School transportation for students with disabilities: contracts NEMT companies can win
When a student's IEP lists transportation, the school district must provide it free of charge, and it can hire an outside company to run the route. NEMT companies compete for these contracts with minivans and wheelchair vans, drivers who clear state school background checks, and per-mile or per-route prices. Districts also pay for rides that keep homeless and foster youth enrolled at their original school.
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Why districts pay for these rides
Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), transportation counts as a related service. If a student’s individualized education program (IEP) calls for it, the district has to provide it as part of a free appropriate public education (FAPE), paid with public funds at no cost to the family. The IEP team decides, student by student.
The federal definition has three parts:
- travel to and from school, and between schools
- travel in and around school buildings
- specialized equipment, such as adapted buses, lifts, and ramps, when a student needs special transportation
The duty does not stop in June or at the district line. Extended school year services are special education and related services delivered beyond the normal school year when the IEP team finds them necessary, so some students ride in the summer. Students in public charter schools keep all of their IDEA rights. The district the charter belongs to answers for them, or the charter itself when it is its own district, and the state when neither applies.
Districts can run these routes with their own buses and staff, or hire someone. Texas law, for example, lets a school board contract with a commercial transportation company for all or part of its transportation, as long as the company’s school bus drivers are certified to state standards and it carries 15 or more students only in vehicles that meet school bus safety standards. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina moved more than 2,000 students with contracted vendors when it went to bid in 2026.
The students and the routes
Contracted school routes are usually small-vehicle work for students a regular bus route cannot serve well. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ 2026 request named the groups, and it wanted a separate weekly invoice for each:
| Group | Why the district must provide the ride |
|---|---|
| Exceptional children (students with IEPs) | IDEA, when the IEP lists transportation |
| Students with Section 504 plans | Section 504 rules require a free education with related services, and equal access to services such as transportation |
| Homeless students (McKinney-Vento) | Federal law keeps them at their school of origin when that is in their best interest |
| Students in foster care | Federal education law requires a transportation plan with the child welfare agency |
| Students living far from other riders | Charlotte covered them when regular bus routes could not |
McKinney-Vento routes
The McKinney-Vento Act presumes a homeless student stays at the school of origin unless the parent or guardian asks otherwise, and it requires transportation to that school at the parent’s or guardian’s request, or the district liaison’s request for an unaccompanied youth. When the student now lives in a different district, the two districts must agree on how to split the duty and the cost. If they cannot agree, they share both equally.
These routes change fast. For example, a family that moves from a shelter to a motel two towns over changes the route that week. A contractor that can reroute a van within days fits this work.
Foster care routes
Under federal education law, each district must write procedures with the local child welfare agency for how transportation to the school of origin will be provided, arranged, and funded for students in foster care. When the ride costs extra, the district provides it if the child welfare agency agrees to reimburse the cost, the district agrees to pay, or the two agree to share it.
How districts write the contract
School contracts are priced by the mile, by the route, or by the trip, and the pricing unit tells you where the risk sits. Two 2026 solicitations show the range.
Tracy Unified School District, California (Bid No. 26-01). The bid form asked for:
- a per-mile rate when one to three students ride a passenger vehicle to the same destination
- a separate rate per mile for the same trip in a wheelchair accessible vehicle
- a rate per route for a vehicle aide
- a rate per route for a dedicated route driver
- all of the above again for extended school year routes, for each of the 2026/27, 2027/28, and 2028/29 school years
Bids had to include all taxes, insurance, bonds, and permits, and they stayed open and irrevocable for 90 days.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, North Carolina (RFP 163-02012026TS-AS). Proposals were opened March 9, 2026. The contract carries a five-year base term, renewed each year on performance. Contractors proposed firm, fixed rates covering labor, fuel, vehicles, insurance, and overhead, in these categories:
| Charge | How it works |
|---|---|
| Base rate | Per mile, per student, paid on the district’s own route mileage |
| Additional student | No extra mileage for a second student from the same address to the same school |
| Minimum trip | A flat rate for short one-way trips, about 8 miles or less |
| Wheelchair pickup | Per student, one way; only added miles can be billed for other riders on the route |
| Monitor or nurse | A fixed charge when an aide or nurse rides from the student’s address |
| Solo rider | A per-trip supplement when the IEP or 504 plan requires the student to ride alone |
| No-show | Allowed when the contractor was not told at least one hour ahead |
The same request cut the fare in half when a student reached school, or was picked up, over half an hour after the bell, paid nothing for a missed trip, and took 10 percent off any weekly invoice still missing after one reminder or still wrong after one correction. It also required GPS tracking and a way for parents to see where the student is. Its sample scorecard weighted safety and compliance at 30 percent, capacity for wheelchair and non-wheelchair riders at 25, cost at 20, technical capability such as fleet quality and GPS at 20, and references at 5.
Price per mile from your cost per hour. For example, a wheelchair van that costs $62 an hour to run, including the driver, and averages 18 paid miles per hour on a route needs about $3.45 per paid mile before profit. Run your own figures through the cost per mile calculator. Registration and bid basics are in government NEMT contracts.
Vehicle rules: federal sale rules, state use rules
Federal rules control which new vehicles can be sold for student transportation. State rules control which vehicles can be used.
On the federal side, any vehicle built to carry 11 or more people, driver included, counts as a bus. A new bus sold or leased for purposes that include carrying students to or from school or school events must be certified to the federal school bus safety standards. NHTSA applies this to school transportation contractors buying new buses, and to schools buying new 15-passenger vans for significant student use. A multifunction school activity bus meets the school bus standards without the stop arm and flashing lights, but it cannot run home-to-school routes. Minivans and cars built for 10 or fewer people are not buses under this rule.
States then decide how students ride. Two examples:
| State | Rule |
|---|---|
| Texas | Routes with 10 or more students must use school buses or transit buses. Routes with fewer than 10 may use passenger cars. For school activities, 15 or more students need a bus, and every rider in a car or van must have a seat belt. |
| Pennsylvania | A school bus is built to seat 11 or more people counting the driver. A school vehicle seats no more than ten counting the driver, and is registered by or under contract to a school. |
A minivan falls in the small-vehicle category. Read your state’s definitions before you bid, because the state definition decides which vehicles come under its school bus operating rules. Charlotte-Mecklenburg made contract drivers responsible for wheelchair tie-down, and wheelchair securement standards covers how to do it right.
Driver requirements
Driver rules come from three layers: federal CDL rules, state school transportation law, and the contract.
- Federal CDL. Federal CDL rules start at a seating design of 16, driver included, or a weight rating of 26,001 pounds. A driver of a school bus that meets that test needs the school bus endorsement as well, although the federal school bus definition excludes for-hire motor carrier operations. The thresholds are explained in CDL rules for NEMT drivers.
- State law. Texas requires contractors’ school bus drivers to meet Department of Public Safety qualifications and certification. It also requires a national criminal history review, which can include fingerprints, for any contract employee with continuing duties and direct contact with students. Other states run their own clearances, and NEMT driver background checks lists the usual searches.
- The contract. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools required every driver to hold a city vehicle-for-hire permit, which brings fingerprinting, drug testing, and background checks, and made the company search the North Carolina and national sex offender lists. Drivers wore a district photo badge, checked the vehicle for students left on board after every drop-off, never left a student alone in the vehicle, and took a drug and alcohol test within 1 to 8 hours after any accident. The district could require drivers to attend its own training on the needs of specific children, and it could remove a driver at any time.
Children on board raise their own safety rules, from car seats to adult escorts. Our guide to transporting children in NEMT covers them.
Student records and privacy
Student details a district shares for a route, such as IEP notes and seating needs, come from education records, so FERPA governs them rather than HIPAA. HIPAA’s definition of protected health information excludes education records covered by FERPA.
A district can share those records with a contractor without parental consent when the contractor counts as a school official. That requires three things:
- the contractor performs a service the district would otherwise use its own employees for
- the district keeps direct control over how the contractor uses and maintains the records
- the contractor does not pass the information to anyone else without consent, and uses it only for the purpose it was shared
Expect the contract to spell this out. Give drivers only what they need for the route, and keep the rest in the office.
Where Medicaid fits
Medicaid pays for school transportation only in narrow cases, and the district claims the money through its school-based services billing. CMS allows payment for specialized transportation when:
- the student has an IEP
- the IEP lists specialized transportation, and the specific vehicle adaptation, as medically necessary
- the student is enrolled in Medicaid
- the student receives a Medicaid-covered IEP service that same day
A specially adapted vehicle has physical changes for the student, such as a wheelchair lift, ramp, special harness, or specialized suspension. An aide alone, or ordinary seat belts, does not qualify. If a sibling without that IEP need rides along, the sibling’s trip is not billable to Medicaid. For a contractor, this matters for records: a district that bills Medicaid needs each student’s one-way trips in the adapted vehicle, by date.
Winning and keeping a district contract
- Find the transportation director and the purchasing office for each district, charter network, and county education office in your service area.
- Ask when routes go out to bid and whether the district buys individual routes by quote during the year. Charlotte-Mecklenburg assigned students as needed and asked vendors to keep spare vehicles and drivers ready for new ones.
- Register on the district’s or state’s vendor portal early. Charlotte-Mecklenburg accepted only electronic proposals, and a new account needed several days before it worked.
- Price every category the bid form lists, including aides, extended school year, and multi-year rates.
- Line up driver clearances before award. Charlotte-Mecklenburg barred any driver without valid permits and credentials from carrying students.
- Build weekly invoicing into your routine, split by program if the district asks, because late or wrong invoices can cost 10 percent.
Running school routes in HealthRide
School routes repeat every school day, and families want to know when the van is coming. HealthRide sets up a repeating school run one time and fills in the days ahead, and riders and families can follow the driver live from a text link. GPS-recorded miles and timestamps on every trip back up a per-mile invoice. See the live map.
Frequently asked questions
- Do drivers need a CDL to carry students with disabilities?
- Under federal rules, a CDL starts at a seating design of 16, counting the driver, or a weight rating of 26,001 pounds. A driver of a school bus that meets that test also needs the school bus (S) endorsement, although the federal definition leaves out for-hire motor carrier operations. A minivan falls under the federal line, but state rules for school drivers still apply.
- Can a contractor use a 15-passenger van for student routes?
- Not a new one bought for that purpose. Federal rules treat any vehicle built for 11 or more people as a bus, and a new bus sold or leased for significant student transportation must be certified to federal school bus standards, including when a school transportation contractor is the buyer. The federal rules do not bar using, or buying, a used 15-passenger van for student trips. State law decides how any vehicle may be used.
- When a homeless student moves to another district, which district pays for the ride?
- Under the McKinney-Vento Act, the district where the school of origin sits and the district where the student now lives must agree on how to split the responsibility and cost of transportation. If they cannot agree, they share both equally. The transportation is provided at the request of the parent or guardian, or of the district liaison for an unaccompanied youth.
- Can Medicaid pay for school transportation?
- Only in narrow cases, and the district claims it, not the transportation company. Medicaid pays for specialized transportation when the IEP lists it as medically necessary, the vehicle is specially adapted for the student (a lift, ramp, or harness, for example), the student is enrolled in Medicaid, and a Medicaid-covered IEP service is delivered to the student that same day. Adding an aide, or using ordinary seat belts, does not by itself make a vehicle specially adapted.
- Is student information on a route sheet covered by HIPAA or FERPA?
- FERPA. HIPAA's definition of protected health information excludes education records covered by FERPA. A district can share records with a contractor as a school official if the contractor does work staff would otherwise do, stays under the district's direct control over how records are used and kept, and does not pass the information on without consent.
- Which background checks apply to school transportation contractors?
- State law sets them. In Texas, a contractor's employee who has continuing duties and direct contact with students must go through a national criminal history review, which can include fingerprints. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools also required each driver to hold a city vehicle-for-hire permit, and the company had to search the North Carolina and national sex offender lists before a driver carried students.
