Report 2006-109 All Recommendation Responses
Report 2006-109: Home-to-School Transportation Program: The Funding Formula Should Be Modified to Be More Equitable (Release Date: March 2007)
Recommendation #1 To: Education, Department of
To determine the fiscal impact on school districts that do not receive the Home-to-School program funds, Education should identify all school districts that provide transportation services to their students but are not eligible to receive state funds for the Home-to-School program from Education for regular education transportation, special education transportation, or both.
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From January 2010
Education just recently conducted a comparison of the local educational agencies (LEAs) that report expenditures via the standardized account code structure (SACs) as well as the county-district-school (CDS) file of all LEAs to identify the LEAs that receive transportation funding. This comparison allows Education to identify the LEAs that report pupil transportation expenditures but are not eligible to receive Home-to-school Program funding. (See 2009-041 p. 20)
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Fully Implemented
Recommendation #2 To: Education, Department of
To determine the fiscal impact on school districts that do not receive the Home-to-School program funds, Education should determine the actual costs these school districts incur and the funding sources they use to pay them.
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From January 2011
The Department of Education utilized the Standardized Account Code Structure (SACS) reporting system to capture transportation data reported by local educational agencies that do not receive Pupil Transportation funding. Expenditure data were then cross-referenced with reported revenue to identify the source of funding used to pay for the reported transportation services. (See 2010-041 p. 22)
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Fully Implemented
Recommendation #3 To: Education, Department of
To ensure that all school districts can participate and receive state funds for the Home-to-School program to help defray some of the cost of providing transportation services to students, Education should seek legislation to revise the current laws to ensure that all school districts that provide transportation services to regular education, special education, or both are eligible for funding.
6-Month Agency Response
Education stated that it submitted a Budget Change Proposal for the fiscal year 200809 budget for a new consultant position to, among other things, develop a pupil transportation funding reform proposal aimed at ensuring that all eligible school districts receive state funds for the Home-to-School program. (2008-406, p. 152)
- Response Date: September 2007
California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Resolved
Chapter 155, Statutes of 2008 (ACR 114), does not specifically change Home-to-School program funding. However, it requests that the superintendent of Public Instruction convene a committee to investigate cost savings and best practices for school districts operating Home-to-School programs. AB 699 and AB 694 of the 200708 Regular Session did not pass, but would have changed Home-to-School funding. (2008-701, p. 1)
Recommendation #4 To: Education, Department of
To ensure that school districts are funded equitably for the Home-to-School program, Education should seek legislation to revise the law to ensure that funding is flexible enough to account for changes that affect school districts? transportation programs, such as large increases in enrollment.
6-Month Agency Response
Education stated that it submitted a Budget Change Proposal for the fiscal year 200809 budget for a new consultant position to, among other things, develop a pupil transportation funding reform proposal aimed at ensuring that all eligible school districts receive state funds for the Home-to-School program. (2008-406, p. 152)
- Response Date: September 2007
California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Resolved
Chapter 155, Statutes of 2008 (ACR 114), does not specifically change Home-to-School program funding. However, it requests that the superintendent of Public Instruction convene a committee to investigate cost savings and best practices for school districts operating Home-to-School programs. AB 699 and AB 694 of the 200708 Regular Session did not pass, but would have changed Home-to-School funding. (2008-701, p. 1)
All Recommendations in 2006-109
Agency responses received after June 2013 are posted verbatim.