Companion bills S.560 and H.3075 would obligate the state to provide transportation to school to students who reside any further than 0.3 miles from the school they attend. Under current law the state assumes no obligation to transport students who reside no further than 1.5 miles from their school. The bills would also allow the state to assume the responsibility of transporting students living within 0.3 miles distance from a school if there are “hazardous traffic conditions” involved.
The state should be stepping back from providing transportation for local school districts not increasing its obligations. South Carolina is one of the only states where the State rather than the county or local school districts provides buses. This arrangement leads to unnecessary state expenditures, and a rigid one size fits all transportation policy that prevents school districts from managing buses/student transportation in a way that best serves their students. Increasing the number of students the state is obligated to transport will only exacerbate problems with the current system.