Date

11-13-2024

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Education (PhD)

Chair

Matthew Ozolnieks

Keywords

pupil transportation, home-to-school transportation, school bus, pupil transportation funding, resource dependency theory

Disciplines

Education

Abstract

The purpose of this multiple case study was to understand the perceived impact of California’s Local Control Funding Formula’s (LCFF) home-to-school transportation (HTST) program funding and rising pupil transportation operational costs on California’s K-12 public school districts and county offices of education (COE). Pfeffer and Salancik’s resource dependency theory was the theoretical framework for this study. California K-12 public school districts and COEs were the sites used for this multiple-case study. Ten Chief Business Officials (CBO) made up the sample. The central research question that guided my study asked, what are the impacts of state home-to-school program funding remaining at 2012-2013 contributions and rising school bus transportation costs on California K-12 public education CBOs’ district’s pupil transportation operation budget? The study used three data sources in this order: journal prompts, individual interviews, and focus groups. When conducting a multiple-case study, it is appropriate to use cross-case synthesis to analyze the data collected. I identified common themes between multiple cases (i.e., K-12 public school districts and COEs). Two themes emerged from the data which were “decision-making” and “challenges.” The CBOs have stated that the funding for California’s HTST program is insufficient. Due to increasing operational costs, they are forced to use general fund dollars to bridge the funding gap caused by rising costs and inadequate state funding. It is hoped that this research will add to the limited body of research on pupil transportation and California’s HTST program funding.

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