Public Act 094-0439
 		





HB3680 Enrolled
LRB094 05821 LJB 35875 b






    AN ACT concerning schools.

 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:


 
    Section 5. The School Code is amended  by changing Section 
29-3 as follows:
 



    (105 ILCS 5/29-3)  (from Ch. 122, par. 29-3)



    Sec. 29-3. Transportation in school districts. School 
boards
of community consolidated districts, community unit

districts, consolidated districts, and consolidated high 
school
districts, and combined school districts if the combined 
district
includes any district which was previously required to 
provide
transportation, shall provide free transportation
for 
pupils residing at a distance of one and one-half miles or more 
from
any school to which they are assigned for attendance 
maintained within the
district except for those pupils for whom 
the school board shall certify to
the State Board of Education 
that adequate transportation for the public is
available.

    For the purpose of this Act 1 1/2 miles distance shall be 
from the exit
of the property where the pupil resides to the 
point where pupils are normally
unloaded at the school 
attended; such distance shall be measured by determining
the 
shortest distance on normally traveled roads or streets.

    Such school board may comply with the provisions of this 
Section by
providing free transportation for pupils to and from 
an assigned school
and a pick-up point located not more than 
one and one-half miles from
the home of each pupil assigned to 
such point.

    For the purposes of this Act "adequate transportation for 
the public"
shall be assumed to exist for such pupils as can 
reach school by
walking, one way, along normally traveled roads 
or streets
less than 1
1/2 miles irrespective of the distance 
the
pupil is transported by public transportation.

    In addition to the other requirements of this Section, each 
school board may
provide free transportation for any pupil 
residing within 1 1/2 miles from the
school attended where 
conditions are such that walking, either to or from the
school 
to which a pupil is assigned for attendance or to or from a 
pick-up
point or bus stop, constitutes a serious hazard to the 
safety of the pupil
due to vehicular traffic or rail crossings.  
Such transportation shall not
be provided if adequate 
transportation for the public is available.

    The determination as to what constitutes a serious safety 
hazard shall
be made by the school board, in accordance with 
guidelines promulgated by
the Illinois Department of 
Transportation, in consultation with the State
Superintendent 
of Education. A school board, on written petition of the
parent 
or guardian of a pupil for whom adequate transportation for the 
public
is alleged not to exist because the pupil is required to 
walk along normally
traveled roads or streets where walking is 
alleged to constitute a serious
safety hazard due to vehicular 
traffic or rail crossings, or who is required to
walk between 
the
pupil's home and assigned school or between the pupil's 
home or assigned school
and a pick-up point or bus stop along 
roads or streets where walking is alleged
to constitute a 
serious safety hazard due to vehicular traffic or rail

crossings, shall conduct a
study and make findings, which the 
Department of Transportation shall review
and approve
or 
disapprove as provided in this Section, to determine whether a 
serious
safety hazard exists as alleged in the petition.  The

Department of Transportation shall review
the findings of the 
school board and shall approve or disapprove the school
board's 
determination that a serious safety hazard exists within 30 
days
after the school board submits its findings to the 
Department. The school board
shall annually review the 
conditions and determine
certify to the State Superintendent
of 
Education whether or not the hazardous conditions remain 
unchanged. The
State Superintendent of Education may request 
that the Illinois Department
of Transportation verify that the 
conditions have not changed. No action
shall lie against the 
school board, the State Superintendent of Education
or the 
Illinois Department of Transportation for decisions made in 
accordance
with this Section. The provisions of the 
Administrative Review Law and all
amendments and modifications 
thereof and the rules adopted pursuant thereto
shall apply to 
and govern all proceedings instituted for the judicial
review 
of final administrative decisions of the Department of

Transportation under this Section.

(Source: P.A. 90-223, eff. 1-1-98.)

 

    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, 
2005.