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Leon County Schools shared how stronger Medicaid reimbursement, better ridership documentation and teamwork across departments can help districts recover the cost of transporting students with disabilities.
Karen Thomas, Medicaid coordinator at Leon County Schools in Florida, shared how her district secured a higher reimbursement rate through collaboration among transportation, finance and Medicaid staff during a Thursday webinar sponsored by Zonar.
Leon County receives about $18 per eligible ride, compared to approximately $2.50 in Florida’s larger Volusia County Schools, Thomas said.
“If you know one Medicaid program, you know one Medicaid program,” she explained, emphasizing that reimbursement rules and rates vary widely.
Thomas said Leon County pursued a district-specific rate rather than relying on the reimbursement amount established when Florida’s program began in the late 1990s. The process took three school years of coordinating information among departments before the superintendent brought everyone together.
“It was not a super simple process, but it paid off tremendously,” she said.
Finding the Funding
Tim Ammon, consultant and owner of Ammon Consulting Group, said transportation directors need to understand their state’s funding formula before identifying additional reimbursement opportunities.
“We’ve got a whole variety of expectations that are different state to state,” he explained.
A September survey conducted by Zonar and School Transportation News found that 72 percent of transportation professionals did not know how much their districts recovered annually through disability transportation funding programs. Zonar Chief Revenue Officer Rob Consoli shared during the webinar that only 47 percent of the survey respondents reported using Medicaid reimbursements, despite 58 percent knowing they are available.
“There are six sources that districts can pull from today. That includes the IDEA funds, state transportation funding, vocational rehabilitation, Medicaid reimbursement, and the McKinney-Vento [Homeless Assistance] Act funds which are not well known but are available – and the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Program,” Consoli explained. “Districts rarely tap the full stack, and funding most often goes unclaimed on Medicaid.”
Ammon said the complexity can overwhelm transportation departments already managing staff shortages and daily operations.
“It’s really hard for transportation folks to try to navigate this on their own,” he said.
His recommendation was straightforward: Find a district or state Medicaid specialist who understands the requirements.
“And honestly, my expert opinion would be, find somebody like Karen,” Ammon said.
The Paperwork Problem
Thomas illustrated the documentation burden with her own summer routine, since Leon County still records specialized transportation ridership on paper logs.
“I actually physically get in my car and drive over to the bus barn, and I pick up boxes, legal boxes,” she quipped. “We see a lot of coffee stains and shoe print marks and things like that.”
She then matches those records with students’ individualized education programs, Medicaid eligibility and documented medical aids to determine which rides qualify for reimbursement.
The Zonar-STN survey found that 48 percent of respondents similarly relied on paper ridership logs, while 13 percent did not document daily ridership at all.
Thomas stressed that accurate documentation matters even when states change their reimbursement methods.
“At the end of the day, you’re still going to need that ridership data to back up that claim,” she said.
Ammon noted that electronic ridership tracking can support multiple funding opportunities, particularly in states where transportation aid depends on student ridership.
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Turning Reimbursement Into Services
Thomas said Leon County dedicates its Medicaid reimbursement revenue to student health services, including school nurses. Additional funding could allow the district to hire a licensed practical nurse or vocational nurse instead of a clinic aide. It could also free-up other district funds for transportation needs, such as child safety restraint systems.
The panel also emphasized that reimbursement requires more than recording a school bus ride. Depending on applicable rules, claims must connect Medicaid eligibility, IEP requirements, medical services or equipment, and appropriate vehicle adaptations.
Consoli presented Zonar’s Z Pass digital ridership system as a way for transportation, special education and finance departments to share records.
Ammon encouraged districts to begin by determining whether they qualify for reimbursement and identifying the information needed to support a claim.
“I think the first thing that we would want to try to fix is awareness,” he said.
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Written with the assistance of AI and a live session transcript.
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With more than 25 years in marketing and 15+ years in logistics, Rachel has helped companies drive significant growth faster than industry norms. At Zonar, she leads marketing and demand generation.
Tim Ammon has spent more than 25 years supporting transportation and fleet operations, working with more than 500 organizations across three countries. His work focuses on identifying opportunities to improve operational performance through process improvements, technology adoption, and personnel practices, consistently helping organizations bridge the gap between desired and actual performance.
Karen Thomas handles Medicaid claiming for Leon County Schools in Tallahassee, Florida, where she manages the documentation behind every reimbursement the district submits for transporting students with disabilities. Her work covers pulling the daily records, matching each ride to the correct route and the correct student, then compiling the full file for submission.