(a) A school district or supervisory union that incurs allowable transportation expenditures shall receive a transportation reimbursement grant each year. The grant shall be equal to 50 percent of allowable transportation expenditures provided, however, that in any year the total amount of grants under this subsection shall not exceed the total amount of adjusted base year transportation grant expenditures. The total amount of base year transportation grant expenditures shall be $10,000,000.00 for fiscal year 1997, increased each year thereafter by the annual price index for state and local government purchases of goods and services. If in any year the total amount of the grants under this subsection exceed the adjusted base year transportation grant expenditures, the amount of each grant awarded shall be reduced proportionately. Transportation grants paid under this section shall be paid from the Education Fund and shall be added to adjusted education payment receipts paid under section 4011 of this title.

(b) In this section, "allowable transportation expenditures" means the costs of transporting students to and from school for regular classroom services and shall not include expenditures for transporting students participating in curricular activities that take place off the school grounds or for transporting students participating in cocurricular activities. The State Board shall further define allowable transportation expenditures by rule.

(c) A district or supervisory union may apply and the Secretary may pay for extraordinary transportation expenditures incurred due to geographic or other conditions such as the need to transport students out of the school district to attend another school because the district does not maintain a public school. The State Board shall define extraordinary transportation expenditures by rule. The total amount of base year extraordinary transportation grant expenditures shall be $250,000.00 for fiscal year 1997, increased each year thereafter by the annual price index for state and local government purchases of goods and services. Extraordinary transportation expenditures shall not be paid out of the funds appropriated under subsection (b) of this section for other transportation expenditures. Grants paid under this section shall be paid from the Education Fund and shall be added to adjusted education payment receipts paid under section 4011 of this title. (Added 2003, No. 107 (Adj. Sess.), § 12; amended 2013, No. 92 (Adj. Sess.), § 241, eff. Feb. 14, 2014.)