Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility House passes Friel, Schlegel bill to better fund, study school transportation

House passes Friel, Schlegel bill to better fund, study school transportation

Rep. Paul Friel    June 11, 2025 | 3:32 PM

HARRISBURG, June 11 – The Pennsylvania House of Representatives this week passed bipartisan legislation to provide greater efficiency and clarity for funding school transportation across the state, announced the bill’s prime sponsors state Reps. Paul Friel and John Schlegel.

House Bill 1326 would require that school districts report the number of students transported to public, nonpublic and charter schools, including the total costs for each school, to the state Department of Education. The data would be posted publicly online.

The bill would also bring state requirements for mileage reporting into the 21st century by allowing use of GPS software, which is easier and more accurate than manually tracking mileage, said Friel, D-Chester.

“Over the past year, in a bipartisan manner, Representative Schlegel and I have spearheaded a work group with school transportation contractors, statewide associations representing school business, state department officials and school district transportation directors from across the commonwealth with the common goal to modernize Pennsylvania’s school transportation laws,” Friel added.

“There is a lot of work to be done to bring our school transportation laws up to date, and this bill is an excellent first step toward that goal. Many thanks to the expert stakeholders for helping craft a truly meaningful piece of legislation that would make schools and education better in Pennsylvania.”