House Bill 256, Smart School Bus Safety Pilot Program, First Edition (Session 2021)

Summary

House Bill 256 of the General Assembly of North Carolina, Session 2021, First Edition, with the short title Smart Sch. Bus Safety Pilot/Certain Counties, referred to Education - K-12 on March 11, 2021. The bill is an act to establish the Smart School Bus Safety Pilot Program in certain counties. Section 1(a) directs the Department of Public Instruction to establish the Program beginning with the 2021-2022 school year and ending on or before January 1, 2025, to modernize the transportation of public school students through technology in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill authorizes listed local school administrative units to participate, sets dollar amounts for them, and takes effect July 1, 2021.

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“House Bill 256, Smart School Bus Safety Pilot Program, First Edition (Session 2021).” Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2020-06-04-h256v1-d4069d9b82/, SHA-256 ed4df43f84abdc9af0f61766d2b1867505662886df3eadb062204a5d0dc2da5c.

Full text

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2021
H 1
HOUSE BILL 256

Short Title: Smart Sch. Bus Safety Pilot/Certain Counties. (Public)
Sponsors: Representatives Strickland, Bell, Lambeth, and D. Hall (Primary Sponsors).
For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
Referred to: Education - K-12, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
March 11, 2021

1 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
2 AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE SMART SCHOOL BUS SAFETY PILOT PROGRAM IN
3 CERTAIN COUNTIES.
4 The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
5 SECTION 1.(a) Pilot Program; Purpose. – The Department of Public Instruction
6 shall establish the Smart School Bus Safety Pilot Program (Program), beginning with the
7 2021-2022 school year and ending on or before January 1, 2025. The purpose of the Program is
8 to modernize the transportation of public school students through technology in response to the
9 COVID-19 pandemic.
10 SECTION 1.(b) Participation. – As part of the Program, participating local school
11 administrative units shall identify and contract with qualifying vendors, as determined by the
12 unit, to provide technology and services for student transportation in accordance with this section.
13 The following local school administrative units are authorized to participate in the Program,
14 subject to the requirements of this section:
15 (1) Caldwell County Schools.
16 (2) Clinton City Schools.
17 (3) Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public Schools.
18 (4) Elkin City Schools.
19 (5) Gaston County Schools.
20 (6) Harnett County Schools.
21 (7) Hickory City Schools.
22 (8) Johnston County Schools.
23 (9) Martin County Schools.
24 (10) New Hanover County Schools.
25 (11) Sampson County Schools.
26 (12) Surry County Schools.
27 (13) Union County Public Schools.
28 (14) Watauga County Schools.
29 (15) Wayne County Public Schools.
30 (16) Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools.
31 (17) Yadkin County Schools.
32 Any local board of education of a local school administrative unit authorized to
33 participate in the Program may elect not to participate. For each local school administrative unit
34 that elects not to participate in the Program, the Department may authorize one replacement local
35 school administrative unit with a similar population of students to participate in the Program.

*H256-v-1*
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2021
1 SECTION 1.(c) Technology and Services. – Qualifying vendors shall provide
2 technology and services for student transportation to participating local school administrative
3 units. Participating units shall have discretion over the specific technology and services provided
4 as long as the technology and services meet the following minimum requirements:
5 (1) Improve overall communications and reporting on school buses.
6 (2) Enable employee time tracking, student ridership tracking, and contact tracing
7 in the event of a COVID-19 infection.
8 (3) Enable global positioning system (GPS) tracking of school buses.
9 (4) Enable turn-by-turn navigation along bus routes.
10 (5) Optimize time, expenditure, and safety of bus routes.
11 (6) Provide pre- and post-trip vehicle inspections that may be transmitted to the
12 Department of Public Instruction on a regular basis.
13 (7) Communicate ridership information to the student information management
14 system.
15 (8) Permit parents or legal guardians to access applicable information.
16 (9) Conform to applicable guidance provided by the North Carolina Department
17 of Health and Human Services for the transportation of students during the
18 COVID-19 pandemic.
19 (10) Facilitate the receipt of Medicaid reimbursement for eligible student
20 transportation services.
21 SECTION 1.(d) Requirements and Contingencies. – The following requirements
22 and contingencies shall apply to each participating local school administrative unit:
23 (1) Every school bus in a participating local school administrative unit designed
24 for the transportation of children with disabilities shall be outfitted with
25 technology provided pursuant to the Program as long as the technology is
26 appropriate for children with disabilities and can be provided in a
27 cost-effective manner.
28 (2) At the conclusion of the Program, all hardware provided to a participating
29 local school administrative unit shall become the property of the unit.
30 (3) Participating local school administrative units shall make use of technology
31 or services provided pursuant to the Program at least through the conclusion
32 of the 2023-2024 school year.
33 SECTION 1.(e) Reports. – No later than July 1, 2022, and annually thereafter in any
34 year in which the Program is in effect, the Department of Public Instruction, in consultation with
35 each participating local school administrative unit, shall report at least all of the following
36 information to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee, any committee constituted
37 by the House of Representatives or Senate to address school safety, and the Fiscal Research
38 Division:
39 (1) An itemized breakdown of software infrastructure, hardware infrastructure,
40 and equipment provided by qualifying vendors to participating local school
41 administrative units pursuant to the Program.
42 (2) A description of all services provided by qualifying vendors to participating
43 local school administrative units pursuant to the Program.
44 (3) A list of qualifying vendors contracting with participating local school
45 administrative units pursuant to the Program.
46 (4) The impact and effectiveness of the Program.
47 (5) All expenditures of State funds pursuant to the Program.
48 SECTION 2. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of
49 Public Instruction the sum of eleven million thirty-nine thousand three hundred thirty dollars
50 ($11,039,330) in nonrecurring funds for the 2021-2022 fiscal year to establish the Smart School
51 Bus Safety Pilot Program in accordance with this act. These funds shall be allocated as follows:

Page 2 House Bill 256-First Edition
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2021
1 (1) $538,991 to Caldwell County Schools.
2 (2) $128,611 to Clinton City Schools.
3 (3) $399,479 to Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public Schools.
4 (4) $50,076 to Elkin City Schools.
5 (5) $902,052 to Gaston County Schools.
6 (6) $975,950 to Harnett County Schools.
7 (7) $150,427 to Hickory City Schools.
8 (8) $1,315,128 to Johnston County Schools.
9 (9) $251,850 to Martin County Schools.
10 (10) $908,718 to New Hanover County Schools.
11 (11) $478,157 to Sampson County Schools.
12 (12) $370,697 to Surry County Schools.
13 (13) $1,517,406 to Union County Public Schools.
14 (14) $310,659 to Watauga County Schools.
15 (15) $1,078,412 to Wayne County Public Schools.
16 (16) $1,455,755 to Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools.
17 (17) $206,962 to Yadkin County Schools.
18 SECTION 3. This act becomes effective July 1, 2021.

House Bill 256-First Edition Page 3

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