S2082

An Act establishing a regional transportation coordinator unit in the office of the executive county superintendent of schools and supplementing chapter 39 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. a. There is established in each office of the executive county superintendent of schools, a regional transportation coordinator unit to undertake activities to improve the coordination of pupil transportation services within the county. The goals of the unit shall be to realize transportation cost savings for school districts within the county and reduce the number of in-lieu-of payments made to parents and guardians of nonpublic school pupils through the provision of additional nonpublic school transportation through better route design and coordination.

b. The duties and responsibilities of the regional transportation coordinator unit shall include, but need not be limited to:

(1) analyzing all pupil transportation services provided in the county, including public, nonpublic, and special education, to determine ways in which the services could be improved through coordination of efforts;

(2) negotiating, when feasible, with school districts, nonpublic schools and regional transportation coordinator units in other counties for changes in the provision of pupil transportation services in order to meet the goals of the unit set forth in subsection a. of this section; and

(3) utilizing the expertise of other governmental entities in the execution of its duties, including but not limited to, county special services school districts and educational services commissions that provide coordinated transportation services.

c. In addition to the duties and responsibilities prescribed pursuant to subsection b. of the section, the executive county superintendent may delegate to the unit any of his powers and duties prescribed pursuant to chapters 7 and 39 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes as he may deem desirable to be exercised under his supervision and direction.

2. This act shall take effect on the 180th day after the date of enactment.

STATEMENT

This bill establishes in each office of the executive county superintendent of schools, a regional transportation coordinator unit to undertake activities to improve the coordination of pupil transportation services within the county. The bill sets forth two primary goals for the unit: to realize transportation cost savings for school districts within the county; and to reduce the number of in-lieu-of payments made to parents and guardians of nonpublic school pupils through the provision of additional nonpublic school transportation through better route design and coordination.

The duties and responsibilities of the unit will include, but need not be limited to:

Under current law the executive county superintendent has certain responsibilities in regard to pupil transportation. For example, under section 1 of P.L.1997, c.53 (C.18A:39-11.1) the executive county superintendent is required to: assist local boards of education and the chief school administrators of nonpublic schools in coordinating the schedules of the public and nonpublic schools to facilitate the coordination of pupil transportation; arbitrate any disputes between local boards of education and the chief school administrators of nonpublic schools regarding pupil transportation; and convene a meeting, at least once a year, of representatives of all public and nonpublic schools in the county to discuss issues related to pupil transportation. This bill permits the executive county superintendent to delegate to the unit any of his powers and duties regarding pupil transportation, and provides that the powers and duties will be exercised by the unit under the executive county superintendent’s supervision and direction.