School Bus Fleet, February 2018

60 SCHOOL BUS FLEET FEBRUARY 2018 WWW SCHOOLBUSFLEET COM As governors have put forth budget proposals for the coming years pupil transportation has been getting the short end of the stick in some states Of course there are myriad areas to cover in a state budget even within the category of education School buses are a small piece of the pie But whats interesting is that the pie namely public education funding appears to have grown over the past couple of years According to a report from the National Association of State Budget Officers NASBO state funds for K 12 education rose 29 in fiscal year 2016 and 40 in fiscal 2017 As the national economy and state revenues continue to grow modestly states have restored prior cuts made to K 12 education due to the most recent recession the NASBO report says Despite that upbeat outlook pupil transportation has been a target of the budget axe in some states Kentucky is one example As multiple media outlets reported in January Kentucky Gov Matt Bevins new budget proposal contained a big hit for school bus funding a decrease of 61 from about 226 million in fiscal 2018 to about 87 million in fiscal 2019 That proposed cut would leave school districts in the state to pick up much more of the tab for transportation For example the superintendent of Barren County Ky Schools Bo Matthews told the Glasgow Daily Times that the reduction would drop the districts transportation funding rate from the state from 287 per pupil to about 111 per pupil State dollars have also been declining for pupil transportation in Missouri As the St Louis Post Dispatch reported in January Missouri Gov Eric Greitens fiscal 2019 budget proposal provides 13 million less for school transportation than the state Legislature approved last year according to House budget committee members The newspaper reported that state funding for busing has been on the decrease in recent years but the governors current proposal for overall public education funding is an all time high of 61 billion Meanwhile some Missouri legislators have recognized the detrimental impact of cutting pupil transportation funding You have to get the kids into school before you can educate them Rep Justin Alferman said in a committee meeting the St Louis Post Dispatch reported Its a cost you just cant avoid In South Carolina there has been an ongoing struggle to fund replacement of the states aging school bus fleet Last year Gov Henry McMaster vetoed 205 million in funding for hundreds of new buses However notably after a string of bus fires South Carolina legislators pushed the funding through by overriding the governors veto see story on pg 12 In Pennsylvania last year the state budget initially called for a 50 million cut to pupil transportation funding As Blake Krapf tells us see pg 16 the Pennsylvania School Bus Association worked with legislators on this urgent issue and funding was restored at the prior years level Still Krapf says he sees more budget struggles ahead These funding troubles point to the importance of engaging in industry associations Whether at the state or national level pupil transportation leaders must work together to protect the industrys interest namely keeping students on the safest mode of transportation the yellow bus With so many pieces of the budget pie competing for dollars someone needs to remind our elected officials why pupil transportation should be a priority With so many pieces of the budget pie competing for dollars someone needs to remind our elected officials why pupil transportation should be a priority Join Forces to Fight Funding Cuts SCHOOL BUS FLEET ISSN 0036 6501 USPS 483 800 is published monthly except for May by Bobit Business Media 3520 Challenger Street Torrance California 90503 1640 Periodicals postage paid at Torrance California 90503 1640 and additional mailing offices POSTMASTER Send address changes to School Bus Fleet P O Box 3312 Northbrook IL 60065 3312 Please allow 6 to 8 weeks for address 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3312 Northbrook IL 60065 3312 THE LAST WORD By James Blue General Manager Publisher