In computing “the average cost of transporting all children of the district” and in computing “the additional cost of transporting handicapped and severely handicapped children” for the purposes of Section 162.985, RSMo 1973 Supp., all expenditures reasonably related to the school district’s transportation program should be included in the computation. The amount of additional state transportation aid authorized by Section 162.985, RSMo 1973 Supp., with respect to handicapped and severely handicapped children should be determined by the following formula: a district’s average cost of transporting a handicapped or severely handicapped child minus average per pupil cost of transporting all children in the district (handicapped, severely handicapped and non-handicapped) times the number of handicapped and severely handicapped children transported divided by two.

SCHOOLS: In computing "the average cost of transporting all children of the district" and in computing "the additional cost of transporting handicapped and severely handicapped children" for the purposes of Section 162.985, RSMo 1973 Supp., all expenditures reasonably related to the school district's transportation program should be included in the computation. The amount of additional state transportation aid authorized by Section 162.985, RSMo 1973 Supp . , with re- spect to handicapped and severely handicapped children should be determined by the following formula: a district's average cost of transporting a handicapped or severely handicapped child minus average per pupil cost of transporting all children in the district (handicapped, severely handicapped and non- handicapped) times the number of handicapped and severely handicapped children transported divided by two. OPINION NO. 33 March 4, 1975 Dr. Arthur L. Mallory Commissioner of Education State Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Jefferson State Office Building Jefferson City, Missouri 65101 Dear Dr. Mallory: FlLED l 3~ I This is in response to your request for an official opinion on the following questions: "Section 162.985, RSMo 1973 Supp. provides that districts transporting handicapped and severely handicapped children in accordance with applicable law, rules and regulations shall receive transportation aid in accor- dance with the schedule of payments set forth in Section 163.161, RSMo, and an additional amount 'equal to half the additional cost of transporting handicapped and severely handi- capped children above the average per pupil Dr. Arthur L. Mallory cost of transporting all children of the district.' What expenditures can legally be included in computing 'average per pupil cost'? What expenditures may be included in computing 'additional cost for transporting handicapped and severely handicapped children'? "Districts organized for 'vocational education and for the education and training of handi- capped and severely handicapped children' will need a higher percentage of specially fitted and equipped vehicles for trans- porting pupils than will those districts serving all resident pupils. What expendi- tures can be included in computing average per pupil cost? What expenditures can be included in computing additional cost?" Section 162.985 provides as follows: "Transportation aid for handicapped and severely handicapped students attending classes within the school district, spe- cial district or nearby district under a contractual arrangement shall be paid in accordance with the schedule set forth in section 163.161, RSMo. In addition, an amount equal to half of the additional cost of transporting handicapped and severely handicapped children above the average per pupil cost of transporting all children of the district shall be apportioned where such special trans- portation is approved in advance by the state department of education and is in accordance with laws and regulations governing school transportation vehicles. If children are transported to regular public school programs and also to a special school for an appropriate special program, the district furnishing the transportation may qualify for trans- portation reimbursement for both programs if. approved by the state department of education." -2- Dr. Arthur L. Mallory Question No. 1 What expenditures can properly be included in computing "average per pupil cost?" As used in Section 162.985, "average per pupil cost" re- lates to the average cost of "transporting all children of the district •••. " You have not requested advice on the propriety of including a particular expenditure in the com- putation of this average. We decline to attempt to list all expenditures which should be included. The General Assembly has given to the State Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the State Board of Educa- tion the general responsibility for distributing state financial aid to school districts, including transportation aid. See Sections 162.985, 163.031, et seq., and 163.161. Therefore, the State Department of Elementary and Secondary Education or the State Board of Education should determine which ex- penditures are reasonably related to a district's transporta- tion program and require that these expenditures be used in computing this average. For years Section 163.161 has required that state re- imbursement for transportation expenses cannot exceed the "actual cost per pupil" of a district's transportation pro- gram. Therefore, some guidance in determining expenditures to be included in the average per pupil cost of transporting all children of the district can be obtained from the practice of the State Board of Education and the State Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in enforcing the provisions of Section 163.161. Question No. 2 What expenditures can be included in computing "the additional cost of transporting handicapped and severely handicapped children?" As with the expenditures to be included in determining the average cost of transporting all pupils, you have not presented this office with any particular expenditure about which there is a question. We decline to attempt to list all appropriate expenditures. However, we believe that all expenditures reason- ably related to the transportation of handicapped and severely -3- Dr. Arthur L. Mallory handicapped pupils should be included in computing the additional transportation costs. Question No. 3 With reference to special school districts organized pursuant to Section 162.825, et seq., what expenditures can be included in computing "average per pupil cost?" The type of expenditures which can be included for special districts in computing "average per pupil cost" would be the same as for regular school districts. See answer to question No. 1. Because special school districts transport vocational students as well as handicapped and severely handicapped students, a special school district's "average per pupil cost of transporting all children" should be somewhat less than the district's average per pupil cost of transporting handicapped and severely handicapped children. Therefore, a special district should have some "additional cost of trans- porting handicapped and severely handicapped children ... " so as to qualify for special transportation aid under Section 162 . 985. Undoubtedly there would be less special transporta- tion aid on a per capita basis for a special district than for a regular district because the "average per pupil cost of transporting all children" would probably be lower in most regular districts than in most special districts. This result seems somewhat anomalous in view of the fact that such districts carry the entire burden of educating handicapped and severely handicapped children in their areas. However, it is not our function to redraft legislative enactments. Question No. 4 What expenditures can be included for special districts in computing "the additional cost of transporting handicapped and severely handi- capped children?" I believe this question is f ully answered by the answer to question No. 2 herein. -4- Dr. Arthur L. Mallory Question No. 5 How should the statutory formula in Section 162.985, RSMo 1973 Supp., be interpreted? As a result of subsequent communication we understand you also request guidance in interpreting the statutory formula appearing in Section 162.985, RSMo 1973 Supp. The statutory formula first calls for computation of average per pupil cost of transporting all children in the district since only costs in excess of this figure are eli- gible for state aid. Taking the term "all" in its ordinary meaning, we believe that the average per pupil transportation cost is to be computed by dividing all transportation costs (including those pertaining to handicapped and severely handicapped children) by the total number of pupils trans- ported (including handicapped and severely handicapped chil- dren) • Note that the statute does not refer to the average cost of transporting "all other" chiia"ren. In the absence of a term such as "other" average cost must be determined on the basis of both handicapped, severely handicapped, and non- handicapped children. The statute then provides that school districts shall receive aid in the amount of one-half of the additional cost above this average figure. The statute speaks of this ad- ditional cost in terms of a gross amount, but then provides that it must be in excess of an average amount. Thus, al- though the statute does not specifically provide for the computation of another average figure, we believe that this must be done in order to arrive at a logical cost figure . In the context of the statute, we believe the second average figure must be the average cost of transporting handicapped and severely handicappe~ . ch~ldren. Thus, the additional cost of transporting handicapped and severely handic.apped children is the average per pupil cost of transporting such children minus the average per pupil cost of transporting all children times the number of handi- capped and severely handicapped children transported. One- half of this difference is the amount of state aid. -5- Dr. Arthur L. Mallory As to how this formula applies to special school districts organized for "vocational education and for the education and training of handicapped and severely handicapped children" we believe that the above computations should be made on the same basis as regular school districts. CONCLUSION It is the op~n~on of this office that in computing "the average cost of transporting all children of t he district" and in computing "the additional cost of transporting handicapped and severely handicapped children" for the purposes of Section 162.985, RSMo 1973 Supp. , all expenditures reasonably related to the school district's transportation program should be in- cluded in the computation. It is the further opinion of this office that the amount of additional state transportation aid authorized by Section 162.985, RSMo 1973 Supp., with respect to handicapped and severely handicapped children should be determined by the fol- lowing formula: a district's average cost of transporting a handicapped or severely handicapped child minus average per pupil cost of transporting all children in the district (handicapped, severely handicapped and non-handicapped) times the number of handicapped and severely handicapped children transported divided by two. This opinion, which I hereby approve, was prepared by my assistant, Robert Presson. Very truly yours, ~ L ;J_______f~ JOHN C. DANFORTH Attorney General -6-