OCR Text |
Show Transportation cost $692,844 in Uintah school district in 1981 Expenditures for pupil transportation amounted to $692,844, or 7.86 percent of the total maintenance and operational costs in the Uintah School District last year. This was reported by Utah Foundation, the private research organization in a study of pupil transportation in Utah. According to the report, a total of 3,037 students were transported to school in the Uintah District during 1980-81. Statewide, a total of 107,573 pupils, or one out of every three school children, rode a bus to school last year, and the cost of providing this service has increased more than fourfold over the past ten years. Expenditures for pupil transportation in Duchesne School District amounted to $437,050 or 6.38 percent of the total maintenance and operational costs last year. 2,492 students were transported. In Daggett School District $60,555 was spent on transportation or 8.41 percent of the M&O costs. 104 students were transported. During the 1980-81 school year, the forty Utah school districts expended more than $18.1 million for pupil transportation. The report notes that school enrollments are expected to climb very rapidly during the next decade. In addition, more emphasis is being placed on alleviating school housing pressures by transporting pupils to facilities where space may be available. As a result, Foundation analysts expect that pupil transportation costs will continue to rise rapidly in the years ahead. Under current Utah law, state funds are furnished to transport pupils enrolled in kindergarten through grade six who live one and one-half miles or more from school, for pupils in grades seven through twelve who live two or more miles from school, and for certain designated handicapped pupils without regard to distance from school. In addition, local funds may be used to transport students where walking constitutes a hazardous condition and for the transportation of students to interscholastic activities, for night activities and for appvoved educational field trips. Most of the pupil transportation funds in Utah currently are being provided by specific legislative appropriations for transportation. In 1980-81 the legislative appropriations for pupil transportation amounted to $13,794,000, or 76 percent of the $18,105,890 spent for pupil transportation services. The legislative transportation contribution was raised to $16,175,000 for 1981-82 and to $17,529,720 for 1982-83. Not included in these totals were expenditures for capital outlay and amounts spent by the State School Board and other agencies for supervision of the program. The Foundation study concluded that the Utah program generally provides a safe, efficient system of transporting pupils to and from school. However, it pointed out the following potential problems : 1. The formula for distributing state transportation funds in unduly complicated and difficult to understand. 2. Instead of distributing funds for students eligible to ride the school bus, the formula is based on a "head count" taken twice each year. Because of differences in the methods used in taking this "head count", inequities may occur in the allocation of funds. School officials indicate that they will make the change from "head count" to "eligible students" next year. 3. Some confusion results where districts employ a variety of pupil transportation systems. 4. Duplication of effort and equipment occurs between school districts and other government agencies that must bus people. 5. Funds earmarked for equipment replacement sometimes are used for other purposes. 6. Some weaknesses in the accounting and cost control procedures have not been corrected. |