| R 404 |
| 2024 -- H 7615 SUBSTITUTE A Enacted 06/26/2024 |
| J O I N T R E S O L U T I O N |
| CREATING A SPECIAL JOINT LEGISLATIVE COMMISSION TO STUDY STUDENT TRANSPORTATION NEEDS AND SYSTEM COSTS |
Introduced By: Representatives Cortvriend, and McGaw |
| Date Introduced: February 15, 2024 |
| WHEREAS, Rhode Island General Law § 16-21.1-2. establishes school bus districts |
| within the state to provide bus transportation in the interest of public safety, health, and welfare |
| for pupils in grades kindergarten through twelve, or in special education programs who attend |
| public schools, regional schools, and nonpublic nonprofit schools which are consolidated, or |
| regionalized, and where said school bus districts originally established in 1977, are not |
| contiguously aligned, resulting in increased transportation costs for many districts; and |
| WHEREAS, Rhode Island General Law § 16-21.1-8. mandates an out-of-district |
| statewide school transportation system and requires a fee be paid to the Department of |
| Elementary and Secondary Education, thus preventing school districts from exploring more cost- |
| effective ways of providing transportation; and |
| WHEREAS, Staffing shortages in the Rhode Island public transit authority have caused |
| students attending the Providence public schools to be absent from or late for school; now, |
| therefore be it |
| RESOLVED, That a special legislative commission on Student Transportation Needs and |
| System Costs be and the same is hereby created consisting of thirteen (13) members: three (3) of |
| whom shall be members of the House of Representatives, not more than two (2) from the same |
| political party, to be appointed by the Speaker of the House; three (3) of whom shall be members |
| of the Senate, not more than two (2) from the same political party, to be appointed by the |
| President of the Senate; one of whom shall be the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary |
| Education, or designee; one of whom shall be the President of the Rhode Island School |
| Association of School Committees, or designee; one of whom shall be the President of the Rhode |
| Island School Superintendents Association, or designee; one of whom shall be the Chair of the |
| Board for the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority, or designee; one of whom shall be the |
| Secretary/Treasurer of Teamsters Local 251, or designee; one of whom shall be the Director of |
| the RI Department of Children, Youth & Families, or designee; and one of whom shall be a |
| student from a school district currently experiencing transportation problems due to the existing |
| statewide system, to be appointed by the Speaker of the House. |
| In lieu of any appointment of a member of the legislature to a legislative study |
| commission, or any commission created by a General Assembly resolution, the appointing |
| authority may appoint a member of the general public to serve in lieu of a legislator, provided that |
| the majority leader or the minority leader of the political party which is entitled to the |
| appointment consents to the appointment of the member of the general public. |
| The purpose of said commission shall be to evaluate and determine the transportation |
| needs of students, the most cost-effective way of providing transportation services, whether |
| transportation costs should be incorporated into the education funding formula's core foundation |
| amount, and what changes, if any, need to be made in chapter 21.1 of title 16 of the Rhode Island |
| general laws. |
| Forthwith upon passage of this resolution, the members of the commission shall meet at |
| the call of the Speaker of the House and President of the Senate and shall select, from among the |
| legislators, co-chairpersons. |
| Vacancies in said commission shall be filled in like manner as the original appointment. |
| The membership of said commission shall receive no compensation for their services. |
| All departments and agencies of the state shall furnish such advice and information, |
| documentary and otherwise, to said commission and its agents as is deemed necessary or |
| desirable by the commission to facilitate the purposes of this resolution. |
| The Speaker of the House is hereby authorized and directed to provide suitable quarters |
| for said commission; and be it further |
| RESOLVED, That the commission shall report its findings and recommendations to the |
| General Assembly no later than April 16, 2025, and said commission shall expire on May 27, |
| 2025. |
| ======== |
| LC005072/SUB A/2 |
| ======== |