PDE Transportation Formula and Subsidies 1 Presented by Jennifer Hobart

Authorization Other Citations Sections 2509.1, 2509.3, 2541 and 2543 of the Pennsylvania Public School Code Chapter 23, Sections 23.32 through 23.40 of the State Board of Education Regulations Other Citations Sections 1361, 1362, 1365, 1366, 1374, 1726-A of the Pennsylvania Public School Code

Overview of Data Required for the Subsidy

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).

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)

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.)

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

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

Overview of Individual Vehicle Calculations

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

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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 www.pde.state.pa.us/transportation

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

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

PDE-2576, Summary of Pupil Transportation Subsidy Half Mill of Market Value: Market Value x 0.0005 (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

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 2+2+2+2, 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

PDE-2576 – Final Calculations To Determine Total Transportation Subsidy Due State Share when Aid Ratio is .5000 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

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 = .2042481 2. (.2042481 X 2,451,593.62) = 500,733.34 X .5000 = $250,366.67 3. Hazardous = 1,797 / 8,333 = .2156486 4. (.2156486 X 2,451,593.62) = 528,682.73 X .5000 = $264,341.36 Public Non Hazardous 5. (2,451,593.62 – 500,733.34 – 528,682.73) X .4271 = $607412.03 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%.

PDE-2576 – Final Calculations To Determine Total Transportation Subsidy Due State Share when Aid Ratio is less than .5000 (Continued) District Transportation – Aid Ratio Calculations to Determine State Share 1. Nonpublic = 1,702 / 8,333 = .2042481 2. (.2042481 X 2,451,593.62) = 500,733.34 X .5000 = $250,366.67 3. Hazardous = 1,797 / 8,333 = .2156486 4. (.2156486 X 2,451,593.62) = 528,682.73 X .5000 = $264,341.36 Public Non Hazardous 5. (2,451,593.62 – 500,733.34 – 528,682.73) X .4271 = $607412.03 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 .5000 3. Hazardous Ratio Number of Hazardous Students / Total Pupils Transported 4. Hazardous State Share Hazardous Ratio x Total Approved Cost x .5000

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 = .2042481 2. (.2042481 X 2,451,593.62) = 500,733.34 X .5000 = 250,366.67 3. Hazardous = 1,797 / 8,333 = .2156486 4. (.2156486 X 2,451,593.62) = 528,682.73 X .5000 = 264,341.36 Public Non Hazardous 5. (2,451,593.62 – 500,733.34 – 528,682.73) X .4271 = 607412.03 6. State Share District Transportation 1,122,120.06 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

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.

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 2005-2006, 2007-2008) 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.

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

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

IU Transportation

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

PDE-2521 - 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