EDUCATION CODE
CHAPTER 34. TRANSPORTATION
§ 34.001. PURCHASE OF MOTOR VEHICLES. (a) A school
district may purchase school motor vehicles through the General
Services Commission or through competitive bidding under
Subchapter B, Chapter 44.
(b) The General Services Commission may adopt rules as
necessary to implement Subsection (a).
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, § 1, eff. May 30, 1995.
§ 34.002. SAFETY STANDARDS. (a) The Department of
Public Safety, with the advice of the Texas Education Agency, shall
establish safety standards for school buses used to transport
students in accordance with Section 34.003.
(b) Each school district shall meet or exceed the safety
standards for school buses established under Subsection (a).
(c) A school district that fails or refuses to meet the
safety standards for school buses established under this section is
ineligible to share in the transportation allotment under Section
42.155 until the first anniversary of the date the district begins
complying with the safety standards.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, § 1, eff. May 30, 1995.
Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1438, § 2, eff. Sept. 1,
1997; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 309, § 9.01, eff. June 18, 2003.
§ 34.003. OPERATION OF SCHOOL BUSES. (a) School buses
or mass transit authority motor buses shall be used for the
transportation of students to and from schools on routes having 10
or more students. On those routes having fewer than 10 students,
passenger cars may be used for the transportation of students to and
from school.
(b) To transport students in connection with school
activities other than on routes to and from school:
(1) only school buses or motor buses may be used to
transport 15 or more students in any one vehicle; and
(2) passenger cars or passenger vans may be used to
transport fewer than 15 students.
(c) In all circumstances in which passenger cars or
passenger vans are used to transport students, the operator of the
vehicle shall ensure that the number of passengers in the vehicle
does not exceed the designed capacity of the vehicle and that each
passenger is secured by a safety belt.
(d) In this section, "passenger van" means a motor vehicle
other than a motorcycle or passenger car, used to transport persons
and designed to transport 15 or fewer passengers, including the
driver.
(e) "Motor bus" means a vehicle designed to transport more
than 15 passengers, including the driver.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, § 1, eff. May 30, 1995.
Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1029, § 1, eff. June 19,
1997; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1438, § 3, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.
§ 34.004. STANDING CHILDREN. A school district may not
require or allow a child to stand on a school bus or passenger van
that is in motion.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, § 1, eff. May 30, 1995.
Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1029, § 2, eff. June 19,
1997.
§ 34.005. FINANCING. (a) A school district
financially unable to immediately pay for a school motor vehicle,
including a bus, bus body, or bus chassis, the district purchases
may, as prescribed by this section, issue interest-bearing time
warrants in amounts sufficient to make the purchase.
(b) The warrants must mature in serial installments not
later than the fifth anniversary of the date of issue and bear
interest at a rate not to exceed the maximum rate provided by
Section 1204.006, Government Code. The warrants shall be issued and
sold at not less than their face value.
(c) The proceeds of the sale of the warrants shall be used to
provide the funds required for the purchase.
(d) The warrants, on maturity and in the order of their
maturity dates, are payable out of any available funds of the school
district and, as they become due, are entitled to first and prior
payment out of those funds.
(e) Full records of all warrants issued and sold shall be
kept by the school district.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, § 1, eff. May 30, 1995.
Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1420, § 8.205, eff. Sept. 1,
2001.
§ 34.006. SALE OF BUSES. (a) At the request of a
school district, the General Services Commission shall dispose of a
school bus.
(b) A school district is not required to dispose of a school
bus through the General Services Commission.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, § 1, eff. May 30, 1995.
§ 34.007. PUBLIC SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM. (a) A
board of county school trustees or a school district board of
trustees may establish and operate an economical public school
transportation system in the county or district, as applicable.
(b) In establishing and operating the transportation
system, the county or school district board:
(1) shall employ school bus drivers certified in
accordance with standards and qualifications adopted by the
Department of Public Safety; and
(2) may allow a parent to designate one of the
following locations instead of the child's residence as the regular
location for purposes of obtaining transportation under the system
to and from the child's school, if the location is on an approved
route:
(A) a child-care facility, as defined by Section
42.002, Human Resources Code; or
(B) the residence of a grandparent of the child.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, § 1, eff. May 30, 1995.
Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 169, § 3, eff. Sept. 1,
2001; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 201, § 24, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
§ 34.008. CONTRACT WITH TRANSIT AUTHORITY OR COMMERCIAL
TRANSPORTATION COMPANY. (a) A board of county school trustees or
school district board of trustees may contract with a mass transit
authority or a commercial transportation company for all or any
part of a district's public school transportation if the authority
or company:
(1) requires its school bus drivers to have the
qualifications required by and to be certified in accordance with
standards established by the Department of Public Safety; and
(2) uses only those school buses or mass transit
authority buses in transporting 15 or more public school students
that meet or exceed safety standards for school buses established
under Section 34.002, Education Code.
(b) This section does not prohibit the county or school
district board from supplementing the state transportation cost
allotment with local funds necessary to provide complete
transportation services.
(c) A mass transit authority contracting under this section
for daily transportation of pre-primary, primary, or secondary
students to or from school shall conduct, in a manner and on a
schedule approved by the county or district school board, the
following education programs:
(1) a program to inform the public that public school
students will be riding on the authority's or company's buses;
(2) a program to educate the drivers of the buses to be
used under the contract of the special needs and problems of public
school students riding on the buses; and
(3) a program to educate public school students on bus
riding safety and any special considerations arising from the use
of the authority's or company's buses.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, § 1, eff. May 30, 1995.
Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1438, § 5, eff. Sept. 1,
1997.
§ 34.009. CONTRACTS FOR USE, ACQUISITION, OR LEASE OF
SCHOOL BUS. (a) As an alternative to purchasing a school bus, a
board of county school trustees or school district board of
trustees may contract with any person for use, acquisition, or
lease with option to purchase of a school bus if the county or
school district board determines the contract to be economically
advantageous to the county or district. A contract in the form of
an installment purchase or any form other than a lease or lease with
option to purchase is subject to Section 34.001.
(b) A school bus that is leased or leased with an option to
purchase under this section must meet or exceed the safety
standards for school buses established under Section 34.002,
Education Code.
(c) Each contract that reserves to the county or school
district board the continuing right to terminate the contract at
the expiration of each budget period of the board during the term of
the contract is considered to be a commitment of current revenues
only.
(d) Termination penalties may not be included in any
contract under this section. The net effective interest rate on any
contract must comply with Chapter 1204, Government Code.
(e) The competitive bidding requirements of Subchapter B,
Chapter 44, apply to a contract under this section.
(f) The commissioner shall adopt a recommended contract
form for the use, acquisition, or lease with option to purchase of
school buses. A district is not required to use the contract.
(g) After a contract providing for payment aggregating
$100,000 or more by a school district is authorized by the board of
trustees, the board may submit the contract and the record relating
to the contract to the attorney general for the attorney general's
examination as to the validity of the contract. The approval is not
required as a term of the contract. If the contract has been made in
accordance with the constitution and laws of the state, the
attorney general shall approve the contract, and the comptroller
shall register the contract. After the contract has been approved
by the attorney general and registered by the comptroller, the
validity of the contract is incontestable for any cause. The legal
obligations of the lessor, vendor, or supplier of the property to
the board are not diminished in any respect by the approval and
registration of a contract.
(h) The decision of a board of county school trustees or
school district board of trustees to use an alternative form of use,
acquisition, or purchase of a school bus does not affect a
district's eligibility for participation in the transportation
funding provisions of the Foundation School Program or any other
state funding program.
(i) A contract entered into under this section is a legal
and authorized investment for banks, savings banks, trust
companies, building and loan associations, savings and loan
associations, insurance companies, fiduciaries, and trustees and
for the sinking funds of school districts.
(j) A contract under this section may have any lawful term
of not less than two or more than 10 years.
(k) A school district may use the provisions of any other
law not in conflict with this section to the extent convenient or
necessary to carry out any power or authority, express or implied,
granted by this section.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, § 1, eff. May 30, 1995.
Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1438, § 6, eff. Sept. 1,
1997; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1420, § 8.206, eff. Sept. 1,
2001.
§ 34.010. USE OF SCHOOL BUSES FOR EXTRACURRICULAR AND
OTHER SCHOOL-RELATED ACTIVITIES. (a) A school district board of
trustees or board of county school trustees governing a countywide
transportation system may contract with nonschool organizations
for the use of school buses. The county or school district board
may provide services relating to the maintenance and operation of
the buses in accordance with the contract.
(b) The commissioner shall ensure that the costs of using
school buses for a purpose other than the transportation of
students to or from school, including transportation for an
extracurricular activity or field trip or of members of an
organization other than a school organization, are properly
identified in the Public Education Information Management System
(PEIMS).
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, § 1, eff. May 30, 1995.
§ 34.011. APPEALS. A policy decision of a board of
county school trustees or board of trustees of a school district
affecting transportation is final and may not be appealed.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, § 1, eff. May 30, 1995.
