example of how the AVTS portion of the report looks is not provided on the screen because the example district used did not have AVTS transportation. Not all School districts have AVTS transportation on their reports.

27. PDE-2576 – Excess Cost
School District’s share of approved cost is limited to a half mill of market value
Excess Cost
= Total Approved Costs - Total State Share Half Mill Market Value
Excess Cost amount is generally larger in “odd” years (SY , ) because of STEB methodology for determining market value
If the local share of the approved costs exceeds a half mill of market value the school district is eligible for excess cost. The reason for this is that section 2541 (a) of the school code states that the commonwealth shall pay each district excessive cost of transportion.

28. Maximizing Transportation Reimbursement
Mileage Allowance
Maximize approved daily miles
Daily miles with pupils should be greater than daily miles without pupils
UPCM Allowance
Maximize the greatest number of pupils on the bus at any one time during the day
Assure that data was correctly reported to PDE by reviewing the preliminary subsidy report in April

29. PDE-2576 - Nonpublic and Charter School Transportation Subsidy
Additional subsidy for Nonpublic and Charter School pupils:
$385 per pupil
Nonpublic pupils transported within 10 miles of the district’s border
Charter School pupils transported outside the district but within 10 miles of the border

30. IU Transportation

31. IU Budgets and Fiscal Reports
IUs report expenditures for Special Education Transportation only
All other services provided to school district should be reported by the school district as contracted service
Transportation for extended school year cannot be reported to PDE for reimbursement. This should be a separate contract between the school district and the IU

32. PDE IU Prorations
The Intermediate Unit determines the methodology to prorate the costs for transportation provided to school districts.
The most common method used is to base the prorations on the number of pupil miles transported for each district
Actual Costs
= PDE Advance x Proration
Approved Costs
= IU Approved Costs x Proration
Aid Ratio State Share
= Approved Costs x Aid Ratio
SD Deduction
= Actual Costs - Aid Ratio State Share 32