S623 Summary: School Bus Flexibility

• Expands school bus usage beyond elderly transportation to include government entities and nonprofit corporations (tax-exempt under Internal Revenue Code) through agreements with local boards of education.

• Permits school bus use during legal holidays, weekends, and breaks between school years in addition to existing uses.

• Requires local boards of education to establish annual policies setting hourly and mileage charges covering all costs (depreciation, fuel, labor, maintenance, wages, insurance) and report schedules to the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

• Requires full reimbursement of all costs to the board of education, liability insurance protection with minimum limits equal to maximum Tort Claims Act damages, and that boards be held harmless from liability.

• Restricts bus travel to within North Carolina state boundaries and requires boards to reject agreements if private carriers bid lower than the board's established fee schedule.