ROBERT L. EHRLICH, JR., Governor                              Ch. 38

student transportation shall be equal to the amount of the county's base grant for
student transportation for the previous year increased by the same percentage as the
increase in the private transportation category of the Consumer Price Index for all
urban consumers, for the Washington-Baltimore metropolitan area, as of July of the
fiscal year preceding the year for which the amount is being calculated, plus an
additional amount equal to the product of:

(i) The total amount of funds distributed by the State as base
grants for student transportation for the previous fiscal year divided by the statewide
full-time equivalent enrollment for the previous fiscal year; and

(ii) The difference between the full-time equivalent enrollment in a
county for the current fiscal year and the full-time equivalent enrollment in the
county for the previous fiscal year, or, if the full-time equivalent enrollment in a
county for the current fiscal year is less than the full-time equivalent enrollment in
the county for the previous fiscal year, zero.

(3) The increase in the amount of a base grant for student transportation
that is based on the increase in the private transportation category of the Consumer
Price Index may not be less than 3 percent nor more than 8 percent of the amount of
the grant for the previous year.

(d) For each fiscal year, in addition to the base grant for student
transportation provided under subsection (c) of this section, a disabled student
transportation grant shall be distributed to each county board. The amount of the
grant to each board shall be equal to the product of the number of disabled students
requiring special transportation services who are transported by the county board in
the [second prior] PREVIOUS fiscal year and:

(1)     $600 in fiscal year 2004

(2)     $700 in fiscal year 2005

(3)     $800 in fiscal year 2006

(4)     $900 in fiscal year 2007

and

(5) $1,000 in fiscal year 2008 and each fiscal year thereafter.

(e)     For the purposes of determining the amount of the grant provided under
subsection (d) of this section, the State Board shall develop a procedure and adopt
regulations for determining the number of disabled students transported in each
jurisdiction in the [second prior] PREVIOUS fiscal year.

(f)      The State Board shall adopt rules and regulations that provide for the safe
operation of the student transportation system of each county board of education.

SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take
effect July 1, 2004 and shall be applicable to disabled student transportation grants
distributed in fiscal year 2006 and each fiscal year thereafter.

Approved April 13, 2004.

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