(a) The charter school may request to have the school district where the charter school is located transport students residing in that district, at fair cost, to and from the charter school on the same basis offered to other students attending schools operated by the district, or to receive from the State a payment equal to 70% of the average cost per student of transportation within the vocational district in which the charter school is located and become responsible for the transportation of those students to and from the charter school.
(b) If a charter school utilizes a contractor for student transportation, the charter school may do any of the following:
(1) Publically bid the transportation routes, either alone or with other local education agencies.
(2) Negotiate a contract for 1 or more years for contractor payment for school transportation up to the maximum rate under subsection (a) of this section.
a. If a transportation contract includes a fuel adjustment provision, the charter school is responsible for increased payments to the contractor.
b. If a transportation contract is for multiple years, all of the following apply:
1. Funding for the contract is guaranteed by state funds for the first year of the contract.
2. Funding for each year after the first year of the contract is a local commitment until the allocation under subsection (a) of this section is determined for that year.
(c) A charter school may choose to offer annual student bus passes under § 2901(c) of this title.
(d) Notwithstanding any provisions under this section, a student at a charter school shall receive such transportation assistance as is made available to students pursuant to a public school choice program established by this Code provided that such student otherwise meets the eligibility requirements for such assistance.
(e) If a charter school chooses to transport students itself, the charter school shall do so in accordance with all public school transportation safety regulations.
(f) Local school districts and charter schools shall cooperate to ensure that the implementation of this chapter does not result in inefficient use of state appropriations for public school transportation and the State Board shall exercise its authority to approve bus routes so as to avoid such waste.