Rep. Dykema's School Transportation Bill Receives Favorable Support
contributed
March 3, 2010

Representative Carolyn Dykema is pleased to announce that a bill she filed last January, H.3658, An Act Relative to School Transportation, has been reported favorably out of the Joint Committee on Education as part of a consolidated bill that establishes a commission on school transportation concerns.

The assessment of bus fees, which was the subject of Representative Dykema’s bill, is among the issues that will be scrutinized by the new commission.  In addition to addressing the question of fees, the commission will investigate regional school and special education transportation and propose ways to manage school transportation more cost-effectively. Specific cost saving measures to be looked at include optimization of bus routing through the use of shared software, collaboration among school districts, and outsourcing transportation administration to a third party.

“As towns struggle to balance their school budgets, the state needs to play an active role in proposing strategies for controlling the high cost of school transportation,” said Dykema. “This commission will be charged with providing actionable solutions and I hope the bill will come up for a vote soon so the commission can start its work. It’s especially good news that the commission will also look into concerns raised by my constituents related to the assessment of fees.”

A report of the Commission’s findings and recommendations would be due by the end of 2010. The bill must be passed by both the House and the Senate before the Commission can be established.