SB 1683 Summary

• Establishes the Transportation Support for Enrollment Options Grant Program, allowing parents of students attending open enrollment schools or charter schools to apply for monthly transportation grants up to $80 per month beginning in the 2021-2022 school year.

• Creates the Parent Options for School Transportation Grant Program, permitting school districts and charter schools to use a portion of their transportation funding to provide grants to parents of students in their schools, with monthly reporting requirements to the Department of Education.

• Appropriates $10,000,000 from the state general fund in fiscal year 2021-2022 to the State Board of Education for distributing transportation grants: $5,000,000 for public school transportation modernization grants, $3,000,000 for family transportation stipend grants, and $2,000,000 for improved municipal bus route grants.

• Requires the State Board of Education to collaborate with the State Board for Charter Schools in developing grant applications and selecting recipients, with at least 25 percent of modernization and stipend grants directed to rural and remote proposals when sufficient applications are available.

• Both new grant programs are set to terminate on July 1, 2031.