• Home »
• Newsroom »
• News Releases »
• Year 2007

SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today announced that 130 grantees will share $10.3 million in Small School District and County Office School Bus Replacement grants. For the list of grantees, please visit Funding Results: Small School District and County Office School Bus Replacement and Funding Results: Small School District and County Office School Bus Replacement.

"Parents trust that schools transport their most precious cargo – our children – to school each day on buses that are safe," said O'Connell. "These grants are designed to help schools modernize their fleet to keep buses safe and replace them in order to comply with federal safety standards."

The California Budget Acts of 2005 and 2006 provided funds for the school bus replacement program. Eligible applicants included small school districts, direct-funded charter schools, and county offices of education with an average daily attendance of less than 2,501 students. Priority was given for bus replacement based on excess age and mileage, and condition of the vehicle. In 2006-07, the same priorities for bus replacement were used. Originally, the grants were allocated to help schools replace buses made before 1977 that failed to conform to federal safety standards regarding bus passenger seating. But because of the dwindling number of pre-1977 buses, the California Department of Education used a provision of the law to expand funding to include buses made before 1992 that failed to conform to the federal safety standard concerning bus pedestrian safety devices.

The first funding result lists the 2005-06 grantees for pre-1992 buses. For more information on the grant, please visit Past Funding Profile (ID 1053): Small School District and County Office School Bus Replacement. The second funding result lists the 2006-07 grantees that had pre-1992 buses that needed replacement. For more information on the grants, please visit Past Funding Profile (ID 1054): Small School District and County Office School Bus Replacement.