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H 7460Labor Relations

Education - Transportation of School Pupils Beyond City and Town Limits

This bill allows school districts to hire their own bus services if cheaper and protects bus drivers' pay and union rights.

Held for study
Population
Affected
35
Email Legislator
Introduced Jan 30, 2026Committee House Finance

Plain-English Summary

This legislation amends Rhode Island's laws regarding the statewide school transportation system. It allows local school districts and municipalities to opt out of the state-run busing system if they can prove to the Commissioner of Education that contracting independently is more cost-effective. The bill ensures that districts opting out are not penalized in state aid allocations. Additionally, the bill mandates that transportation contracts guarantee pay for drivers and aides for the full school year, establishes a preference for vendors using electric buses, and prohibits school committees from disciplining unionized bus staff prior to an investigation by their employer.

For younger readers

This law changes the rules for school buses. It says that towns can hire their own bus companies instead of using the big state system, but only if they can prove it saves money. It also says that when schools pick bus companies, they should try to pick ones that use electric buses, which are better for the air. The law also makes sure bus drivers get paid for the whole school year. Finally, it stops schools from unfairly punishing bus drivers before their bosses investigate what happened, following the rules the drivers agreed to.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
School DistrictsBus Drivers and MonitorsStudentsTaxpayersTransportation Vendors
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost
Amount unknown
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Strengthens labor rights by prohibiting school committees from bypassing collective bargaining agreements regarding the discipline of bus drivers and aides.
  • Promotes environmental justice and sustainability by mandating a preference for transportation providers that utilize electric buses.
  • Protects the financial stability of low-wage workers by requiring contracts to guarantee payment to drivers and monitors for the full 180-day school year.
  • Allowing districts to opt out based on cost could fragment the statewide system, potentially reducing bargaining power and efficiency for the remaining, likely poorer, districts.
  • The focus on "cost-effectiveness" for opting out might encourage a race to the bottom regarding worker wages and benefits in local contracts to achieve savings.
  • Decentralization may lead to inequities in service quality between wealthy municipalities that can manage their own contracts and those reliant on the state system.
For Conservatives
  • Empowers local municipalities with the freedom to opt out of a centralized state bureaucracy if they can demonstrate fiscal responsibility and savings.
  • Encourages competition and market-based solutions by allowing local education agencies to find more cost-effective transportation options than the state provides.
  • Reduces state-level control over local school budgets by ensuring districts aren't penalized in state aid for choosing independent contractors.
  • Imposes government interference in the free market by mandating a preference for electric vehicles, which may be more expensive than traditional options.
  • Restricts the authority of school committees to discipline contracted personnel, prioritizing union agreements over immediate administrative oversight.
  • Mandates payment for 180 days regardless of service needs, potentially increasing costs for taxpayers to subsidize union contracts.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 10 additions

SECTION 1. Section 16-21.1-8 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-21.1 entitled "Transportation of School Pupils Beyond City and Town Limits [See Title 16 Chapter 97 — The Rhode Island Board of Education Act]" is hereby amended to read as follows: 16-21.1-8. Statewide transportation system for all students. (a)(1) Notwithstanding the regional structure created in this chapter, and upon implementation of a statewide school transportation system for all students, each school committee shall purchase the transportation services for their own resident students by accessing this integrated statewide system of transportation on a fee-for-service basis for each child; provided, however, that any school committee that fulfills its transportation obligations predominantly through the use of district-owned buses or district employees may apply for a variance from the commissioner of education, or the commissioner’s designee, thereby requesting that its transportation obligations continue to be achieved through the use of the buses owned by the district and staffed by district employees. All fees paid for transportation services provided to students under the statewide system shall be paid into a statewide student transportation services restricted receipt account within the department of elementary and secondary education. Payments from the account shall be limited to payments to the transportation service provider and transportation system consultants. This restricted receipt account shall not be subject to the indirect cost recoveries provisions set forth in § 35-4-27. The goals of the statewide system of transportation for all students shall be the reduction of duplication of cost and routes in transporting children from the various cities and towns using different buses within and between each city and town, the improvement of services to children through the development of shorter ride times and more efficient routes of travel, and the reduction of cost to local school committees through achieving efficiency in eliminating the need for each school district to contract for and provide these transportation services separately.

(2) Any and all local education agencies and/or municipalities may contract out of the statewide transportation system if they can find a more cost-effective option than the current fee- for-service model as set forth in subsection (a)(1) of this section; provided, however, the local educational agency and/or municipality shall demonstrate financial savings to the state education commissioner in order to opt out of statewide transportation and contract transportation for their students. If the education commissioner approves the request of the local education agency and/or municipality to opt out of statewide transportation, then said local education agency and/or municipality shall not be penalized in any and all state aid appropriations for contracting the service.

(b) There shall be deducted from the final aid payment to each school district any amounts owed to the state at the end of the fiscal year for transportation of the district’s students under the statewide transportation system established pursuant to this section. Districts shall receive monthly invoices summarizing the basis of the transportation fees charged. Any such deductions in aid shall be transferred to the statewide student transportation services restricted receipt account, as set forth in § 35-4-27.

(c) No school committee shall negotiate, extend, or renew any public transportation service contract unless the contract provides for payments to school bus drivers, attendants, monitors, and aides for one hundred and eighty (180) days or the length of the contracted-for school year, whichever is longer.

(d) With respect to any contract entered into under this section, a school committee or local education agency shall give a preference in contract and/or subcontract awards to the public transportation provider that uses electric buses to the greatest extent. This preference shall be given equal weight to any other preferences available to vendors.

(e) With respect to any contract entered into under this section, no school committee or local education agency (“LEA”) shall take any adverse disciplinary action against any school bus driver, attendant, monitor, or aide covered by a collective bargaining agreement prior to any investigation or action taken by the contracting entity as provided for in the collective bargaining agreement. Nor shall the school committee or LEA impose discipline in excess of what is provided for in the governing collective bargaining agreement.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.