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S 2788Public Transit

Education - Transportation of School Pupils Beyond City and Town Limits

This bill guarantees full school-year pay for bus drivers, prioritizes electric buses, and limits school committees' disciplinary power over drivers.

Introduced
Population
Affected
35
Email Legislator
Introduced Mar 4, 2026Committee Senate Education

Plain-English Summary

This legislation amends the state laws regarding school transportation. It mandates that school committees cannot sign or renew contracts unless those contracts guarantee pay for bus drivers, monitors, and aides for at least 180 days or the length of the school year. It also establishes a preference for awarding contracts to transportation providers that use electric buses. Furthermore, it prohibits school committees from disciplining unionized bus staff before the bus company conducts its own investigation, and prevents schools from imposing punishments harsher than what is allowed in the workers' union contract.

For younger readers

This new law helps the people who drive school buses and the helpers who ride along to keep kids safe. It says that schools must make sure these workers get paid for every day the school year is supposed to last, even if there are changes to the schedule. It also tells schools to try to pick bus companies that use electric buses because they are better for the air. Finally, it says schools can't punish a driver for a mistake until the bus company looks into it first.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
School bus driversSchool bus monitors and aidesSchool committeesTransportation providersTaxpayers
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost
Amount unknown
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Strengthens labor protections for low-wage workers by guaranteeing income stability for bus drivers and aides for the full school year.
  • Promotes environmental justice and sustainability by legally mandating a preference for vendors who utilize electric buses, helping to reduce carbon emissions.
  • Protects due process and union rights by preventing school committees from circumventing collective bargaining agreements when disciplining staff.
  • Could increase transportation costs for public school districts, potentially diverting limited funds away from classroom instruction or social services for students.
  • The preference for electric buses might inadvertently favor large corporate transportation providers over smaller, local minority-owned businesses that cannot afford expensive fleet upgrades.
  • Restricting the school committee's ability to discipline contracted staff could delay the removal of personnel who may pose a safety risk to students.
For Conservatives
  • Reinforces the sanctity of the employer-employee relationship by preventing government entities (schools) from overstepping into the disciplinary management of private contractor employees.
  • Utilizes a market-based preference for electric vehicles rather than a heavy-handed government ban on internal combustion engines.
  • Ensures that contracts reflect the actual service period (180 days), promoting clear terms of service between vendors and the government.
  • Interferes with the free market and local control by mandating specific payment terms for contracts, which will likely increase costs for taxpayers.
  • Prioritizes union rules over the authority of elected school committees to immediately discipline vendors' employees who interact with children.
  • Pushing for electric buses in government contracts is a costly form of virtue signaling that may result in higher taxes without improving educational outcomes.

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.