Fiscal Note
Fiscal Services Division
HF 134 – School Bus Open Enrollment (LSB1362YH)
Staff Contact: Simon Sheaff (515.281.4611) simon.sheaff@legis.iowa.gov
Fiscal Note Version – New
Description
House File 134 relates to the transportation to and from school of pupils participating in open
enrollment. Current law authorizes a receiving school district to send school vehicles into the
district of residence of a pupil who open enrolls and to transport the pupil to and from school in
the receiving school district. The boards of directors of the school district where the student is a
resident and receiving school district agree to this arrangement. The Bill strikes the requirement
that the boards of directors of the resident school district and receiving school district agree to
the arrangement.
Background
Districts are not required to transport students who do not reside in their district. Districts may
transport nonresident students, but if they do, the district is required to charge the parents of
that student a fee. The fee is determined by the average actual cost for all the children
transported in all school buses in the district.
Open-enrolled students are entitled to transportation only if they fall below certain income
thresholds. Those students’ resident districts are required to provide transportation and have
three options for providing that transportation:
• Provide bus transportation to the receiving school district.
• Allow buses from the receiving school district to enter their district lines to pick up the
student.
• Provide reimbursement based on the formula found in Iowa Code section 285.1.
Approximately 38,000 Iowa students were open-enrolled when certified enrollments were
determined on October 1, 2022, for the 2022-2023 school year. Each of the 327 school
districts in the State reported at least one student served through an open enrollment
arrangement.
Assumptions
• The statewide average cost of transporting a student is $843 for the 2022-2023 school year.
• It is unknown how many students wish to receive transportation services from the school
district into which they have open enrolled but have been denied by their resident school
district.
Fiscal Impact
There is no fiscal impact to the State.
There may be a fiscal impact to school districts that choose to provide transportation to students
who open enroll. This cost cannot be determined, since it would vary across school districts
and specific student situations. Additionally, the cost would be voluntarily incurred by school
districts, since they are not required to provide the transportation. Those school districts could
be reimbursed for at least part of the transportation cost by fees paid by parents of the student.
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Source
Department of Education
/s/ Jennifer Acton
January 31, 2023
Doc ID 13679031367903
The fiscal note for this Bill was prepared pursuant to Joint Rule 17 and the Iowa Code. Data used in developing this
fiscal note is available from the Fiscal Services Division of the Legislative Services Agency upon request.
www.legis.iowa.gov
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Statutes affected:
Introduced: 282.18