Representative Greg Heartsill voted for legislation that will provide school districts across the state with additional funding to help pay for transportation costs.

The State of Iowa provides schools with funding of about $6,700 for each student in a school district, but transportation costs can vary widely among districts. School districts can spend as little as $100 per student while others spend nearly $1,000 per student. Heartsill tells KNIA/KRLS News this bill allows funding allocated for classroom usage to be used on classrooms not transportation. The bill will bring the maximum transportation cost down to $432 per student for every school, by providing an additional $11.2 million in state aid. The bill will directly benefit 140 of Iowa’s 333 school districts, mostly in rural parts of the state. This new funding for transportation is in addition to the $32 million in supplemental state aid that was agreed to earlier this legislative session. In Marion County, this is particularly good news for Twin Cedars schools who have the highest transportation costs, but the bill will have less of an impact on Pella and Knoxville, considering their smaller rural footprint.