New Hampshire
District transportation for all within a catchment zone
Year Charter Law Established |
Number of Authorizers |
Types of Authorizers |
Number of Charter Schools |
Number of Students in Charter Schools |
| 1996 | 2 | LEA & SEA | 26 | 3,422 |
All students who reside in the school district in which the charter school is located must be provided transportation by the district in the same way that transportation is provided for peers who attend that district’s traditional schools. Any and all additional related transportation costs are paid by the charter.
Challenges
Like many other states, New Hampshire charter schools may accept students from multiple districts or from across the state. Therefore, one challenge of this transportation policy is that only students living within the district benefit, while those outside it have more limited access. Depending on the school location (for example, if located in a wealthier district), this could still create inequity and limit access.
Additionally, it may be hard for a charter school to carry any extra costs, especially at the beginning of its charter term. This can be exacerbated by the requirement that the transportation be the same as the district (often traditional yellow bus service), which is often expensive.
Charters may find it particularly burdensome since there is no specific funding mechanism for schools that opt to provide transportation to students outside the district.
Benefits
Assuming a majority of a school’s students come from the district or community in which they are located, limiting a transportation requirement to a specific district or catchment zone can still result in more students having access than if no transportation was provided.
Maine
Required transportation plans, funding available
Year Charter Law Established |
Number of Authorizers |
Types of Authorizers |
Number of Charter Schools |
Number of Students in Charter Schools |
| 2011 | 1 | ICB | 9 | 1,955 |
In Maine, a charter school must have a plan for providing transportation to students within their catchment area. They must also describe what they will do, if anything, to provide transportation to students outside the catchment area. Charters receive transportation funds for all enrolled students, regardless of where they live.
Challenges
Maine charters may find it particularly burdensome to provide transportation to students, due to the state’s rural nature. While districts are required to forward transportation dollars to charters based on the cost of transportation services provided by the public charter school to the student in the form of per-pupil dollars, it is unclear if that amount actually could cover the full costs associated with busing students across district lines.
Benefits
The law does not specify that charter schools must provide the same type of transportation as the district, so schools can tailor transportation solutions that make sense for them and their students.
Tennessee
Required transportation plans, funding available
Year Charter Law Established |
Number of Authorizers |
Types of Authorizers |
Number of Charter Schools |
Number of Students in Charter Schools |
| 2002 | 5 | SEA, LEA, ICB | 109 | 34,984 |
In Tennessee, charter schools are not mandated to provide transportation, but they must address transportation in their application. If they choose to provide transportation, which must be done in the same manner as the district, they receive transportation funds like a traditional school (only applies to students living in the school district). Charter schools that choose not to provide transportation do not receive these funds.
Challenges
Similar to New Hampshire, Tennessee law limits the types of transportation that can be provided. In addition, numerous families are likely indirectly being denied access because schools can choose not to provide transportation, causing educational inequity.
Benefits
Because there is funding available for schools that choose to provide transportation, Tennessee’s charter schools do not face the kinds of financial burdens that charters face in states without transportation funding.