The Florida Senate

234.301  Pool purchase of school buses.--

(1)  Beginning July 1, 1991, Florida nonpublic schools which demonstrate a racially nondiscriminatory student admission policy may purchase school buses from the state pool purchase program as authorized in s. 229.79, if the nonpublic school meets the following conditions:

(a)  Students in one or more grades, kindergarten through grade 12, are provided an education program by the school and the school has submitted the information required pursuant to this section and the most recent school survey required in s. 229.808.

(b)  All conditions of the contracts for purchasing school buses between the Department of Education and the companies involved, including bus specifications, ordering deadlines, delivery period and procedures, and payment requirements, shall be met.

(c)  Purchase orders shall be made out to the appropriate company or companies involved and shall be accompanied by a certified check in the amount of 25 percent of the total cost of the bus or buses as a good faith deposit that the bus or buses will be purchased.

(d)  The remainder of the total cost shall be paid upon delivery of the bus or buses to the representative of the nonpublic school receiving the bus or buses, or shall be paid when the company informs the purchaser that the buses are ready for delivery if the purchaser has specified that buses are to be picked up at the company's location. If the chassis and the body are purchased from different companies, the remainder of the chassis' total cost shall be payable upon delivery of the chassis to the body manufacturer.

(e)  If the nonpublic school does not meet the obligation stated in paragraph (d) within 30 calendar days after notice that the bus is ready for delivery or that the chassis has been delivered to the body manufacturer, the selling company may retain 15 percent of the amount being held by the company as a good faith deposit, and all obligations to the nonpublic school may be canceled. When the 15 percent is retained, the company shall return 10 percent of the good faith deposit to the nonpublic school within 15 days of cancellation of the companies' objection.

(2)  Any bus purchased under this section may not be sold, if still titled as a motor vehicle, within 5 calendar years of the date of the initial Florida title being issued, unless the following conditions are met:

(a)  The bus or buses may be sold only to a Florida public school district or Florida nonpublic school. Any such sale during the first 5 years shall be documented to the Department of Education within 15 days after the sale.

(b)  The bus or buses shall be advertised by the nonpublic school in one major newspaper located in each of the five regions of the state for 3 consecutive days and a copy of the advertisement and the name of each newspaper shall be sent to the Department of Education before the first day of advertising the bus or buses for sale.

(c)  The bus may not be sold at a profit. The bus shall be depreciated at a rate of 10 percent per calendar year, with the first year starting on the date of issue of the initial title in this state.

(d)  Notwithstanding any other provisions of law and rule regarding purchase of used school buses, the bus may be sold to a public school district if the conditions of paragraph (c) are met.

(e)  Any public school district or nonpublic school purchasing a bus under the conditions of this subsection must accept the obligations of this subsection, and such shall be entered in the sales contract.

(3)  Any nonpublic school, including the owner or corporation purchasing a bus or buses under the conditions of this section, that does not comply with all the conditions of this section shall not be eligible for future purchases of a school bus under this section.

(4)  Any nonpublic school interested in purchasing a bus under this section shall notify, in writing, the Department of Education. The Department of Education shall send the school the appropriate forms, instructions, and price quotations.

(5)  Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, no school bus manufacturer, distributor, or dealer shall be required to violate any dealer contract or franchise agreement entered into before the effective date of this section regarding the sale of its buses.

(6)  The Commissioner of Education may adopt any rule necessary to implement this section, maintain the integrity of the school bus pool purchase program, and ensure the best and lowest price for purchasing school buses by the public school districts.

History.--s. 71, ch. 91-105; s. 138, ch. 97-190.