Pennsylvania Supreme Court rules on charter school transportation

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled that school districts may provide transit passes to charter school students instead of traditional bus transportation, provided the district also uses transit passes for its own students. This ruling follows a legal challenge initiated by the Wilkinsburg School District to reduce costs.

Under Section 1726-A(a) of the Charter School Law, districts are required to provide free transportation to charter students living within 10 miles of their school. The court's decision allows districts to fulfill this mandate by issuing Pittsburgh Regional Transit passes, a move that some districts have used to save money, as the state reimburses the full cost of transit passes.

The ruling impacts the transportation logistics for Pennsylvania's more than 174,000 charter and cyber charter students. While Republican lawmakers in Harrisburg have introduced two bills to address the issue, no legislative action has been taken to move them out of committee.