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Use of Transportation Funding

Budget and Financial Guidelines
Use of Transportation Funding

Use of Transportation Funding

Transportation services include costs, either in full or appropriately prorated, for child safety restraint systems, additional or extended bus routes/bus runs/mileage, fuel, vehicle maintenance or modifications, drivers, bus aides and school buses or other costs related to transportation. Depreciation is not an allowable expense for GSRP transportation.

Annually, the allocation for GSRP includes a set aside that is specifically to be used for the costs of transporting GSRP children to and from school. Each year ISDs are asked to collect projected transportation budgets from subrecipients. An aggregated transportation request is forwarded to MiLEAP from each ISD. If the total request from all ISDs is equal to or less than legislatively allocated, each ISD receives the requested amount. If the total exceeds the total amount allocated, MiLEAP will prorate the funds. Any ISD requesting less than the prorated share receives its requested amount.

The ISD may use any or all of its transportation allocation and must distribute transportation funds as needed across all subrecipients providing transportation. The ISD creates a process to gather pertinent information that will guide decision-making on prioritization of transportation funds. Consideration is given to how collaborative child recruiting and public awareness activities, along with a dedicated transportation allocation, can support the goal to identify and serve children and families who may not otherwise be able to access the program. Other considerations include the number/location of GSRP subrecipients currently providing transportation, the number/residence of GSRP enrolled children receiving transportation, family need by programming option, how well existing transportation costs are- met, and areas of unmet need for transportation services. The school readiness advisory committee may be the appropriate venue for data-based decision-making on distribution of the transportation allocation.

Transportation options approved by MiLEAP may be supported with GSRP funds. This includes school buses and contracts with bussing companies. If a public transit system meets licensing requirements, the cost for transportation may be contracted for and paid by the program directly to the transit system if the general public is not being transported with children in GSRP. Ridership and costs may be shared with other programs from the GSRP site. All these options necessitate a contract.

The GSRP PIP in NexSys includes a separate transportation budget to document use of the transportation allocation accepted for the ISD and/or subrecipients. The administrative cap for ISDs also applies to accepted transportation funds. ISDs may retain a portion of the transportation funds if supporting the coordination of transportation services. 

Use of transportation funds should be monitored throughout the year. If actual expenses are less than planned, transportation funds can be moved between subrecipients as needed. 

It is an expectation ISDs are requesting funds to use in the grant year awarded. ISDs and their subrecipients should make every effort to exhaust transportation funding by the end of the fiscal year in which the funds were awarded. When allocating funds, MiLEAP will look at actual expenditures and existing carryover amounts to determine allocations. If an ISD is unable to utilize all its transportation funding, the ISD may request to carryover up to 5% in FY27. Starting in FY28, transportation carryover will not be allowed. 

Parent/Guardian Transportation Funding Considerations 

Legislation includes a section specific to reimbursing a GSRP program for costs related to parent or guardian accompanied public transportation. Beginning in FY26, as outlined in Section 32d(25) of Public Act 15 of 2025, the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP) shall allow programs to utilize transportation funds for costs related to parent- or guardian-provided transportation and for costs related to parent- or guardian-accompanied transportation provided by transportation service companies, buses, or other public transportation services. 

To be eligible for reimbursement under this subsection, a program must submit to the intermediate district or consortia of intermediate districts all the following: 

  • The names of families provided with transportation support along with a documented reason for the need for transportation support and the type of transportation provided. 
  • Financial documentation of actual transportation costs incurred by the program, including, but not limited to, receipts and mileage reports, as determined by the department of lifelong education, advancement, and potential. 
  • Any other documentation or information determined necessary by the department of lifelong education, advancement, and potential.

The following is provided to ensure dollars are utilized in a way that improves access to eligible Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP) options for low-income and geographically isolated families. 

Requesting Transportation Funding:

Intermediate School Districts (ISDs), as the fiduciary of GSRP funding, may include in their transportation funding request, funding for families with low income or who are geographically isolated to provide transportation. This funding may be distributed to families by the ISD or by the subrecipient in which the family is attending.

Policies

The ISD must have a policy in place to document the request for and award process of transportation funding. If the ISD provides funding for costs related to parent-or guardian-provided transportation, the policy must include language prioritizing funding for families with low income or who are geographically isolated. 

The policy should include a tool for documenting who receives funding and why, including the name of the child, program attending, the family income and geographic location of family to the enrolled program. 

Furthermore, MiLEAP recommends that if the ISD does not currently have a fiscal policy on the purchase and retention of gas cards, for the purpose of family distribution, and the ISD intends to apply for funding to support this new allowance, a fiscal policy will be put into place within 30 days of allocating funds to families.    

Distributing funds

These funds must be distributed on a case-by-case basis. The child’s need for transportation should be considered when making the placement and efforts made to reduce the transportation distance.

Recommendations:

It is not recommended that the ISD coordinate or assist in coordinating connections among families for transportation purposes. If multiple children are being transported to a GSRP program, transportation funds may only be applied to one child per family. These funds are strictly for transportation to and from GSRP programming and cannot be used for field trips, recruitment and enrollment or other non-programming events. However, program funds may be used for field trips.

Required Documentation

For audit purposes, ISDs are responsible for ensuring documentation submitted for reimbursement is sufficient. To ensure compliance with this legislation, MiLEAP recommends review and signoff by an authorized ISD official. A documented need for the reason for the use of public transportation and financial documentation is required. Receipts must clearly disclose the public transportation provider, cost, date, time, and location or map documenting mileage of each round trip to/from the program.

 

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