Section 281.17.9. Transportation.

       17.9(1) Parent responsibilities. The parent/guardian of a pupil who has been accepted for open enrollment shall be responsible to transport the pupil without reimbursement, except as provided in subrule 17.9(2), to and from a point on a regular school bus route of the receiving district. This point shall be a designated stop on the bus route of the receiving district. If this point—designated stop— is within the distances established by Iowa Code section 285.1 from the school designated for attendance by the receiving district, that district may, but is not required to, provide transportation for an open enrollment pupil. A receiving district may send buses into a resident district solely for the purpose of transporting an open enrollment pupil if the boards of both the sending and receiving districts agree to this arrangement. Bus routes that are outside the boundary of the receiving district that have been authorized by an area education agency board of directors, as provided by Iowa Code subsection 285.9(3), may be used to transport open enrollment pupils if boards of directors of the resident and receiving districts have both taken action to approve such an arrangement. Bus routes that have been established by the receiving district for the purpose of transporting nonpublic school or special education pupils that operate in the resident district of an open enrollment pupil shall not be utilized for the transportation of such pupil for the portion of the route that is within the resident district unless the boards of directors of the resident and receiving districts have both taken action to approve such an arrangement. Bus routes transporting pupils for the purpose of whole-grade sharing shall not be used to transport open enrollment pupils for the portion of the route that is within the resident district unless the boards of directors of the resident and receiving districts have both taken action to approve such an arrangement.

       17.9(2) Qualifications and provisions for transportation assistance. Open enrollment pupils that meet the economic eligibility requirements established by the department of education shall receive transportation assistance from their resident district under the following conditions. The resident district is not required to provide any transportation assistance for a pupil involved in open enrollment with a district that is not contiguous with the pupil’s resident district. The resident district shall provide transportation for the pupil to a point that is a designated stop on a regular bus route of a contiguous receiving district, or as an alternative, the resident district shall pay the parent/guardian for providing this transportation. In either situation the resident district is not obligated to expend more than the average cost per pupil transported amount established for that district for the previous school year. If the resident district provides the transportation, it shall determine that it is able to perform this function at a cost not in excess of the average cost per pupil transported for the resident district as established the previous year. It shall not assess any additional cost to the parent/guardian for providing transportation. If the district chooses to reimburse the parent/guardian for providing transportation, to determine the amount to be reimbursed, the district shall use the provisions of Iowa Code subsection 285.1(3). This reimbursement shall not exceed the average cost per pupil transported for the resident district as established the previous year. The resident district may withhold from the amount it is required to pay to a receiving district for an open enrollment pupil the actual amount or the average cost per pupil transported amount it pays for transportation assistance, whichever is the lesser amount.

       17.9(3) Economic eligibility requirements for transportation. A parent/guardian shall be eligible for transportation assistance from the resident district if the household income of the parent/guardian is at or below 160 percent of the federal income poverty guidelines as stated by household size. Since the federal income poverty guidelines are adjusted each year, the department of education shall provide revised eligibility guidelines to school districts each year.