School officials discuss SB 381

A bill introduced by New Mexico Sen. Pat Woods is designed to help rural school districts save thousands of dollars in transportation costs by allowing them to use sport utility vehicles instead of school buses.

"It makes sense; it is safe and it could be faster to use an SUV rather than a big school bus to drive students to school when there are just a few students on the route," Woods said.

Woods said he introduced Senate Bill 381 after a school superintendent told him he was required to use a large school bus to transport one student who lived 30 miles from school.

SB 381 would allow schools to use a district-owned SUV instead of a school bus for routes that have six or fewer students on them.

There are some school bus routes in the San Jon School district with four or less students to pick up, said San Jon Superintendent Colin Taylor, adding that having to use a school bus to pick up and drop off two or three students can be expensive. He said this cost is hurting the districts even more with the recent cuts to transportation funding.

"It will help to balance out the cost if we could use a suburban to transport those few students instead of a bus," Taylor said.

Taylor said the cost savings would be in lower fuel cost and maintenance on the larger buses.

Several school districts have to drive a school bus on roads that are poorly maintained and can cause damage to the bus, said Rep. Dennis Roch, who is also he superintendent of Logan Municipal Schools.

Roch said the bill makes sense for those school districts looking for cost-saving alternatives to transport students.

"This bill will help the small rural districts as well as the larger city districts that have students in more remote locations that need to get to school," Woods said.

The bill could have cost savings for the Tucumcari school district with the students from Conchas, but otherwise, most of the routes have more than 10 students to transport, said Dave Johnson, Tucumcari assistant superintendent.

He said it could also benefit Tucumcari in the future if the number of students on routes were to decline.

Woods said cost savings for school districts that already own an SUV could potentially be more than $16,000 annually if these students are currently utilizing school bus transportation. He said given the large number of small school districts in the state, it is likely that numerous districts could benefit from the bill.

According to a release from Woods, as of the 2016-17 school year, eight New Mexico school districts enrolled fewer than 100 students, and an additional 10 districts enrolled between 100 and 200 students.

The bill passed the Senate on Monday in a 38-0 vote and is on route to the House.

Roch said the bill is currently moving through House committees and should be up for a vote soon.