| Public school enrollment
(K-12) |
773,073
|
| Number of children in public schools
transported at public expense |
523,650 (68%)
(1996-97 school year)
|
| Total number of yellow
school buses in state |
7,725
|
| Percentage of older (pre-1977)* school
buses still in service |
6%
|
| Number of school-age children who
were killed as a passenger in a school bus vehicle** |
0
|
| Number of school-age children who
sustained incapacitating injuries as a passenger in a school
bus vehicle** |
0
|
| Number of school-age children killed
as passengers, during normal school transportation hours***,
in passenger vehicles** |
9
|
| Number of school-age children who
sustained incapacitating injuries, during normal school transportation
hours***, in passenger vehicles** |
6
|
| Pupil transportation
budget |
$227,676,450
|
| Cost per pupil for those transported
at public expense |
$423
|
** Based on the latest available
data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) which
is a reporting service provided by the National Highway Safety
Transportation Administration (NHSTA).
***6:00 a.m. to 8:59 a.m. and 2:00
p.m. to 4:59 p.m., Monday through Friday, September 1 through
June 15.
back to top
Commentary
If the reader has been tracking the statistics through
the states in this report, the first number that will jump out
is the percentage of pre-1977 school buses still on the road in
Louisiana.
Six percent, in the 1997-1998 school year, represents
426 school buses manufactured prior to April 1, 1977, when major
safety features were mandated by the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standards. This is a problem that the state has solved through
the following actions.
Prior to 1999, there were no restrictions on the
age of used school buses a driver/owner or school district could
purchase from a dealer or from a previous owner. As of this date,
the State of Louisiana now restricts used school buses to be no
older than 10 years on the date of purchase.
This legislative action has immediately reduced
the number of pre-1977 school buses from 426 in 1998 to 348 in
1999, a reduction of 18.3 percent. All pre-1977 school buses are
required to be out of the pupil transportation system by September
30, 2003.
The funding of transporting children to and from
school in Louisiana should be a concern for all parents. All school
districts are funded by the state through the State Minimum Foundation
Program. That simply means the last word in transportation funding
for a particular school system squarely rests with the local board
of education. Reports indicate that funding of pupil transportation
for 1998-1999, at the district level, went up slightly over the
1997-1998 school year by 3.66 percent. Considering inflation,
there has been no real increase in funding.
Aside from issues of raising the funding levels,
the leadership of Louisiana's pupil transportation community encourages
parents, especially parents of teenagers, to endorse their children
riding in a school bus. The nine children who lost their lives
in the 1997-1998 school year in passenger vehicles during normal
school transportation hours were all teenagers.
back to state-by-state
analysis
back
to top
